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Youth Inc. with Greg Olsen
A Discussion about Private Equity in Youth Sports with Eli Manning
00:55:49
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- [00:00]
Eli Manning
That is our main focus. Growing certain leagues is just growing it from a masses and more kids playing U sports.
- [00:07]
Isaiah Reese
I couldn't be more thrilled and excited about the impact that I now can make at an even greater capacity now with BBG backing me in RCA Sports Team.
- [00:17]
Greg Olson
It's so cool that you're using everything you accomplished as a player and your voice. You do so many cool things. A lot of it touches on the youth sports world. Youth sports, sports in America are at a crossroads and I'm here to help lead the conversation forward. I'm Greg Olson. Each week we're sitting down with top athletes, coaches and more to talk about what's working, what's broken and what's next. Welcome to youthink. What's up everybody? Welcome back. Another big episode here on youn Think. We are joined by two time super bowl champ, future hall of Famer, one of the first families of football, a guy that I've gotten to know over the years. First playing against him and unfortunately probably losing more than we won. And now just getting to know him as a dad, you know, as a businessman and just a good dude. Got to spend a little time at a famous wedding this past weekend. But without further ado, Eli Manning, former New York Giant, future Hall of Famer. Eli, appreciate you for joining us, man.
- [01:15]
Eli Manning
Sure thing, Greg. Great to be with you. Your dance moves are better than I thought. I didn't expect.
- [01:19]
Greg Olson
What'd you think?
- [01:21]
Eli Manning
Yeah, I didn't know your hips were that loose. That was impressive.
- [01:24]
Greg Olson
So it's funny you say that. So I spent like a good 30, 40 minutes at the hotel before I got tucked up doing like 90 90s windshield wipers, a lot of internal, external rotate. I appreciate somebody for noticing.
- [01:36]
Eli Manning
I look like you hit a lot of foam roll beforehand.
- [01:39]
Greg Olson
A lot. A lot of soft, a lot of soft tissue work. Who was your, who was your favorite performer? Like, who went up there with the DJ that M.O. that gets like, who gets Eli Manning just absolutely rolling.
- [01:51]
Eli Manning
Well, I think I, I, I, you know, I'm Paul McCartney, you know, how do you be better than Paul McCartney when he got up there just with, with Taylor, I like Travis, did a lot of, you know, great effort up there also a lot of effort involved. A lot of effort, you know, and I think that's what he brings. He brings the energy, he brings the dancing. Not known for his singing but, but all effort, you know, not great singing talent, but that's okay. He knows how to add, you know, bring his value.
- [02:19]
Greg Olson
He was like Little John, like, you know, when Little just gave, like, a lot of. Like, yes. And let's go. Like. But you need hype guys. Hype guys have a lot of value. Did you see that stat? I don't know who knew this. I don't know if anybody in the crowd. Did you see that stat? That. That's the first time any member of the Beatles has performed I want to hold your hand since, like, 1968.
- [02:41]
Eli Manning
Oh, really?
- [02:42]
Greg Olson
That's what I saw online. I don't know if that's true or not. I'm going to pretend it's real because everything on the Internet's real.
- [02:47]
Eli Manning
But it's got to be. It's got to be. That's a Internet. It's got to be real. I want it to be real. Don't fact check that. Like, don't even.
- [02:53]
Isaiah Reese
Just don't.
- [02:54]
Greg Olson
We're going to pretend that we saw the first.
- [02:57]
Eli Manning
I can confirm it. I can. I can confirm that that's true.
- [03:01]
Greg Olson
I feel like it's true, too. But no, man, really appreciate it. Always good seeing you. Nice to see you and your wife and your brother. And cool to catch up with a lot of people that you don't get to spend a lot of time with, but got us all in the same room for a couple hours, so that was awesome. I want to cover a lot of stuff with you today.
- [03:16]
Isaiah Reese
All right.
