Posted by Washington Post on January 8, 2026, 11:07 am
I don't know how to get past the paywall, but this headline caught my attention:
"The soaring price of youth sports: $50 to try out, $3,000 to play... Parents are struggling to keep up as costs and options rise for kids to play ball. Investors see an opportunity."
Youth sports has irrationally high demand - precisely the thing that the Patagonia vest private equity crowd drools over.
So if you think it's bad now, just wait until your grandkids want to play softball.
We're racing to the top and bottom. The top 10% of earners account for 50% of spending, and the same thing is going to happen in this little cottage industry. What a shame.
Re: Today's article
Posted by Interesting on January 8, 2026, 1:59 pm, in reply to "Today's article"
My daughters played travel softball 15 years ago. We paid $2500 in dues. It's only gone up $500 in 15 years? That doesn't seem that bad. Especially, as much as tournaments have gone up.
Re: Today's article
Posted by @Interesting on January 8, 2026, 5:11 pm, in reply to "Re: Today's article"
I didn't read the article, and don't even know what sports it was citing exactly.
But... we're in last year of the travel ball run.... it ain't $2,500 no more!
Direct costs (dues, fundraising that needs to get covered one way or the other) - more like $6K Cost of traveling God's green earth in summer and fall - easily another $20K. Unis, equipment and lessons - I refuse to add up
My daughter fortunately got a full ride, but all told we're certainly not saving the equivalent of 4 years college cost!
