Key Takeaways
- HappyKids, Future Today’s free ad-supported kids streaming platform, will carry MLB Clubhouse programming in what the company calls its first deal with a major sports league.
- Major League Baseball reports a 23% year-over-year increase in viewers ages 2 to 11 across national broadcasts, the audience this distribution deal targets.
- Future Today says 85% of HappyKids viewing happens as family co-viewing, and the platform generates more than 800 million monthly impressions.
- HappyKids says it plans to pursue additional partnerships with other major sports leagues in the months ahead.
HappyKids, the ad-supported streaming platform for kids and families operated by Future Today, has partnered with Major League Baseball to distribute MLB Clubhouse, the league’s youth-focused digital content platform. The companies announced the deal on September 15, 2026, and described it as HappyKids’ first partnership with a major sports league. Financial terms were not disclosed.
What MLB Clubhouse Brings to HappyKids
According to the announcement, HappyKids will feature a curated slate of MLB Clubhouse programming: original animated series, behind-the-scenes player features, game highlights, and creative and educational content built to introduce baseball and softball to young viewers.
The content lives at happykids.tv and across HappyKids apps on Roku, Fire TV, Samsung Plus TV, Vizio, LG and other major streaming devices, per the release. The companies said additional programming will roll out on an ongoing basis after the initial slate.
Gregg Klayman, SVP Product Development and Content Strategy at Major League Baseball, framed the deal as a reach play. “Reaching young fans means meeting them on the platforms where they already spend their time with their families,” Klayman said in the announcement, adding that the partnership extends MLB Clubhouse well beyond the league’s own channels.
How Fast Is MLB’s Youngest Audience Growing?
The league’s stated motivation is a youth audience that is already trending up. MLB reported a 23% year-over-year increase among fans ages 2 to 11 across national broadcasts, according to the release. MLB Clubhouse was built for that demographic, and the HappyKids deal moves it onto a platform whose entire audience sits inside it.
HappyKids segments its library by age band, 0 to 4, 4 to 6, 6 to 9 and tweens, with a separate family section for co-viewing, per the company’s description of the app. That structure gives MLB a way to place baseball and softball content directly in front of the specific ages it is growing, rather than relying on kids finding league content on general sports platforms.
The Co-Viewing Case for a Kids AVOD Platform
Future Today’s pitch rests on two numbers. The company says 85% of HappyKids viewing is family co-viewing, and the platform logs more than 800 million monthly impressions. The release also states that demand for brand-safe sports content built for young viewers has risen as families shift from cable to free, ad-supported platforms.
For a league, co-viewing means a parent is typically in the room when a child watches, which is where new fandom tends to take root. For HappyKids, adding a professional league gives the platform a content category it did not previously have.
David Di Lorenzo, SVP Content Acquisitions and Partnerships at Future Today, put it plainly in the announcement: “Sports fandom starts young, and we want HappyKids to be the place where that fandom is born.”
Future Today operates HappyKids alongside its other flagship channels, Fawesome and iFood.tv, and runs a technology platform that manages streaming services for other content owners, according to the company.
One League Down, More on HappyKids’ Wish List
The MLB deal is positioned as an opening move rather than a one-off. HappyKids said the partnership reflects broader ambitions in sports, and that it intends to build on the MLB collaboration with additional partnerships across major sports leagues in the coming months.
That puts the youth AVOD category in a new position. A platform that previously competed on nursery rhymes, stories and family movies is now distributing content from a major professional league and openly recruiting others. The next question is which league follows MLB onto the platform, and how quickly.
Source: GlobeNewswire via Business Insider, September 15, 2026, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/happykids-and-major-league-baseball-partner-to-bring-mlb-clubhouse-to-kids-and-families-everywhere-1036546463
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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.
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.
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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.