- [03:17]
Greg Olson
You know, but I want to start with something that I. I think is probably one of the cooler things that you and your family, you know, between your brothers. I've gotten to know Coop. He's a trip. I've had the pleasure of meeting your father a couple times. Obviously an icon in the NFL world, and, of course, you and your brother. But I think one of the coolest things you guys do. I was actually signed up to bring my son and my nephew, who's a high school quarterback. Last year. We had some personal things go on with my brother. He had gotten sick and whatnot. But I want to talk about Manning Passing Academy. You know, as someone who spends hours and hours every day working with young kids and young athletes, primarily in football, like, I want you to take us back to the inspiration behind it, like, your growth. Were you ever, like, the counselor ball boy? Like, give me the Eli kind of evolution to now being, like, the man, but, like, tell me the evolution from your experience participating in Manning Passing.
- [04:13]
Eli Manning
Yeah, so it started in 1996. I was. I was, you know, going into my, I think, my freshman year in high school, and so it really was kind of Peyton's idea, and my Dad's. They, you know, Peyton was at Tennessee at the time. I think he was like, you know, maybe came back during a bye week and he's looking in the newspaper like, you know, on a Saturday morning of the Friday night football stats of, like, the local New Orleans and Louisiana teams. And he's seeing like, no one's throwing the football. Like, these kids, they're losing by 20 and they're. They're going like, you know, one for six. So even when you're down, like, you're not throwing it. And he said, we got to get, you know, kids throwing in, playing better quarterback positions so they're having a better high school experience. It wasn't about creating NFL quarterbacks or even college quarterbacks. Just like, hey, let's help out. Our. Our town, where we grew up, New Orleans, Louisiana, these kids learn a little bit about football and give back. So we started in 1996 at Tulane. You know, we actually started it there, and then we kind of outgrew that. We went to southeast Louisiana for seven, eight years. We've been at Nicholls State for 22 years. So I started. I'm the only man that's really had the full experience. I was a camper for four years, and then I was kind of a college camp counselor. Where you come in, where, you know, I got to, you know, kind of see some other college kids at the time. We maybe have. When I was in college, we have about 12 college quarterbacks kind of from around the SEC, Alabama and Mississippi State. And, you know, Philip Rivers at NC State was. We were counselors together and we would work out, we would train and kind of go through things. We'd have meetings with, you know, Peyton now is in the NFL. Kind of beginning to ask him questions, just about any advice and.
- [06:00]
Isaiah Reese
And then.
- [06:01]
Eli Manning
Then as an NFL player, now retired players. So, you know, we have, you know, almost 1500 kids this past year. We just had our celebrated our 30th year, and we had 45 starting college quarterbacks from my nephew, Arch Manning to Julian sand at, you know, Ohio State to, you know, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh. You know, you kind of name it. A lot of top quarterbacks, you know, and even, you know, North. North Dakota State, we had, you know, kid from, you know, Ivy League. So we kind of have all sorts of of players and they get to kind of tell their story and Peyton and I work with them. We. We kind of work with the college kids and then they pass it on. Work with the high school kids, and we work with the high school kids as well, Peyton and I, and try to, you know, coach them all up for, for, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, four days, all football. They're. There's no, you know, hey, movie time. There's no pool day. I mean, this is football for, for, you know, four days, full throttle.
- [06:58]
Greg Olson
And maybe a couple, maybe for the, for the older counselors, maybe a couple cold beers at night.
- [07:04]
Eli Manning
Hey, that's part of, that's part of the experience. Yeah, that's part of the experience. At night we have social events and kind of bring in the, the Louisiana cuisine and culture. And so after a hard, you know, three practices in the day, it's nine o'. Clock. You know, you've earned a little gumbo. Yeah, cold beer, that's just kind of part of it. And that's where the college guys come together. We get to sit with them. And you kind of, you know, now you're just a normal guy getting to hang out. That's. That's part of being a leader. That's part of being a player. You got to learn to hang out and kind of, you know, build that community. That community, that trust, that relationships with your, with your teammates. And that's great because all these guys, These quarterbacks, these 45 guys, they're all over the country, they all kind of know each other and maybe grew up together, going to camps together. And now they get to share stories of and get to hang out a little bit.
