Key Takeaways
- Four smartphone photos produce a digital twin with more than 40 body data points, and Fit:match claims roughly 98% volume accuracy.
- Brown calls bio-banding, which groups players by physical maturity instead of birth year, one of the technology’s primary youth sports uses.
- The company is working with MLS NEXT, a youth platform of more than 270 clubs, after joining the MLS Innovation Lab in April 2026.
- Leagues and organizations sign the commercial deals, but Brown says the product is designed for the athlete and the parent.
Fit:match, a body analytics company that started in apparel sizing, is pitching its smartphone scanning technology to youth clubs as a tool for bio-banding in youth sports. Bio-banding means grouping and evaluating players by physical maturation rather than birth year alone. Founder and CEO Haniff Brown told Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) that the company’s QuadraScan product captures more than 40 anthropometric data points from four smartphone photos. He said Fit:match’s work with MLS NEXT, which includes more than 270 clubs, is shaping how that data reaches coaches.
From Apparel Sizing to Athlete Development
Brown said Fit:match began by solving sizing problems in apparel. The original product helped shoppers understand their body shape and dimensions so they could get more accurate size recommendations. As the technology developed, the team found the same body data had uses beyond retail, including helping teams track how athletes develop over time.
QuadraScan builds a digital twin from four images. Brown said it runs on a multi-billion-parameter neural network trained on hundreds of thousands of photos, and the company says the scans reach approximately 98% volume accuracy.
Brown said the edge over a tape measure or a coach’s eye is not any single measurement. It is speed, standardization, and the ability to analyze data the same way across large groups without adding manual work for staff.
Why Is Bio-Banding in Youth Sports Gaining Attention?
Two players born in the same year can be years apart physically. Brown called that a significant issue because youth teams focus on winning now, which tends to reward athletes who mature early and are stronger at a young age.
“Performance today does not necessarily predict performance in the future,” Brown said. He added that late developers can be overlooked or drop out before they reach their potential.
Brown said bio-banding is one of Fit:match’s primary applications in youth sports. It gives clubs a scalable way to place late-developing athletes in the right environment and give them time to develop.
He offered a concrete case. A 12-year-old still years away from a major growth phase should not necessarily be evaluated the same way as a peer who has already reached it. Brown said giving coaches and families that context can help late developers stay engaged.
Beyond grouping, he described uses in recruiting, talent identification, decisions about where an athlete competes, and tracking development over multiple seasons. “The value is not one isolated data point,” he said.
What MLS NEXT Taught Fit:match About Scale
Fit:match was named to the third cohort of the MLS Innovation Lab in April 2026, according to Major League Soccer. Brown said the company’s work with MLS NEXT reinforced that technology has to complement, not replace, the human side of soccer.
With more than 270 clubs in MLS NEXT, Brown said the product also has to be easy to use and standardized across a large system. That experience shaped how Fit:match collects and presents data so coaches can apply it consistently.
He said the same requirement holds at smaller clubs. Tools that demand specialized equipment or extensive training struggle to gain adoption. Fit:match is built to work for a youth club, an athlete, or a parent, not only a professional organization.
On privacy, Brown said Fit:match does not store photos of any user. Athletes can also scan in normal sports attire rather than shirtless or in tight-fitting clothing.
Leagues Sign the Deals, Parents Use the Data
Brown described Fit:match’s youth sports model as B2B2C, meaning the company sells to organizations to reach individual athletes and families. Its commercial relationships are primarily with leagues, conferences, and organizations. Those partners give the company access to large numbers of athletes through the leagues, combines, and tryouts they already run. The product itself, he said, is built for the athlete and the parent.
Over the next three to five years, Brown said the goal is to make maturation data a standard part of athlete development. Players would then be evaluated on where they are in their physical development, not only on chronological age and current performance. The work with MLS NEXT and its more than 270 clubs is the clearest test so far of whether that standard can scale across an entire league.
Source / Adapted From: Youth Sports Business Report, Q&A with Haniff Brown, Founder and CEO, Fit:match, October 2026
Source / Adapted From: Major League Soccer, April 29, 2026, https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-innovation-lab-unveils-third-cohort-driving-the-future-of-the-game
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About Youth Sports Business Report
Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) is the largest and most trusted media platform covering the business of youth sports worldwide. YSBR delivers youth sports news, market intelligence, and original analysis daily across facilities, sponsorships, private equity, NIL, sports technology, and league operations. With more than 50,000 followers, YSBR is the leading source of youth sports industry news for the investors, owners, operators, and brands shaping the future of youth sports.
How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
What does YSBR cover?
YSBR delivers original reporting and market intelligence on youth sports facilities, youth sports technology, sponsorship and brand partnerships, private equity and venture capital deals, NIL policy, coaching development, equipment and apparel, tournaments and events, and community sports initiatives. Readers include industry executives, investors, facility owners and operators, league administrators, and youth sports parents.
Youth Sports Business Report resources
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- Jobs: Browse the YSBR Youth Sports Job Board, the most comprehensive destination for careers in youth sports, with hundreds of active listings across facility management, league operations, coaching, sports technology, and marketing.
- Services: Find vetted partners and solutions for your organization in the YSBR Services Hub, connecting youth sports operators, brands, and investors with verified providers across the industry.
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Check out Jr. Sports Marketing on YouTube or Spotify
Hosted by Cameron Korab, founder of Youth Sports Business Report, Jr. Sports Marketing features candid 1-on-1 conversations with the brands, athletes, leagues, and innovators building the future of youth sports. Each episode breaks down how the smartest brands are activating, building equity, and winning with youth sports families. If you’re an operator, founder, investor, or marketer trying to understand where this space is headed, this is your show.
Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
