LakePoint Sports, a journey and youth sports activities vacation spot, will host the Fifth Annual National Youth Sports Summit offered by SportsEngine on Tuesday, October 28, from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET. The annual occasion will happen on the Champions Center on the LakePoint Sports campus.
“As we celebrate the fifth year of the National Youth Sports Summit, we’re proud to convene, connect, and collaborate with leaders across the travel and youth sports industry. At a time when the industry is experiencing exponential growth and investment, this Summit offers a galvanizing moment to celebrate our collective wins, address the opportunities ahead, and continue to collaborate, innovate, and elevate the experience for every athlete, fan, and family,” says Mark M. O’Brien, President & CEO of LakePoint Sports.
This yr’s summit will function sports activities trade executives, leaders, and stakeholders throughout a collection of expert-led discussions and spotlights, together with:
Welcome and Opening
- Mark M. O’Brien, President & CEO, LakePoint Sports
- Will McIntosh, President, Digital Platforms and Ventures, Versant
The Travel and Youth Sports Industry: Hits, Headwinds, and Highlights
- Mark M. O’Brien, President & CEO, LakePoint Sports
- Todd Smith, President & CEO, Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA)
Prioritizing the Fan Experience: Streaming, Access, and Content
- Matt Hong, President, Sports, Versant
- Youth Sports Impact: Scale, Momentum, and More
- Bill Seely, President, Varsity Spirit
- Rosie Spaulding, CEO, League One Volleyball (LOVB)
Legacy of Youth Sports: Lifelong Memories and Collectibles
- Darren Rovell, Investor, Media and Business Entrepreneur
- Steve Ziff, CEO, Cllct
Driving the Game Forward: Media, Data, & Deals
- Cameron Korab, Founder, Youth Sports Business Report
- Nick Busto, VP, Video Operations, SportsEngine
- David Rudolph, CEO, PlayOn! Sports
Growing the World’s Biggest Sport: FIFA World Cup Ripple Effect
- Dave Smith, Executive Director, NASA-TopHat
- Bria Garner, Director, Integrated Marketing – FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola
- Shari Summers, Chief Growth Officer, U.S. Soccer
In addition, the Summit will honor Arthur M. Blank, Owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, and AMB Group, because the 2025 recipient of the Impact Award, offered by LakePoint Sports and Coca-Cola UNITED Bottling Company. Accepting on his behalf might be Rich McKay, CEO of AMBSE & Atlanta Falcons. The Impact Award acknowledges a person or group whose imaginative and prescient, management, and dedication have profoundly formed the expansion and improvement of the journey and youth sports activities trade.
Blank is a nationally acknowledged entrepreneur and philanthropist whose impression extends far past the enterprise world. As co-founder of The Home Depot, he helped rework the retail trade, later establishing the Arthur M. Blank Family of Businesses, which incorporates the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA TOUR Superstore, Atlanta Drive GC, AMB West, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. His philanthropic group, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, has donated greater than $1 billion to help causes together with schooling, the setting, social justice, and neighborhood well-being. Named to Forbes’ record of the World’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds, Blank is widely known for his values-driven management and dedication to giving again.
“Arthur Blank’s impact on sports, community, and youth development is nothing short of extraordinary,” provides O’Brien. “From building world-class organizations to investing in opportunities that inspire the next generation, his leadership continues to shape the future of sports in ways that will resonate for decades to come.”
The National Youth Sports Summit yearly convenes 200-300 of probably the most influential leaders and key stakeholders within the journey and youth sports activities trade on the LakePoint Sports campus. Over the previous 4 years, the Summit has attracted a mixture of sports activities enterprise executives, personal fairness and funding leaders, media and expertise innovators, model and hospitality executives, occasion organizers, trade non-profits, faculty college students making ready for careers in sports activities, and supporters of the LakePoint Impact Award. Recognized as a premier gathering within the sector, the Summit brings collectively this various neighborhood to share insights, discover traits, and form the long run of youth sports activities.
“The National Youth Sports Summit has become the best conference in our industry for leaders to exchange ideas and chart the course for the future,” says Will McIntosh, President of Versant Digital Platforms & Ventures. “We’re honored to act as the presenting sponsor for this year’s event, tackling some of the most pressing and exciting trends driving youth sports today-from technology and media innovation to investment strategies and global growth.”
In 2025, the Summit will broaden its attain even additional, live-streaming to a worldwide viewers through the NBC Sports SportsEngine platform.