Key Takeaways
- U.S. Travel Association’s 2026 Group Travel Report singles out youth and amateur sports as the only segment that held firm through a year when group room bookings fell 1.6%.
- Organized sports participation reached 55% of U.S. youth, up from a 2021 low of 51%, according to the report, supporting an industry valued above $40 billion.
- Private equity’s share of youth sports sector deals climbed from 27.3% to 36.9% in 2025, per the report’s case study.
- In some destinations, youth and amateur sports now generate more group business than meetings and conventions, per U.S. Travel’s managing director of group travel.
- Full report here
Youth sports travel was the standout performer in the U.S. Travel Association’s U.S. Group Travel Report: Strength Beneath the Surface, released May 5, 2026. The report, which covers business meetings, conventions, tradeshows, and adjacent segments, describes 2025 as a flat year for group travel overall, with group room bookings down 1.6% year over year, according to STR CoStar data cited in the report. Youth and amateur sports moved in the opposite direction. Kevin Hinton, Managing Director of Group Travel at U.S. Travel, wrote in his closing remarks that youth and amateur sports “never wavered” and has become the top-producing group segment in some destinations, surpassing meetings and conventions.
The report was produced with presenting sponsor IMEX and research partners Tourism Economics, Granicus, and Maritz, with supporting partners including the Sports Events & Tourism Association, Marriott International, Hyatt, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and Northstar Travel Group. Its youth sports section draws on six secondary sources, including the National Survey of Children’s Health, The New York Times, Stone Creek Partners, and two Youth Sports Business Report articles.
A Flat Year for Group Travel, Except on the Fields
The report describes 2025 as a year of “resilience instead of rebound.” After the CEIR Total Index, a measure of the B2B exhibition sector, reached 95.6% of 2019 levels in Q4 2024, the segment entered 2025 expecting a full return to pre-pandemic performance. It did not arrive.
According to the report, airport volume grew just 0.3% versus 2024, weekday hotel occupancy fell 1.4% on average by month, and group hotel demand declined in every month from April through November, bottoming at -8.4% in August before narrowing to -0.6% in October. Government meetings dropped sharply after Q1 and, per Hinton, “never returned.” International group business travel spending fell 3% year over year to 86% of 2019 levels, while domestic spending rose 3% to 104% of 2019, according to U.S. Travel’s fall forecast cited in the report.
The report attributes the softness to external pressure rather than weak demand. Only 23% of businesses were confident in tariff stability, per a KPMG survey it cites, and 37% of travel managers reported decreased employee willingness to travel to the U.S. for work, per a Global Business Travel Association poll. Meanwhile, RFP volumes reached 109% of 2019 levels, according to Tourism Economics data in the report, which U.S. Travel reads as evidence that underlying demand stayed intact.
Against that backdrop, the report’s Section 2 notes that “growth in youth sports travel accelerated” while business events held roughly flat.
How Big Is the Youth Sports Travel Market?
The report’s youth sports case study puts the industry’s valuation above $40 billion, citing The New York Times’ July 2025 coverage of private equity activity in the sector. Participation is the underlying driver: 55% of U.S. youth now play organized sports, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health data cited in the report, up from 51% in 2021 and reversing a pre-pandemic decline.
Capital is following participation. The report cites Youth Sports Business Report’s January 2026 trends analysis for the finding that private equity’s share of youth sports sector deals rose from 27.3% to 36.9% in 2025. On the public side, it points to Lawton, Oklahoma’s planned $35 million to $60 million youth sports complex, drawn from YSBR’s April 2025 analysis of municipal sports infrastructure investment, as an example of local governments treating youth sports tourism as an economic driver.
John David, President and CEO of the Sports Events & Tourism Association, told U.S. Travel that sports tourism “has been on fire since the pandemic” with participation rising every year. Chris Finelli, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Hyatt, called youth sports “a significant business, especially for cities outside the top metropolitans.”
Why Mid-Sized Cities Are Building for Tournaments
The geography of youth sports travel is the report’s central point for its hotel and destination audience. Large-scale sports infrastructure investment is concentrated outside America’s biggest cities, according to Stone Creek Partners’ sports mega-complex directory cited in the report, and multi-day “tournacations” at those facilities are directing national attention and spending to smaller and mid-sized markets.
