NEW: Youth sports is now costing parents as much as $25,000 a year.
Private equity and corporations are turning a childhood pastime into something only the wealthy can afford.
Youth sports has become a $40 billion industry, and the steep costs are crushing American families.
EXCLUSIVE: MADE Hoops is taking youth basketball global.
The grassroots basketball brand announced a new partnership with FIBA to launch the MADE Hoops Global Games, the first-ever middle school basketball championship. The inaugural event is set for June 12-14 in Springfield, Massachusetts, with teams from around the world competing under official FIBA rules.
For MADE, it’s another signal that the company is thinking way bigger than the traditional AAU playbook. Founded by Chad Babel and backed by names like Boardroom, 35V, SC Holdings, LRMR Ventures, Paolo Banchero, and European basketball power broker Misko Ražnatović — the founder of BeoBasket and one of the sport’s most influential agents — MADE is building toward a more global future for the next generation of players.
ESPN sources: the Raiders agreed to trade five-time Pro-Bowl DE Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for 2026 and 2027 first-round picks.
The trade cannot be processed until next week, but it is in place. And Crosby is expected to be a Raven with two 1s back to Vegas.
The NBA has tried to get away from PG’s and replace them with wing initiators and that experiment has been a complete disaster. Bring back the PG.
~Yoda