Key Takeaways
- OTTO EVENT projects 150% year-over-year team growth, supporting more than 130,000 teams across 1,600+ events in the 2026-27 season, per the company.
- The platform expects to process nearly 2 million tickets across junior sports this season, a 60% increase, according to the announcement.
- New partnerships include JVA-owned and sanctioned events, six additional USAV regions, and national qualifiers including the Mideast, Northeast, and Lone Star Classic.
- Two new AI tools, OTTO EVENT Builder and OTTO EVENT Live, target pre-event scheduling and on-site operations for large tournament operators.
SportWrench, the volleyball tournament management platform acquired into the OTTO SPORT AI portfolio, announced August 25 that it is rebranding as OTTO EVENT ahead of the 2026-27 club volleyball season. The company projects it will support more than 130,000 teams across 1,600+ events this season, representing 150% year-over-year growth in teams and 60% growth in events, per the release. OTTO EVENT also expects to process nearly 2 million tickets across junior sports, a 60% increase year over year.
The timing was deliberate. In a Q&A with YSBR, Eugene Tichenor, GM of SportWrench and Head of OTTO EVENT, said the company wanted the new name and platform in market before the club season opens September 1. “Introducing OTTO EVENT before the new season kicks off on September 1st allows for perfect timing and a seamless transition for event operators and club directors,” Tichenor said.
Qualifier Wins and Six New USAV Regions
The rebrand lands on top of a rapid partnership expansion. Over the past several months, the company was named the official event management partner for JVA-owned and sanctioned events and added six USAV regions: Evergreen, Columbia Empire, Excelsior Empire, North Country, Intermountain, and additional premier events across the Hoosier, Great Lakes, and Lone Star regions, per the announcement.
On the qualifier side, OTTO EVENT added several of the largest events on the USA Volleyball calendar, including the Mideast Qualifier, Northeast Qualifier, and Lone Star Classic Qualifier.
Tichenor told YSBR the partnerships were “extremely influential” in the growth projections, but pointed to geography as the other driver. “We have been expanding our geographical footprint into new areas, Texas and the Midwest to be specific,” he said, describing a word-of-mouth effect in a tight-knit volleyball community where operator adoption spreads quickly.
What the AI Tools Actually Do for Organizers
Alongside the rebrand, the company is rolling out two AI products aimed at the operational load of running large events.
OTTO EVENT Builder moves tournament scheduling into the browser with automated pool, bracket, and seeding capabilities. Tichenor said the tool is designed to learn each scheduler’s preferences over time. “OE Builder will learn each scheduler’s preferences and scheduling philosophy, and each event they build will be more automated, with less time spent reinventing the wheel,” he said.
OTTO EVENT Live gives organizers a mobile command center for event weekend: moving matches, updating officiating assignments, entering scores, managing courts, and handling teardown from one web-based interface. Tichenor framed the value in operator terms. “We always joke that we spend 48 hours at a facility over a 3-day event and end up watching little to no volleyball because of event operations,” he said. “OTTO EVENT Live will free up our operators to finally enjoy the event they are putting on.”
A redesigned public schedule experience for coaches, athletes, and families rounds out the launch, per the release.
How the Connected Ecosystem Reaches Families
OTTO EVENT is one piece of OTTO SPORT AI’s broader volleyball portfolio, which also includes University Athlete, the recruiting platform used by college volleyball programs, and OTTO SPORT Club, an AI-powered club management product.
Asked what that integration looks like for a family 12 to 24 months out, Tichenor described consolidating a fragmented experience. “Right now, a volleyball family lives in three apps that don’t know each other: one to buy event tickets and follow scores, another to see which college coaches viewed your kid’s profile or reached out, and another to chat with the team and check the practice schedule,” he told YSBR. “In 12 to 24 months, that’s one place.”
For club directors, he said tournament entry stops being a re-typing exercise because the event already knows their rosters, with schedules, hotel blocks, and ticket links landing on family calendars automatically. “That only works because we run all three: the tournaments, the club, and the recruiting side,” Tichenor said.
Scaling Service Ahead of a September 1 Season Start
The company’s stated challenge as it grows into the sport’s biggest events is support capacity. Tichenor told YSBR that customer service “will be the biggest operational hurdle as we scale,” and said the company has already made staffing additions, hiring account managers and customer success staff with volleyball event backgrounds and bringing on veteran event operators as consultants.
The proof points arrive quickly. The 2026-27 club season opens September 1, and the first wave of qualifiers and JVA events will test whether OTTO EVENT Builder and Live perform at the 100-court scale the company is now signed up to serve. With 1,600+ events and 130,000 teams projected, this season is the largest live test the former SportWrench platform has ever run under any name.
Source: OTTO SPORT AI press release, August 25, 2026
Source: YSBR Q&A with Eugene Tichenor, GM SportWrench / Head of OTTO EVENT, August 2026
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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.
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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.
