Also in the ’90s, Disney built the Wide World of Sports Complex, which proved to be wildly successful. It launched the beginning of travel sports and sports tourism because Disney’s success then was observed by other communities who thought: If they can build a sports complex, why don’t we try it in our little town? Those are the places that are pulling in teams and tournaments and competitions where those private entities have their games.
Then, in 2008, we had another recession, which led to a further decline in public spending and a realization among private enterprise that they can make money off this.
I was shocked at how much money is being made. The figure you cite in the book was an estimated $19.2 billion — which is more than the value of the N.F.L. And what really struck me was that there was a 90 percent increase in spending since 2010. I know you just mentioned the recession in 2008, which cut more funding from rec sports, but what else has exponentially accelerated that money spent?
I spoke to the woman who did the research on this, and she said that the increase is due to a lot of software and tech investments. There are now companies that provide software for leagues, and organizing and videography to send tape of your little superstar to college coaches. She said the next step in this sports tourism is upgrading the facilities so that parents, they’re not just going to some stadium in the middle of nowhere, but maybe they have a nice coffee bar and comfortable seating.
In the book, you argue that all the money in the system corrupts oft-cited benefits of sports, like character building. I’d love to hear you speak more about that.
As soon as you add money, it changes what’s at stake. I think one of the most important bits of research in the book is what came out of the Families in Sport Lab at Utah State. They discovered that the more parents spend on their kids’ sports, the less the kid enjoys it and the more pressure they feel. Because of this youth sports industry, there’s now this pressure on kids to specialize at a young age, or to pick one sport and play it for as long as possible.
There’s a consensus among sports doctors and psychologists that this is not healthy. It’s not developmentally in a child’s best interest, but because there’s this industry that’s selling that message, that’s what has become of childhood for a lot of kids, is playing one sport all the time. Then if you can’t cut it, or you hate it, or you don’t want to have them swim five days a week when they’re 6 years old, you just leave it. That’s how it has corrupted what’s wonderful.
How Money Is Ruining Youth Sports
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