Blue Star Sports, the Dallas-based software and technology company partially backed by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the NFL, has acquired another five companies and created a new league management system for youth and amateur sports.
The company, continuing its run of growth, recently closed on acquisitions of sports and group travel outfit TeamInn; fundraising platform CrazyRaise; race timing company Eclipse Timing; and sports camp providers Skyhawks and eCamps. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deals bring Blue Star Sports’ total number of acquired companies to 25 in less than two years, with at least another 10 planned for this calendar year as it seeks out a national position as a complete, one-stop destination for youth sports.
The latest deals also did not require additional fundraising following an investment round last summer involving the NFL’s 32 Equity, Jones, Genstar Capital, and Providence Equity Partners, among others.
“These are substantial investments for us,” said Alex Alt, Blue Star Sports chief executive. Alt, the former president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, last fall succeeded company founder Rob Wechsler, who is now chairman of the board. “This expands our capabilities into some really important categories for us such as travel and camps.”
Blue Star Sports, meanwhile, this month debuted Blue Star Sports Connect, a league management system that offers player and schedule organization, registration, payment processing, scoring, website hosting, and other related services to youth and amateur sports organizations. Blue Star Sports Connect will compete in an increasingly crowded youth sports registration and event management space that includes SI Play, NBC Sports’ SportsEngine, and Dick’s Team Sports HQ, among many others.
Alt argues that his company’s deep reaches into all aspects of youth sports and extensive financial backing serve as important differentiators. Blue Star Sports was supported with two separate nine-figure funding deals prior to the arrival of the NFL’s investment last year.
“The core idea is to connect all of these capabilities together into a really unified product suite, and help solve problems for everybody involved in the space,” he said.
