perfect game
Perfect Game, a youth baseball platform, has diversified from its core business of running baseball tournaments and showcase events for high school students aiming to enter college, and as the company has experienced explosive growth, it has added 21 former and current major league players to its cap table. Added name.
New investors include an American League MVP (Mo Bourne), a World Series MVP (Salvador Perez), a Cy Young Award winner (Tim Lincecum) and a Hall of Famer (Trevor Hoffman). Other notable investors: Alfonso Soriano, Tom “Flash” Gordon, Hunter Pence, Ryan Cresco, Charlie Manuel.
“We considered MLB players to be very strategic investors in terms of not only investing in the business, but also planning to attend events and actually working for the company. '' said Perfect Game's Rick Thurman. the president said in a video interview.
Gordon, a former All-Star pitcher, runs many of PG's showcases, while Pence, a two-time World Series champion, serves as the game announcer. Hoffman has been the perfect “face” of her game for the past six years, both as an ambassador and as a regular at events.
Vaughn is affiliated with Perfect Game through the Vaughn Sports Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., and was named special assistant to PG last week.
“I want to help young players and parents who are trying to keep moving forward in the game,” Vo said in a phone interview. “We want to use our tentacles to make sure that every child who has the ability to be seen is seen.”
Mr. Thurman would not comment on the financial details of the new investment.
The Perfect Game was started by Jerry Ford in the mid-1990s to increase exposure to college coaches for Iowa high school students who rarely visited the state. In 2018, Thurman and Rob Ponger invested in the company and worked behind the scenes to expand PG into new areas. They will officially assume leadership as chairman and CEO in 2022, becoming majority owners.
Over the past six years, our events business has rapidly expanded from events in six states to events in 41 states and 12 countries. We currently host 9,800 events a year for 2 million children. This is 10 times more than he was six years ago. This year, the first two PG events will be held in Japan, with South Korea also scheduled to participate in 2025.
Thurman and Ponger have also diversified their revenue base with events and showcases now accounting for 65% of their business, down from 98% when they joined. Perfect Game has launched a technology platform (PG Tech) with PerfectGame.TV and a multimedia division with presence in Roku, Vizio, and Fubo. PG products are available for purchase at his 250 Dick's Sporting Goods stores, and the company also recommends other products such as bats, baseballs, and sports drinks.
“We've grown from this family-run events company to a true brand that wants to rival the Nikes and Under Armours and Adidas and Rawlings of the world,” said Scott, who has worked at IMG for 20 years and provides services. Mr. Ponger said. He was appointed as CFO of IMG Media.
Revenue has increased more than 400% since 2018 and will exceed $100 million this year, Ponger said. Perfect He Games In the past five years he has made eight acquisitions and plans to add more facilities with investment returns. Ponger said he is “actively considering softball,” but believes the PG model could work outside of diamond sports. “We built this company to be able to replicate it in other sports,” Ponger said. He cites soccer, basketball, lacrosse and volleyball as sports they are focusing on.
Thurman was a longtime MLB agent and co-founder of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, which represents Rickey Henderson, Mike Piazza, George Brett, Barry Bonds, and PG investors Hoffman, Gordon, and Pence. His BHSC co-founder and Chicago White Sox executive Dennis Gilbert is the only non-major leaguer to participate in this round of funding. Gilbert played in the minor leagues and was named Perfect Game's commissioner last year.
The Perfect Game investment comes amid a surge in funding for youth sports. Pro sports owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have acquired youth sports facilities such as Ripken Baseball and Cooperstown All-Star Village, and last week combined those assets into a new company called Unrivaled.・Established Sports, which included investment from the Chernin Group.
