News

October 19, 2021

LNC Partners Exits its Investment in i9 Sports

October 19, 2021. i9 Sports Corporation (“i9 Sports” or the “Company”), the nation’s leading franchisor of multi-sport youth leagues and a portfolio company of LNC Partners, has been acquired by Youth Enrichment Brands, a portfolio company of Roark Capital. The transaction will provide the Company with significant additional resources to accelerate its growth and further its mission to “help kids succeed in life through sports.” The i9 Sports management team, led by President Brian Sanders, will continue in their current roles.

“Our partnership with LNC helped accelerate the growth of i9 Sports over the past several years. LNC Partners offered significant strategic support while also sharing our goals, values, and an appreciation for the athlete experience that makes i9 Sports special,” stated Brian Sanders. He continued, “In addition, LNC’s ability to provide flexible capital in the form of both equity and debt was a significant advantage over the course of their long-term investment.”

“It has been an honor to work with the team at i9 Sports since LNC Partners first invested in the Company in 2016” noted Matt Kelty, Managing Partner at LNC. “i9 Sports saw its system revenue double under our ownership, and it was able to achieve this growth while staying true to its motto of offering programs that represent ‘the way youth sports should be.’”

“i9 Sports aligned perfectly with LNC’s investment focus, as a high-quality business services platform with significant recurring revenue, excellent leadership, and strong growth opportunities,” said Kevin Cunningham, Managing Director at LNC Partners. “We are looking forward to watching i9 Sports continue to flourish on the Youth Enrichment Brands platform.”

Other LNC Partners employees supporting i9 Sports included Mark Raterman, Managing Partner, and York Lu, Vice President. North Point Mergers and Acquisitions served as financial advisor and DLA Piper served as legal counsel to i9 Sports.

About LNC Partners

LNC Partners is a private equity firm focused on assisting middle market companies achieve their potential by offering strategic support and flexible capital in the form of equity (majority or minority positions) and debt. The firm is based in Northern Virginia and has over $500 million of capital under management. LNC Partners invests across a broad range of service industries and typically provides between $5 million to $35 million of capital to companies that generate at least $2 million of EBITDA. More information on LNC Partners can be found at www.LNC-Partners.com.

About i9 Sports

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Tampa, FL, i9 Sports is the nation’s largest franchisor of community-based, multi-sport youth leagues with locations across 34 states. i9 Sports offers recreational sports leagues, camps, and clinics to kids in popular sports such as flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, ZIP Lacrosse^TM, and volleyball. Please visit www.i9sports.com to learn more about i9 Sports.

About Youth Enrichment Brands

Youth Enrichment Brands is the nation’s leading youth activities platform, offering camps, clinics, programs, and leagues that annually serve more than 600,000 kids ranging from 2 to 18 years old across US Sports Camps, i9 Sports, and U.S. Baseball Academy. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in San Rafael, CA, US Sports Camps is the nation’s leading youth sports camp company and the official provider of Nike Sports Camps. US Sports Camps’ offering spans more than 20 different sports, eSports, and academic programs.

For More Information

Matt Kelty
Tel. 703-651-2147
[email protected]

Robert Monk
Tel. 703-651-2148
[email protected]

Mark Raterman
Tel. 703-651-2149
[email protected]