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    Tech / Data

    Youth Sports Merchandise and AI: What Fanatics’ One-Week Shop the Look Build Shows

    Cameron KorabBy Updated:No Comments12 Mins Read

    Key Takeaways

    • OpenAI says Fanatics’ new Shop the Look feature achieved 10% higher engagement than the previous experience after testing across roughly 30,000 MLB products.
    • Per OpenAI, testing the first 50 looks took less than a day, and after a couple days of iteration Fanatics approved an MVP that same week.
    • Youth sports merchandise is a tougher match: the NFHS serves 19,943 high schools across 51 member associations, before counting clubs, with catalogs turning over every season.
    • BSN Sports, Youth Inc., GameChanger and TeamSnap already run team stores, but none has announced roster-aware outfit recommendations like Shop the Look.

    Fanatics has launched “Shop the Look,” an AI recommendation feature built with OpenAI’s Codex that suggests coordinated, in-stock team merchandise on product pages, and OpenAI says it delivered 10% higher engagement than the previous experience. Per OpenAI, the first 50 looks were built and tested in under a day, with a minimum viable product approved the same week. For youth sports merchandise, the build time is the headline: the engineering lift that once kept AI curation out of reach is shrinking fast.

    How Fanatics and OpenAI Built Shop the Look in a Week

    Shop the Look is live on Fanatics.com and the official NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL online stores, according to CNBC. A fan viewing a jersey sees a suggested hat, socks and accessories that match the same team and style.

    Fanatics Commerce chief product officer Justin Tsai told CNBC the company carries more than 1.5 million unique SKUs, releases upwards of a thousand new products per week, and saw customer shopping sessions average over 30 minutes. Discovery had become the bottleneck.

    Per OpenAI, engineering teams used Codex to build custom recommendation tools that enrich catalog data, find compatible merchandise and evaluate results. OpenAI models draw on enriched product, team and inventory data, while Fanatics’ merchandising rules keep selections compatible. Looks refresh daily as catalogs change.

    Team accuracy is non-negotiable. “Nobody who is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan wants to be matched with a San Francisco Giants item,” Tsai told CNBC. “Team and player alignment is extremely important in our world.”

    Rosemary DeAragon, head of industry go-to-market at OpenAI, described the shift to CNBC as moving from stitched-together personalization signals to “more deterministic matching.” Tsai said the suggestions give shoppers “more conviction” in their purchases.

    The business at stake is large. Fanatics Commerce manufactures more than 45 million items annually and sells in more than 180 countries, per CNBC. Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin told CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier in October that the commerce business will exceed $7 billion in revenue this year, compared with roughly $5.5 billion for the collectibles business.

    Why Youth Sports Merchandise Is a Harder Curation Problem

    Fanatics matches products to a few hundred pro and college teams. A youth version would have to match products to a far larger set of identities: the National Federation of State High School Associations serves 19,943 high schools across its 51 member state associations, per the NFHS, before counting clubs, and each program has its own logo, colors and approved vendors.

    Catalogs turn over by season, not by championship. A fall soccer store closes as basketball opens. And the buyer is usually a parent shopping across more than one sport in the same few weeks.

    The spending is real. The average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46% since 2019, plus roughly $475 more on that same child’s other sports, according to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play parent survey. Based on that survey and other research, the Aspen Institute estimates parents now spend more than $40 billion a year on their children’s sports.

    Apparel is a meaningful slice of that. Youth Inc. co-founder and CEO Ryan Baise told JohnWallStreet in 2024 that teamwear, fanwear and equipment sold to high schools is a $10 billion-a-year market, with apparel at $7.5 billion to $8 billion. That figure is Baise’s own estimate, not an independent market study.

    To work, a youth Shop the Look would need three data layers:

    • A catalog with approved marks, colors and vendor rules for every program
    • Live inventory status, so recommendations only show what can ship
    • Roster and season data tying each child to a team, sport and schedule

    Who Could Build AI for Youth Sports Commerce

    Four companies already hold pieces of that stack.

    BSN Sports, the team dealer under Varsity Brands, has the deepest catalog. KKR completed its $4.5 billion acquisition of Varsity Brands in August 2024, per Sportico. BSN says it serves more than 150,000 institutional and team sports customers and more than 1,100 collegiate partners. In April 2026, BSN acquired Sports Endeavors, parent of Soccer.com, and Lax.com, adding more than 800 employees, per the company. BSN runs My Team Shop online stores for schools and clubs.

    Youth Inc. is a media and commerce company co-founded by former NFL tight end and Fox Sports analyst Greg Olsen, CEO Ryan Baise, a former Fanatics executive, and Tim Murphy, president of media and a former Audacy executive. It raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Will Ventures in 2024. Its shop sells high school fanwear with no order minimums, and the company says schools earn on every purchase. It has a content-built audience and fewer legacy systems than a traditional dealer.

    GameChanger, owned by DICK’S Sporting Goods since 2016, holds team, schedule and stats data. DICK’S reported in its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K that the app had approximately 10 million unique active users and generated nearly $150 million in revenue during fiscal 2025. DICK’S investor materials also report more than 1 million teams created on the platform annually, and GameChanger operates a merch shop offering custom teamwear.

    TeamSnap, backed by Waud Capital Partners since 2021, reports more than 30 million users across 19,000-plus sports organizations. Through a 2024 partnership with SquadLocker, every new team created in the TeamSnap app gets a ready-to-shop team store.

    None of the four has announced roster-aware AI outfit recommendations comparable to Shop the Look. The closest move comes from GameChanger’s parent: DICK’S introduced Coach by DICK’S in May 2026, an agentic AI conversational experience built with Adobe Brand Concierge that began rolling out in the DICK’S app in June, per the company. DICK’S has not disclosed any integration with GameChanger team data.

    The Roster Data Advantage in Youth Sports Merchandise

    Fanatics infers a fan’s team from browsing and purchase history. A youth platform would know it outright.

    A registration or team-management app knows which team a child plays for, the sport and season, and often the uniform sizes and order timing. That is a more deterministic signal than anything a pro fan site can collect, and it maps directly to DeAragon’s description of where AI matching is heading.

    The catch is the catalog. Fanatics’ merchandising rules sit on top of clean, licensed product data. Youth programs often lack that structure, which is why dealers and team-store operators that already manage approved marks and vendor rules start with an edge.

    Fifty Looks in a Day, and No Roster-Aware Youth Version Yet

    Fanatics’ build answered the engineering question. Per OpenAI, a working set of looks took less than 24 hours, and a production-ready MVP took less than a week.

    The open question is which company with youth roster data and a clean program catalog will be first to connect them.

    YSBR provides this content on an “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, or use of the information, including any images, videos, or licenses associated with this article. For any concerns, including copyright issues or complaints, please contact YSBR directly.

    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

    • Newsletter: Subscribe to Youth Sports HQ, the most-read newsletter on the business of youth sports, delivering curated youth sports industry news and analysis to thousands of industry leaders every week.
    • Research: Read the Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, an exclusive YSBR and Kinetica Group analysis of market size, parent spending, and marketplace opportunities.
    • 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.
    • About: Learn more about Youth Sports Business Report and our editorial standards.

    Follow Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR): LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X | Substack

    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.

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    YSBR provides this content on an “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, or use of the information, including any images, videos, or licenses associated with this article. For any concerns, including copyright issues or complaints, please contact YSBR directly.

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