That trend runs parallel to a shift the report identifies in business travel. Rising costs pushed corporate meetings toward Tier 2 cities in 2025, with American Express naming Richmond, Charleston, Columbus, Boise, and New Orleans among the fastest-growing corporate travel destinations by year-over-year growth, per the report. Gail Frazer, Senior Vice President of Sales and Distribution at Marriott, is quoted saying there is “a ton of great product in 2nd and 3rd tier cities” that clients should consider.
U.S. Travel connects the two directly. The report states that professional parents traveling to tournaments may develop affinity for lower-cost cities and venues as hosts for their own business events, and that as cities add entertainment and mixed-use options around sports complexes, they gain the ability to attract business travel as well. The report calls this the youth sports tourism “halo” and says it may expand beyond the fields.
For facility developers and destination marketers, that framing matters. The report is telling hotel sales teams and convention bureaus that a youth sports complex is a lead generator for meetings business, not a separate line of trade.
What 2026 Looks Like for Group Travel Demand
The report frames 2026 as an inflection point. According to a Navan survey it cites, 86% of business travelers expect to travel more as a group this year, up from 73% a year earlier. An AMEX Global Meetings & Events Forecast cited in the report found 85% of meeting professionals optimistic about 2026, a five-year high.
Sports sits at the center of the 2026 outlook beyond youth tournaments. The report cites Tourism Economics projections of 1.24 million international visitors to the U.S. for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 700,000 of whom would not otherwise travel, spread across 11 host cities. David Blansfield, Executive Vice President of Northstar Meetings Group, is quoted calling sports “a potential lifesaver for the industry.” Hinton wrote that youth sports momentum “will only grow, especially with the World Cup spotlighting sports in 2026.”
Family travel intent supports the same direction. The report cites the Family Travel Association’s 2025 survey finding that 92% of parents expect to travel with their children in the next year, the highest level since the pandemic. It also notes that 20% of 2025 travelers took a trip solely to attend a live event, according to Forbes.
The report does carry a caution that applies to youth sports operators as much as convention sales teams. Booking windows compressed in 2025 and, in Frazer’s words, “volatility isn’t an exception anymore, it’s the norm.” Later registrations and shorter hotel booking windows, per the report, reflect delayed decision-making by group buyers.
Tournacations Are Now Competing With Conventions for Hotel Rooms
The U.S. Group Travel Report was written for the meetings and conventions industry, and its data is strongest there. Its youth sports section relies on secondary sources rather than primary booking data, which leaves the segment’s actual travel volume, room nights, and spend unquantified in the report itself. That gap is notable given the report’s own conclusion about the segment’s weight.
What the report does establish is where youth sports travel now ranks in the eyes of the largest travel trade association in the country. Hyatt, Marriott, and the Las Vegas CVA lent their names to a report that identifies youth and amateur sports as the one group segment that grew while government meetings collapsed, international attendance fell in 18 of the top 20 inbound markets, and large corporations cut travel budgets by an average of 35%, per the Deloitte study it cites.
Hinton’s assessment, in a document built for hotel owners and convention bureaus, is that youth and amateur sports has become the top-producing group segment in some destinations, ahead of meetings and conventions.
- Source: U.S. Travel Association, May 5, 2026, https://www.ustravel.org/press/us-travel-association-report-finds-strong-future-group-travel-reinforcing-its-essential-role
- Source: Hotel News Resource / SalesAndCatering.com, Mike Pavicich, September 1, 2026, https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article142723.html
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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.
Youth Sports Business Report resources
- Newsletter: Subscribe to Youth Sports HQ, the most-read newsletter on the business of youth sports, delivering curated youth sports industry news and analysis to thousands of industry leaders every week.
- 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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Check out Jr. Sports Marketing on YouTube or Spotify
Hosted by Cameron Korab, founder of Youth Sports Business Report, Jr. Sports Marketing features candid 1-on-1 conversations with the brands, athletes, leagues, and innovators building the future of youth sports. Each episode breaks down how the smartest brands are activating, building equity, and winning with youth sports families. If you’re an operator, founder, investor, or marketer trying to understand where this space is headed, this is your show.
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.
