Sports Academies: A Behind The Scenes Look
Playing an ever-increasing role in young athlete's careers, we explore the data and unique models in the sports academy space.
You know what opened a lot of eyes?
When IMG Academy was acquired for $1.25B earlier this year.
Natural thoughts came to mind:
what other academies are out there?
can this model be replicated elsewhere?
Today, I want to touch on the academy model — using a unique company sitting in its intersection.
Let’s Dive In 👇
What is a Sports Academy?
Sports academies are institutions that provide specialized training and education to individuals who aspire to excel in their chosen sport.
The goal is usually to secure an athletic scholarship and/or become a professional athlete…
Some notable examples:
Spire Academy (Ohio, USA)
IMG Academy (Florida, USA)
Aspire Academy (Doha, Qatar)
Rafa Nadal Academy (Mallorca, Spain)
TPH (micro-locations across North America)
Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra, Australia)
Red Bull Athlete Development Program (Various locations)
So, why academies?
Sports Academies
Prices on academies range drastically, from full athletic scholarships to $100,000/year.
There are five core benefits to academies:
Enhancing Skill Development
Access to Expert Coaching
State-of-the-Art Facilities
Competitive Environment
Networking and Exposure
It’s about cutting out wasted time, specializing with other like-minded individuals, and centralizing sports/education.
Remember, very few players make it beyond high school:
A serious athlete looking to play in college will be doing all of the following things:
Schooling
Admissions
SAT/ACT Prep
Strength Training
Recovery/Nutrition
Team Practice/Games
Individual Workouts
Travel Practice/Games
The goal of a sports academy is to provide most/all of these in ONE spot.
And this is becoming even more appealing with the rise of college tuition costs and the potential for NIL payments.
Let’s look at TPH — one of the most unique and under-the-radar academies (that has had great success).
TPH Academy
Starting 23 years ago in Alabama, TPH's founding brand, Total Package Hockey is one of the most recognizable hockey brands globally.
They then launched TPH Academy eleven years ago — that now serves as its multi-sport day academy brand supporting over 16 sports, music, and dance.
While most academies require athletes to be on campus and stay overnight…
TPH uses a daytime model across cities in the United States and Canada:
8:00am Arrival
8:15am Academics
9:15am Video
9:30am Dynamic Warm Up
10:00am Sport-Specific Training
11:05am Sports Performance Training
12:20am Lunch
12:45pm Academics
4:00pm Depart
The success is clear:
Education is Changing
If you consider how much technology has changed over the years (computers, cars, smartphones, AI), you realize that education is not adapting at the same speed.
Micro-schools have grown exponentially since 2020, now serving over 1.5 million K-12 students across the United States.
Some startups even recruit the “top 1 percent” of teachers and pay them 25% more than they would make on a school district salary.
I often discuss how sports can be a great catalyst for innovation, and the same is becoming true in education.
TPH has taken what they do well in hockey (camps, clinics, events, travel teams) and expanded into micro-academies for all sports.
Breaking up the day like this makes sense:
access to tutors and mentors 24/7
2-3x more athletic development time
4-5 hours of focused high-level academic work
The general population knows how many great leaders come from college sports and the military — this model is extending younger and seems poised to produce great talent across many disciplines.
TPH has over 800 student-athletes across its platforms with an average GPA of 3.7.
Hockey athletes are seeing great advancements:
40% increase in shot accuracy
4x increase in speed without the puck
17% average increase in lower and upper body power
This is from TPH’s Impact Report on their website: https://www.tphacademy.com/impact-report/
I actually encourage you to read it over to learn more…fascinating stuff.
Looking Ahead
Education is changing, and so is youth sports…
Academies are sitting in the middle of this transformation.
Many different models are taking place across the globe, and there will surely be other large winners like IMG.
Execution will be everything (along with the right capital backers).
Podcasts 🎙
Great discussions this past week:
Nathan Bowen - Founder, TPH (listen here)
Learn more about academies and how they are transforming sports and education.
Alex Bazzell - President, Unrivaled (listen here)
The founding story of the women’s basketball 3on3 league that has been in the press a lot lately, including a media rights deal with TNT.
Both are members of the Profluence+ Community :)
I appreciate you reading today!
The academy space is fascinating as it is an increasing stepping stone in an athlete’s career.
Peace,
AP 👋
The daily schedule breakdown was a particularly eye-opening detail. I played football in high school and remember once a week strength training session becoming a recommendation from the football coaches. No wonder our team never won too many games.