Key Takeaways
- Rec has raised more than $20 million since its 2022 founding, according to Sports Business Journal, with WISE Ventures now added as a strategic backer.
- The company says its booking and registration software runs at more than 100 park districts and private facilities across 30 states.
- WISE Ventures plans to connect Rec with new investors first, then explore uses across Vikings and Orlando real estate developments.
- Rec co-founder Rachel Williams said the company will weigh a Series B raise in 2027, depending on growth and demand.
WISE Ventures, the investment arm of the Wilf family, has made a minority investment in Rec, a recreational sports platform that lets people rent court time, book lessons and enroll in programs at local rec centers, Sports Business Journal reported. Financial terms were not disclosed, but WISE Ventures Principal Konrad von Moltke described the deal as a “material investment” for both firms. Rec, founded in 2022, says its platform is used by more than 100 park districts and private facilities across 30 states.
Where Rec Fits Inside the Wilf Family Portfolio
Von Moltke said WISE’s near-term focus is introducing Rec to potential new investors. Further out, the firm will consider deploying Rec across the Wilf family’s sports and real estate holdings, which include the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Major League Soccer’s Orlando City SC, the National Women’s Soccer League’s Orlando Pride, and real estate development firms Garden Homes and Garden Commercial.
“The easiest and most natural place for this to plug in is the various mixed-use developments that the family is operating around Orlando and around the Vikings,” von Moltke said.
He named youth camps and affiliated youth programs connected to the family’s teams as a longer-term possibility, and framed the company’s potential reach more broadly than its current customer base.
“Some people look at this company and just see it as a parks and rec offering. I see it as a way to power spaces and a much broader market than first meets the eye,” von Moltke said.
How Does the Recreational Sports Platform Rec Work?
Rec’s core product connects participants with local recreation centers for court rentals, lesson bookings and program enrollment. Co-founder and President Rachel Williams said the platform is sport-agnostic and could expand into broader facility or community program management over time.
The company also recently launched an AI-powered assistant called Seb, designed to automate manual administrative work for Rec’s facility and park district customers.
Williams described the underlying problem Rec is built to solve as one of coordination between facilities, programs and participants. “One of the things that we often find is that enabling more programming, and sports and activity to happen, is a people problem,” she said.
Strategic Capital Following an $11M Series A
According to Sports Business Journal, Rec has raised more than $20 million to date. That total includes an $11 million Series A in 2025 led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Thirty Five Ventures, Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, the Chicago Cubs’ Marquee Ventures, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald Jr.
In August 2026, USTA Ventures, the investment arm of the United States Tennis Association, also announced an investment in Rec. Williams said that deal was part of an effort to bring in “strategic capital that follows onto the Series A.” The WISE Ventures investment follows the same pattern, adding an owner group with an NFL franchise, two professional soccer clubs and active real estate development pipelines.
From Orlando Developments to a Possible 2027 Series B
Rec’s cap table now includes investment vehicles tied to the NFL’s Vikings, MLB’s Cubs, the USTA, and professional athletes across basketball and football. For a company whose current footprint is largely park districts and private facilities, the Wilf family brings something different: physical spaces under development that von Moltke identified as Rec’s most natural next deployment.
Williams said Rec will consider raising a Series B in 2027, with timing tied to how quickly the company and customer demand continue to grow. Whether the Wilf family’s Orlando and Minnesota mixed-use projects become live Rec deployments before that raise remains the open question.
Source / Adapted From: Sports Business Journal, Rob Schaefer, October 28, 2026, https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/10/28/wise-ventures-invests-in-recreational-sports-platform-rec/
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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.
