Key Takeaways
- Former NBA All-Star Jermaine O’Neal and VICTORYROAD+ formed a joint venture to build FUTR5, a prep sports media brand launching across social platforms and a premium subscription channel.
- O’Neal’s Dynamic Prep program serves as the anchor property, carrying three recent titles including the 2024-25 MaxPreps National Championship.
- The venture’s stated model routes fans from free short-form content into a paid SVOD destination for live games and documentaries.
- Dynamic Prep adds baseball in the 2026-27 school year, giving FUTR5 a second sport to program against.
Former NBA All-Star Jermaine O’Neal and VICTORYROAD+ have announced a joint venture to build FUTR5, a premium prep sports media brand featuring the nation’s top high school athletes. According to the announcement from VICTORYROAD, the brand will be anchored by O’Neal’s Dynamic Prep program and will launch across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and a dedicated premium SVOD channel on VICTORYROAD+. Financial terms of the venture were not disclosed.
What FUTR5 Will Program
The company said FUTR5 will give fans year-round access to live games, premium documentaries and original series, behind-the-scenes access, social-first series and real-time content, and exclusive athlete and team storytelling.
VICTORYROAD+ and VICTORYROAD Studios will work alongside O’Neal and Dynamic Prep on media strategy, production, programming, distribution, social growth, sponsorship, and monetization. That division of labor puts the entire commercial stack on the media partner’s side, with the prep program supplying the talent, the games, and the brand equity.
The announcement states FUTR5 will expand over time beyond Dynamic Prep to feature other elite athletes, teams, programs, and stories in prep sports.
Why Dynamic Prep Anchors the Launch
Dynamic Prep enters the venture with a competitive record that gives the content a reason to exist. Per the announcement, the program was named the 2024-25 MaxPreps National Champion, finished as runner-up at the 2025 Chipotle Nationals, and captured the 2025-26 OTE Championship.
That matters for a media property built on live rights. A prep program without national results has to manufacture stakes. One with three podium finishes in two seasons brings its own schedule value, its own recruiting storylines, and an audience already tracking the roster.
“Dynamic Prep has always been about developing young men on and off the court and preparing them for the next level,” said Jermaine O’Neal, Founder of Dynamic Prep. “This partnership gives us the opportunity to tell those stories in a bigger way.”
The Funnel From Free Social to Paid Subscription
The stated business model is a two-stage funnel. Short-form social content handles discovery. The subscription channel handles revenue.
“Our goal is to build a true 360-degree media model for prep sports,” said Mike Basone, Founder and CEO of VICTORYROAD Studios and VICTORYROAD+. “Social and short-form content will introduce fans to the athletes, teams, and stories shaping the next generation, while VICTORYROAD+ will give them a premium destination for live games, documentaries, behind-the-scenes access, and exclusive programming. It creates a clear path from discovery to membership and a deeper relationship between athletes and their fans.”
FUTR5 joins what the company describes as a growing network of athlete-led, creator-driven, and sports-property channels on VICTORYROAD+, each positioned as a destination for premium programming, direct fan engagement, monetization, and long-term content ownership.
VICTORYROAD Studios brings a documentary catalog to the venture. Its credits include Benedict Men, executive produced by Steph Curry; Legacy: In the Shadow of Greatness, featuring the families of Dwyane Wade, Evander Holyfield, and Randall Cunningham; Strongman: The Brian Shaw Story; and Rabid Fans, the Webby Award-winning animated series produced in partnership with Carmelo Anthony.
Baseball in 2026-27 Is the First Real Test of the Model
Dynamic Prep plans to add baseball for the 2026-27 school year, which the announcement frames as the foundation for a broader multi-sport brand. That expansion is the first measurable checkpoint. A single-sport channel built around one basketball program is a documentary series with a schedule attached. A second sport, on a different calendar, is what turns FUTR5 into year-round inventory worth a subscription.
Neither company disclosed subscription pricing for the FUTR5 channel, launch dates for the individual content formats, or the ownership split of the joint venture.
Source: VICTORYROAD, VICTORYROAD Staff, July 31, 2026, https://www.victoryroad.tv/post/victoryroad-and-jermaine-o-neal-launch-futr5
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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.
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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.
