Stack, a New York-based youth sports media outlet, has acquired training provider Velocity Sports Performance and digital developer Driven Apps, as it seeks to create a full suite of information, training and online and mobile products for youth sports.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but both acquisitions were cash-and-stock deals.
Stack will fold Driven Apps, maker of official mobile apps for Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade in addition to its training-oriented products, into its operations. Velocity Sports Performance, operator of more than 40 athletic development and training facilities around the country, will continue for at least the short term under its own brand name.
“We’re trying to empower young athletes in any way we can, and while we’ve done well on the media side so far, the question was how we could extend the brand into these coaching and training avenues,” said Nick Palazzo, Stack co-founder and chief executive. “This is a big next step for us in our evolution.”
Stack publishes Stack Magazine, distributed in high schools and generating a readership of more than 5 million, and operates Stack.com, a regular on monthly comScore rankings of top U.S. sports sites. The company also holds partnerships with Yahoo Sports and the Amateur Athletic Union, among others.
Management at the acquired companies, including Velocity Sports Management President and CEO Peter Barbaresi and Driven Apps Chief Executive Jake Edwards, will continue in their roles.
“We are basically the brick-and-mortar translation of what Stack already does from a content development standpoint,” Barbaresi said of Velocity’s training centers. “So bringing that brick-and-mortar together with the digital into one operation we think is a juggernaut proposition.”
