Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley announced he joined Senate and House lawmakers in supporting the Let Kids Play Act, legislation to stop Wall Street from pricing kids out of sports. The proposed legislation bans private equity firms from taking over youth sports, shutting down the vulture practices they use to jack up costs, and getting money back to the families who have been ripped off.
“Billionaire Wall Street executives are exploiting sports for profit,” said Merkley. “Instead of fostering work ethic and sportsmanship, private equity is focused on making money from an essential part of childhood. Let’s kick these greedy corporations out of kids’ sports to restore the dream of athletics for millions of youth across America.”
Over the last decade, youth sports have become prohibitively expensive. What was once an affordable, community-based tradition to give kids a chance to have fun and challenge themselves, has morphed into a $40 billion industry dominated by private equity, with the singular goal of extracting as much profit as possible from families.
Private equity firms have monetized and taken ownership of every layer of youth sports, including leagues, teams, venues, practice facilities, tournament circuits, uniforms, streaming services, hotels, and merchandise sales, boxing out local organizations that are invested in their community.
Once they’ve taken control of the competition, private equity wields their market power ruthlessly, sticking ordinary families with substantially higher prices, endless junk fees, and mandatory multi-year contracts. In just a few years, the cost of participating in youth sports has risen by 46 percent. Families routinely go into debt to keep their kids in sports, with the average cost exceeding $5,000 a year. As a result, millions of lower-income families have been locked out of the youth sports experience entirely, participating at half the rate of wealthier families.
The bicameral Let Kids Play Act stops Wall Street from pricing our kids out of sports by banning both private equity vulture investors and the vulture practices they use, and establishes strong enforcement tools to hold private equity accountable for the damage they cause by requiring:
- Mandatory exit from youth sports: Private equity firms are automatically designated as vulture investors and banned from youth sports — leagues, facilities, tournaments, and player platforms — unless they prove they have never used vulture practices. Banned investors must sell their ownership stakes and management rights in youth sports within two years.
- Refunds to families: This bill requires vulture investors to provide full refunds for any junk fees collected through vulture practices, cancels any predatory contracts, and wipes out any outstanding debts, interest, or late fees that were imposed by the private equity firms.
- Liability for debts and safety violations: Private equity vulture investors are held personally and financially responsible for any debts, legal judgments, or law violations, including child safety and labor infractions, that occur while they are in charge.
- Creation of Youth Sports Fund: Any penalties paid or money taken from these private equity firms is placed into a dedicated fund to provide scholarships, reduce costs for families, and keep local fields open for free community use.
- Rights for communities and families be respected: This bill gives states and parents legal standing to sue private equity firms in youth sports, stop their vulture practices, and receive compensation for any financial losses or harm they have caused.
Merkley has long warned about private equity taking over various aspects of American life, bringing its dangerous playbook to essential industries—from housing to health care and child care.
He has led the charge in the Senate to kick hedge funds out of the housing market as large institutional investors gobble up homes in communities across the United States, driving up both purchase prices and rents for single-family homes. He also cosponsored the Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act and Take Back Our Hospitals Act to fight back against private equity abuses in health care. As Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Merkley launched an investigation into two of the largest private equity-controlled child care companies.
The Let Kids Play Act is led by U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representatives Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Pat Ryan (D-NY), and Angie Craig (D-MN).
The bill is endorsed by the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), Groundwork Action, Sports Fans Coalition, Open Markets Institute, and Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF).
A one-pager of the bill is available by clicking here.
The full bill text is available by clicking here.
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