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S&P Global$SPGI · filed: grew revenue 7.9% in FY2025 to $15.3BNew shipTrillion Score 506Fall Risk LowNext year $14.5B–$18.2B sealedCheck ▾Close ▴
What S&P Global filed
Grew revenue 7.9% in FY2025 to $15.3 billion, operating margin 42.2% against a 4.8% median for consumer credit reporting, collection agencies, equity 50.9% of assets, and dividend per share up 18 years running. Every figure links to the filing it came from on S&P Global’s card. New ship: no warning signs. Trillion Score 506, #6 of 12 in its field; Fall Risk Low (how it is measured).
What the house said in advance
Revenue for the fiscal year after 2025-12-31 between $14.5B and $18.2B, an 80% range sealed on 26 Sept 2026 · receipt #5e6de8 · graded in public by the revenue in S&P Global’s next annual report.
Figures as filed with the SEC. Ranges, scores and boats are statistical descriptions of past filings, not ratings or recommendations. Reporting, not advice.
In plain words
Youth sports platforms drew **$2.1B** PE in Q1 2026, topping full-year 2025; S&P flags **11.2x** EBITDA multiples and facility rezoning optionality.
$2.1 billion
into youth and amateur sports platforms in the first…
$1.8 billion
recorded across all twelve months of 2025
11.2x
in Q1 2026 from
8.7x
in Q4 2024
Private equity deployed $2.1 billion into youth and amateur sports platforms in the first quarter of 2026, surpassing the $1.8 billion recorded across all twelve months of 2025, according to exclusive commentary from S&P Global's head of private markets valuations. The acceleration marks a structural shift in how allocators view the fragmented $19.2 billion U.S. youth sports economy—less as feel-good community infrastructure, more as repeatable SaaS margin with defensible network effects.
The deals cluster in three subsectors: tournament management software (league scheduling, referee payments, live-streaming bundles), facility aggregation plays (multi-sport complexes with ancillary retail), and team communication platforms that monetize through tiered subscription ladders and sponsorship integrations. S&P's private markets desk noted median EBITDA multiples for youth sports technology platforms rose to 11.2x in Q1 2026 from 8.7x in Q4 2024, reflecting both scarcity value and the expectation that consolidators can force cross-sell adoption across previously siloed user bases. One unnamed Northeastern rollup added 47 facilities in nine months, then flipped to a larger sponsor at a 34% step-up to basis—textbook playbook velocity.
This matters because the youth sports vertical sits at the intersection of three macro tailwinds allocators already respect: the premiumization of children's discretionary spend (parents treat travel-team dues as college-prep capex), the shift of advertising dollars to hyper-local digital inventory (a $120 million addressable sponsorship layer that didn't exist five years ago), and the post-COVID normalization of subscription fatigue among consumers who now accept tiered pricing for anything involving logistics. The platforms winning PE interest are those that own registration choke points—if a league can't run without your software, you control pricing. The facility plays, meanwhile, offer real-estate optionality: land near exurban highway interchanges, built out with volleyball courts and turf fields, can pivot to micro-fulfillment or last-mile logistics if the sports thesis softens. S&P's valuation team highlighted that 63% of recent youth sports deals included explicit rezoning clauses in purchase agreements, a hedge almost no one discussed two years ago.
Operators and allocators should watch three follow-on triggers in the next 90 to 180 days. First, whether Vista Equity or Thoma Bravo announces a tuck-in acquisition that signals Tier-1 sponsors now view this vertical as platform-grade rather than one-off tactical. Second, the April youth sports tournament season will stress-test recently integrated tech stacks—if post-merger churn exceeds 8%, the margin thesis compresses and follow-on rounds reprice. Third, watch for credit facilities extended to mid-market youth sports rollups; if regional banks or BDCs start offering 5x leverage on predictable subscription revenue, the vertical graduates from niche to institutionalized, and entry multiples will reset upward by summer.
The fact that S&P's private markets valuation head chose to surface this vertical in an on-record statement, rather than bury it in quarterly footnotes, tells you where the next $600 million in dry powder is already earmarked.
Branded by POPS4 · proof in 60 seconds
For the principal
If your family office holds EdTech or consumer subscription assets, youth sports platforms offer adjacency with real-estate downside protection and 34% step-up exits.
For the operator
Watch for Vista or Thoma Bravo tuck-ins in Q2; post-merger churn above 8% reprices the margin thesis and creates secondary entry windows.
For the house
Huang Goodman initiating coverage on three youth sports rollups; deploying $18M exploratory capital across registration SaaS and facility aggregators before summer repricing.
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