Unrivaled Sports is buying a sprawling Texas property known for its baseball tournaments as the youth sports industry continues to evolve toward using team sports as the basis for creating broader family experiences.

In Unrivaled Sports’ case, it’s bought the Rocker B Ranch, a 325-acre “luxury ranch” west of Fort Worth known for hosting popular youth baseball exhibitions while housing families in cabins, casitas and a main lodge, replete with a pool, spa services, bar and food truck.

“Rocker B Ranch is one of the most unique experiences I’ve seen in the youth sports world,” said Wade Martin, Unrivaled Sports’ CEO of baseball, on a phone call. “It hits upon this idea we believe deeply in of providing amazing experiences to athletes and also their family and friends.”

Financial terms of the purchase from the Byrd family, which has long run the ranch, aren’t being disclosed, though brothers Lance and Bart will continue to operate the property. Rocker B has a reputation for being exceedingly popular for baseball tournaments, especially for the 9-to-12 age range. While Martin declined to discuss financials of the ranch, he did acknowledge social media speculation that the ranch makes some $20 million a year in revenue is high—“This is an early-stage business—there are only four fields,” he noted. Similarly, speculation the ranch is exempt from property taxes is wrong, too—county records show Rocker B paid its $25,000 assessment in 2024.

Still, the lore around the finances of the ranch stems from its popularity. Rocker B offers mountain views and plentiful green space, including a lake on the property that makes it a frequent sellout in its peak season of early spring into summer. The ranch typically hosts baseball for about 10 months of the year, with mid-winter and deep summer too cold and too hot, respectively, to generate much activity. Facilities there are attractive enough to also make Rocker B a frequent host to weddings and corporate retreats.

Unrivaled Sports sees the addition of the ranch, its largest property by area, as key to riding the wave of upscaling the experience of youth sports travel. “We’re only using today 55 of the 325 acres, so it’s got a lot of possibilities to grow,” Martin said. “We think this really has the chance to be the Disneyland of youth sports.”

Youth sports is seen across the industry as an area ripe for consolidation, with Mom-and-Pop-run facilities dominating the landscape. Youth sports is a $52 billion business in the U.S., generating some 200 million trips annually, according to Sports Events and Tourism Association data. The business is projected to grow nearly 50% by 2026, according to WinterGreen Research. That’s one of the reasons other companies like Legends-owned ASM Global are increasingly moving into youth sports. ASM sees youth sports as the foundation for expanding beyond stadium management into the sports destination travel sector. Real estate developers are also shifting increasingly into sports as well. Sports Facilities Companies, a 21-year-old municipal consulting firm and manager of more than 50 sports facilities nationally, said earlier this year that 60% of its projects in development have some form of mixed-use real estate involved, such as retail, restaurants and hotels.

Unrivaled Sports is positioned as a pure play in the growth of youth sports. The business was formed earlier this year by Josh Harris and David Blitzer with an investment by The Chernin Group. The company rolled up earlier investments by Harris and Blitzer in Cooperstown All Star Village and a majority interest in Ripken Baseball. The business has 12 physical facilities today, including owning fields at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and the Snöbahn Action Sports Center, for skiing and snowboarding, in Colorado.

“Rocker B, Cooperstown All Star Village and Ripken are real good examples of ‘sports-cation,’” said Martin. “Families are spending so much time in youth sports and with their kids, it’s become such a big part of their social life and social circle I think there’s a huge opportunity to improve the experience.”

At Rocker B Ranch, initial steps under Unrivaled Sports’ ownership include adding more baseball fields for the coming season and planning more lodging space. Longer term, the company also foresees adding rectangular fields to add other sports, such as soccer, according to Martin.