Washington, D.C. — As Americans face an unprecedented affordability crisis, a new report from the American Economic Liberties Project reveals how private equity firms and monopolistic sports leagues are driving up costs across every level of American sports, from youth leagues to the pros. Authored by former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Attorney-Advisor Katherine Van Dyck, The Fair Play Facade, finds that private equity’s entrance into youth sports alone has driven up costs for families to an average of $1,000 a year for a single sport.

“Sports used to be an affordable pastime for every American family, but today they have become a luxury good,” said Katherine Van Dyck, Senior Legal Fellow at Economic Liberties. “Whether it’s a parent writing a check for travel soccer, a fan trying to watch their team on TV, or an athlete being told when and where they’re allowed to compete, the same dynamic is at work: concentrated corporate power extracting more while delivering less.”

The report, The Fair Play Façade: How the American Sports Economy Became a Laboratory for Corporate Power, From Pee Wee to the Pros, documents how this plays out across the sports economy. Private equity roll-ups in kids sports have consolidated youth leagues, driven up fees, and restricted opportunities for young athletes. The same predatory investors are trying to capture college athletic departments and professional teams to extract even more wealth from sports fans. Consolidation in sports broadcasting and streaming have made watching a favorite team increasingly expensive for fans, with audiences trapped by exclusive deals and rising subscription costs. Despite tens of billions in public stadium subsidies, venues routinely overcharge on concessions, parking, and in-stadium experiences. Even jerseys and trading cards have been monopolized, leading to higher prices, lower quality merchandise, and widespread complaints from fans. And governing bodies in college athletics and sports like MMA, tennis, and swimming artificially limit athletes’ earning opportunities by restricting their participation in alternative leagues, ability to unionize, and their name, image, and likeness rights.

The report calls for stronger antitrust enforcement against consolidation, restrictions on private equity in youth sports, reforms to stadium subsidies, and expanded labor protections and collective bargaining rights for athletes.

Read the full report, “The Fair Play Façade: How the American Sports Economy Became a Laboratory for Corporate Power, From Pee Wee to the Pros,” here.

Read the executive summary of the report here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.