Key Takeaways
- The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation and Globe Life awarded $120,800 across 18 nonprofits in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
- Averaged across the recipient list, each award works out to roughly $6,700, though the release did not break out individual amounts.
- The program has moved more than $1.4 million to over 165 organizations since 2012, according to the Rangers.
- Field lighting, synthetic turf, and batting cage construction anchored this year’s projects, alongside equipment and umpire costs.
The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation and Globe Life awarded $120,800 in youth baseball and softball grants to 18 nonprofit organizations across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, the club announced September 3. The 2026 class of the Globe Life Baseball and Softball Grant Program marks the initiative’s 15th consecutive year, and recipients were scheduled to be recognized at Globe Life Field ahead of Saturday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, first pitch at 6:05 p.m. CT.
Where the Youth Baseball and Softball Grants Went
Twelve of the 18 recipients are based in Texas, spread well beyond the Dallas-Fort Worth market: Arlington, Fort Worth, Paris, Center Point, Brownsville, Everman, Helotes, Sundown, Tom Bean, Rule, and Wilson. Four awards went to Oklahoma organizations in Asher, Tulsa, Atoka, and Wapanucka. Two went to Louisiana groups in Monroe and Farmerville.
The recipient mix skews toward small-town booster clubs, Little Leagues, and school districts rather than large regional programs. Two Boys and Girls Club and independent-school entries round out the list. The Rangers said the program is designed to grow youth participation by funding initiatives that improve access to quality programs, facilities, and resources across the club’s five-state territory.
Capital Projects, Not Just Equipment Bags
The funded work leans heavily toward infrastructure. Greater Helotes Little League will purchase and install new field lighting systems, and Sabine Jarvis Little League in Fort Worth will add lights to its Coach-Pitch and T-Ball fields, per the release. Paschal High School Athletic Booster Club, also in Fort Worth, will install a synthetic-turf infield.
Batting cages show up three times: East Brownsville Little League is building an outdoor modular cage facility, Tom Bean Youth Sports Association is constructing cages at its baseball and softball fields, and Berryhill Baseball Boosters in Tulsa is repairing existing ones.
Two awards address damage and deferred maintenance directly. Center Point ISD will use its grant for softball field flood damage repairs, and Twin Cities Youth Sports Association in Rule, Texas, will use funds to complete a ballpark renovation already underway. Everman Youth Athletics is the only recipient the release lists as using funds for umpire compensation, alongside field maintenance and equipment, a reminder that officiating costs now sit in the same budget line as gear for many local operators.
Pitching machines appear in at least five award descriptions, making them the single most commonly funded piece of equipment in the 2026 class.
How Much Has the Program Awarded Since 2012?
Since its inception in 2012, the Globe Life Baseball and Softball Grant Program has awarded more than $1.4 million to over 165 organizations, the Rangers said. That implies an average award of roughly $8,500 across the program’s history, above this year’s per-recipient average of about $6,700 based on the totals in the release.
Globe Life funds the program alongside the foundation as part of its partnership with the club, and Rangers Sports Network presented by Progressive promotes it across the team’s five-state television territory. The broader Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation has invested more than $90 million in community programs since 1991, including the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex presented by Toyota.
“For 15 years, this program has helped us invest in one of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation’s most important priorities: developing the next generation,” said Karin Morris, Senior Vice President of Community Impact and Executive Director of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.
From Center Point’s Flood Repairs to Wilson ISD’s First Softball Season
Grants of this size do not build complexes. What they do, based on the stated uses, is close gaps that would otherwise sideline a season: a repaired cage, a lit T-Ball field, a flood-damaged infield made playable again. For programs in towns like Rule, Sundown, and Wapanucka, a five-figure check from an MLB club foundation is a meaningful share of an annual capital budget.
The clearest example sits at the bottom of the alphabetized list. Wilson ISD, in a Texas town of a few hundred residents, will use its award to supply essential equipment to a school softball team that launched this year and did not exist the last time these grants were announced.
Source: MLB.com, September 3, 2026, https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-texas-rangers-and-globe-life-distribute-grants-to-18-nonprofit-youth-baseball-and-softball-programs
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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.
