Greg Olsen is drawing up a new playbook in youth sports with his latest venture: Youth Inc., a media network and digital commerce platform that serves as a central location for youth athletes, parents and coaches.
Youth Inc. stems from a video podcasts series by the same name hosted by the former NFL tight end that was launched in 2022 by Audiorama Inc. -- the production company started by Olsen, former fellow Carolina Panther Ryan Kalil, actor Vince Vaughn and Powerhouse Capital.
The youth brand was founded alongside former Fanatics executive Ryan Baise (who serves as CEO) and Tim Murphy (President of Media), a longtime Audacy and New York Times executive. In May 2024, Youth Inc. raised $4.5M in a funding round that was led by Will Ventures, Ryan Sports Ventures, Hello Sunshine co-founder Jim Toth, ISOS Ventures, Bills QB Josh Allen, Texans QB CJ Stroud and Ohio State football coach Ryan Day.
The New York Times in July reported that youth sports are a $40B industry with many looking to capitalize in this space.
“We’re trying to streamline a lot of processes that are going on and just consolidate that through our platform to make it a little easier … but also understand we have to keep the kids at the forefront of all of this,” said Olsen, who also balances his time as a middle school football coach at Charlotte Christian on top of his broadcasting duties with Fox.
Youth Inc has brought in native brands RCX Sports, Unrivaled Sports and Players Health as sponsors and are seeking to add more into their roster. Outside of the podcast, consumers have access to educational media content and editorial features.
A new component to the Youth Inc. machine is the e-commerce marketplace. Club teams and schools can sell themed merchandise from various apparel brands such as Columbia, Johnnie-O, Rhone and Wear by Erin Andrews. “Bringing some level of professional wisdom into this space can really be a good thing for the families, and that’s ultimately the most important thing,” Baise said.
A new season of the Youth Inc podcast debuts today with Tom Brady as a guest. Day, Stroud, U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin, Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw and St. Bonaventure men’s basketball GM Adrian Wojnarowski are among the list of future guests.
“We’ve added to our team over the last couple of months and a lot of people pulling in the same direction that are very talented [and] have a lot of expertise in their given field,” Olsen said. “If we can continue to kind of keep them together all moving towards this greater vision of Youth Inc., we think it has a chance to be pretty significant.”
Olsen and Baise sat with SBJ’s Xavier Hunter to discuss the youth sports venture’s growth since its launch and its new e-commerce feature.
