Key Takeaways
- 68% of sports families spend $2,000 or less per year on youth athletics, and just 11% exceed $5,000, per the AP/Ipsos poll
- 44% of K-12 sports parents say future NIL earning potential plays a role in their decision to enroll a child in sports
- Scheduling and time commitment outrank fees and travel as the top household challenges, each cited by 84% of sports parents
- Flag football (11%) now edges tackle (10%) in current K-12 participation, and 47% of sports parents support banning tackle before high school
FULL REPORT HERE
A new youth sports parents poll from the Associated Press and Ipsos offers one of the cleanest reads on the market in years. Conducted July 21-26, 2026 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel, the survey covered 1,737 U.S. adults with an oversample of 510 parents of K-12 children who play organized sports. Per the poll, 54% of K-12 parents have at least one child in organized sports. Five findings stand out for operators, investors, and brands.
Most Families Spend Far Less Than the Industry Assumes
The spending distribution is the poll’s most grounding number. According to the survey, 30% of sports parents spend $1 to $500 annually on equipment, fees, training, and travel, and another 37% spend $501 to $2,000. That puts 68% of the market at or below $2,000 per year. Only 11% of households spend more than $5,000, and just 5% clear $8,000.
The heavy-spend travel family exists, but it is a thin tail, not the center of the market. The participation data tells the same story: per the poll, 72% of sports kids have played on a rec team and 50% currently do, while travel or club participation sits at 44% ever and 29% currently. That gap between “ever” and “currently” in travel ball, roughly a third of families who tried it and left, is worth attention from any operator whose model depends on multi-year retention at premium price points.
NIL Is Now Part of the Enrollment Decision
According to the poll, 44% of K-12 sports parents say the possibility of their child earning money from name, image, and likeness plays a major or minor role in their decision to enroll that child in sports. That includes 18% who call it a major role.
NIL trails the more established motivators, with 65% of parents citing college acceptance odds and 62% citing athletic scholarship potential, but a monetization concept that did not exist at the college level five years ago now factors into nearly half of K-12 enrollment decisions. For training academies, recruiting platforms, and media companies building products around athlete branding, this is demand-side confirmation from a probability sample rather than a convenience survey.
What Is the Biggest Challenge for Youth Sports Families?
Not the check. Per the poll, scheduling and logistics and the time commitment tie as the most common household challenges, each cited as a major or minor challenge by 84% of sports parents. Team or club fees follow at 73%, travel at 72%, and equipment or uniform costs at 69%.
Cost dominates the public conversation about youth sports, but the operational burden ranks higher inside the households actually paying. The quit data reinforces the point. Among parents whose child stopped playing a sport, 85% cited lost interest, 55% cited the child not feeling good enough, and 41% cited pressure to perform. Expense ranked fourth at 33%. For scheduling platforms, team management software, and tournament operators, the calendar is the pain point. For brands, sponsor messaging built purely around affordability may be aimed at the fourth problem on the list.
Parents Report More Pride Than Burnout
The poll complicates the “youth sports is broken” framing. Among K-12 sports parents, 89% say the benefits of youth sports outweigh the drawbacks for their family. Asked which words describe their experience extremely or very well, 79% chose proud and 77% chose happy, against 16% for stressed and 15% for burned out. Only 7% report being very or extremely worried about pushing their child too hard.
Sports parents also rate every tested drawback lower than the general public does. On brain injury risk, 88% of all adults call it a drawback versus 75% of sports parents. On bullying or hazing, the gap is 77% versus 60%. Whether that reflects informed comfort or self-selection, the customer base is measurably more positive about the product than the surrounding discourse suggests.
Flag Passes Tackle as Football’s Entry Point
Per the poll, 11% of sports parents report a child currently playing flag football against 10% for tackle. Concussion concern is the visible driver: 40% of parents say they would encourage a child who wanted to play tackle to choose another sport, and 47% of K-12 sports parents support banning tackle football before high school. Among all adults, support for that ban reaches 55%.
The policy section carries two more signals. Tax credits for youth sports expenses draw 70% support from sports parents, including 40% strong support, with only 17% opposed. And the AP tested a law banning private equity from investing in youth sports: 42% of all adults support it, 41% of sports parents do, and roughly three in ten selected “don’t know.” The largest single response being uncertainty suggests no organized backlash has formed, but the question appearing in a national poll at all confirms PE’s presence in the industry has reached general public awareness.
A 510-Parent Sample Rewrites the Sales Deck
The poll hands the industry a set of citable, probability-based numbers that cut against several standing assumptions: the median family budget is modest, the calendar hurts more than the invoice, parents are happier than the headlines, and football’s entry point has shifted to flag. The affordability policy lever also now has measured support, with the youth sports tax credit polling at 70% among the parents who would claim it. The open question the poll leaves behind is the private equity one. With three in ten Americans undecided on whether PE belongs in youth sports, the next wave of investor activity will be marketed to a public that has not yet made up its mind.
Source: Associated Press/Ipsos Poll, July 2026, [URL]
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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.
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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.
