Uber has signed its first national youth sports deal, naming US Sports Camps its Official Rideshare Partner for the summer 2026 season. The agreement gives families with a registered camper access to Uber Teen, the supervised account that lets athletes ages 13 to 17 request their own rides to and from camp. Uber said it is the company’s first North America-wide partnership with a national youth sports organization, spanning more than 20 locations across the United States and Canada.
We had Cait O’Donovan, Uber’s Head of Teens and Kids on the Jr. Sport Marketing show where she described a partnership built around a single problem: getting the athlete to the field.
5 Key Takeaways from Our Conversation with Uber
Why Uber’s Youth Sports Debut Started at Summer Camp
US Sports Camps is the licensed operator of Nike Sports Camps and has run programs for five decades, O’Donovan said, coordinating thousands of daily schedules nationwide. Summer is one of the most logistically challenging stretches of the year for families, she said, with school out, parents still working, and activity plans that shift week to week.
That made camp the natural place to start. If Uber can make transportation work in the most demanding window of the year, O’Donovan said, it can make it work almost anywhere.
Making the Ride the Product, Not the Logo
O’Donovan drew a clear line between Uber’s approach and a standard sponsorship. “We want to be more than just a logo on a banner,” she said. “What we really want to contribute is the ride itself.”
Her framing stayed consistent throughout the conversation: Uber wants to be useful, not simply visible. The brands that earn a lasting place in youth sports, she said, are the ones that solve a real problem for families rather than the ones that just get seen. For Uber, that problem is the trip that gets a kid to camp in the morning and home safely in the afternoon.
Who Uber Teen Was Built For
The core user turned out to be broader than Uber first predicted, O’Donovan said. Early assumptions about city versus suburban users, or school year versus summer, did not hold. Uber Teen is used by many types of families, with the sharpest need among households without a second car, a flexible schedule, or a built-in carpool network.
The barrier, in her telling, is rarely cost or interest. It is the ride. When no driver is available, she said, the kid often stays home.
Safety is how the product earns its way with parents. Only screened, highly rated drivers who clear a multi-step review are offered teen trips, O’Donovan said, and each ride includes PIN verification, live trip tracking, and RideCheck technology that flags unusual events on a route. “Trust is earned through transparency, not promises,” she said, adding that parents want to see safety for themselves rather than be told a trip is safe.
From Camp Drop-Off to the 5 a.m. Swim Practice
O’Donovan said the near-term goal is proving that reliable transportation for teen athletes works through the school year and into summer, not only at camps but across the regular season, tournament weekends, and Saturday morning practices, down to the 5 a.m. swim team families she made a point to acknowledge. She also pointed to a new Uber Teen partnership with Life360 that lets members link the two accounts.
The camp agreement runs through the summer. Uber’s youth sports push reaches further than that: a teen account a parent sets up once, so a missing ride never again decides whether a kid gets to play.
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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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- Research: Read the Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, an exclusive YSBR and Kinetica Group analysis of market size, parent spending, and marketplace opportunities.
- Jobs: Browse the YSBR Youth Sports Job Board, the most comprehensive destination for careers in youth sports, with hundreds of active listings across facility management, league operations, coaching, sports technology, and marketing.
- Services: Find vetted partners and solutions for your organization in the YSBR Services Hub, connecting youth sports operators, brands, and investors with verified providers across the industry.
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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.
