On July 7, 3STEP Sports bought Premier 1 Events, a mid-Atlantic operator that runs boys and girls basketball across the region for more than 55,000 athletes, spread across 27 tournaments and events a year. Premier 1 keeps its name and its staff, and its fall registration is already open. On its own, the deal looks like a simple addition for the biggest name in grassroots basketball.
The Buyer Is Reportedly for Sale
The reason it is worth a second look sits one step above Premier 1. Roughly six months ago, 3STEP hired Goldman Sachs to explore selling the whole company or raising a large round of new money, a process Sportico first reported in January. A business shopping itself around might be expected to stop buying. 3STEP kept going.
It can afford to. The company puts its reach at more than 2 million young athletes across seven sports in over 40 states, built through more than 50 acquisitions since it started in 2016. Its basketball business alone counts over 815,000 athletes across 630-plus events and leagues, what 3STEP calls the biggest grassroots basketball operation in the country. The private equity firm Juggernaut Capital has held a stake since 2019, and 3STEP runs at about $40 million in yearly operating earnings, the figure investors call EBITDA, according to Sportico.
In a Roll-Up, the Athlete Count Is the Price Tag
When a company is built by buying other companies, its worth comes down to how many athletes and events it controls and how well they connect. The prize in a deal like this is reach: the number of families who come through the doors, plus the data and the relationships that travel with them. Every operator 3STEP takes on adds to that total before any sale closes.
That is the logic of buying Premier 1 now. Youth sports is enormous and scattered. Families in the United States spend around $40 billion a year on their kids' sports, and a 2024 Boston Consulting Group study cited by Sportico put spending on leagues and clubs like 3STEP between $15 billion and $19 billion of that. In a market this large and this broken up, the quickest way to grow the number a buyer will pay for is to keep acquiring the operators families already trust. As Youth Sports Business Report put it, each tuck-in adds athlete volume and market coverage to the story a buyer is evaluating. Premier 1 brings 55,000 more athletes into that story.
Premier 1 Fills the Gap on 3STEP's Map
3STEP's basketball brands were already strong across much of the country. As Youth Sports Business Report noted, the company ran deep in the Northeast, Midwest, and South through names like Hoop Group and Ohio Basketball. The mid-Atlantic was the gap. Premier 1, with years of standing among coaches and families in a region packed with club teams and traveling players, fills it. The deal also hands 3STEP the calendar of events those families already build their weekends around, which is harder to replicate than a single tournament and more valuable to own.
What Changes for Families, and What Doesn't
For the players and parents who sign up for Premier 1 events, the plan is for the experience to feel the same. The brand stays, the staff stays, and 3STEP's pitch is that a local operator gets national resources behind it without losing what made it work in the first place. Vinny Lasorsa, who founded Premier 1, said the backing lets the company "keep building without losing what makes Premier 1, Premier 1." Keeping the local name and people, then adding shared systems underneath, is the pattern across most of 3STEP's deals.
Takeaways for Investors
The athlete count matters more than the price
Neither side put a number on the Premier 1 deal, and for a roll-up that is close to beside the point. What moves 3STEP's value is the whole pool of athletes and events it controls. Track that total across a company's deals rather than the terms of any single one.
Regional density is worth paying up for
Premier 1 was attractive for where it sits as much as for how big it is. A trusted operator in a gap on the map is worth more to a buyer than a larger one in a region already covered. When you weigh these deals, read the geography as closely as the headline athlete count.
Sellers keep building right up to a deal
3STEP shopping itself while it keeps buying is a pattern worth generalizing. Sellers in this market tend to keep building right up to a transaction, because a bigger, denser company sells for more. It would be reasonable to expect more additions like this one before any deal is announced, from 3STEP and from others weighing their own exits.