- [07:52]
Greg Olson
That's the best. See, that's how kids nowadays, like my, my kids are now, they're not in high school yet. My, My oldest is a rising freshman, so he's getting there. But like, even my nephew and like the older kids that we coach at the school, when they say, oh, I'm going to camp. Nowadays, going to camp means I go to, you know, around here, kids are going to South Carolina, North Carolina, Duke, like, they're going to these Carolina acc. They go for two hours one day, and I'm like, you guys don't even know what football. Like football camp to us is. I slept in a dorm, I ate at a cafeteria. I carried my helmet and I walked to the practice field, came back, my clothes were still wet. No one's doing my laundry. And I was there for multiple days. Like that, to me, has always been football camp.
- [08:40]
Eli Manning
Right?
- [08:40]
Greg Olson
That. I love the idea that after all these years, Manning Passing Academy is still probably one of the few true football camps left for young kids because they've really turned into more like showcase. Come throw for an hour and a half and then you Go home.
- [08:56]
Eli Manning
Yeah, this is not a recruiting, we're not recruiting kids. You know, we really don't track the high school kids. A lot of the, you know, sometimes the college guys come and they're like, yeah, I was a camper here for two years. We're like, oh, yeah, we remember you. Like, I have no idea. Like, we don't track these kids. We're not recruiting them. We're not on a path. We're trying to help these high school kids have a better high school experience and get better. Learn some fundamentals, learn some drills. We do seven on seven at night, but that's the teaching. Like, hey, we're. We're doing our drop. We're. Hey, make them go under center for some of these plays. Get some drops. Hey, let's do shotgun, but make sure. Hey, they're doing a three step drop. They're having good, you know, you're not like, look right, look right, look right. Oh, throw a go route to your left down the sideline. That's not real football. Hey, let's, let's play the real game and, and kind of teach some of the fundamentals. In the whole time Peyton and I are there, the whole time, we're at every single practice. Like, it really has not changed in 30 years. It's kind of the same schedule, the same routine. And, you know, some groups have tried to come in and buy us and move into different places and try to, you know, change it up. And I will do separate weeks. And you and Peyton are separate. Like, no, this is, this is a time where we come together. It's, you know, I get, I get four days of living in a dorm room with my two brothers and my dad. I mean, it's, it's, you know, that, that's.
- [10:12]
Greg Olson
Sharing a dorm room with. Sharing a dorm room with Coop. Must be a trip.
- [10:17]
Eli Manning
Yeah. You gotta lock your doors at night just to say that. You know, he brings a lot of shaving cream and sharpies.
- [10:25]
Greg Olson
The brim of his hat this year was this big.
- [10:29]
Eli Manning
It was very scared of the sun. He's very scared of the sun. It's hot. It's hot in Thibodeau, Louisiana, which late June.
- [10:36]
Greg Olson
Let me ask you this before we move on. Can you think of. In the 30 years, can you think of, was there a high school kid? I know you say you don't track them, but was there a high school kid that you and your brother and your dad remember seeing as a high school kid, then next thing you know, he's back as a college Camp, you know, college counselor. And then he, you know, he turned out to be a guy that we would all know. Like, is there one kid that's come through the camp that caught your eye over these 30 years? Or, like, is it such a mixed bag?
- [11:08]
Eli Manning
Yeah. I mean, the high school kids, it's hard. I mean, you might see them for one drill, or you might, you know, you're not watching.
- [11:13]
Greg Olson
What about the college kids?
- [11:14]
Eli Manning
College kids?
- [11:15]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah.
- [11:15]
Eli Manning
I mean, right. Right away. I mean, one guy pops out. I think he was, you know, going into his sophomore year in Georgia, you know, Matthew Stafford. And also, you're like, this kid can just throw it. Like, it's just very, very natural. He's a good kid. I mean, Andrew Luck, you know, is another guy. Just, like, right away, you know, they can. This guy can just. He can throw it. He's a natural leader. But we've had, you know, you kind of name it. Mahomes was there. Josh Allen came. We've had, you know, Russell Wilson came as a camper and a. And a counselor. There's. There's one that did both. So, you know, Jameis Winston, when he was at Florida State, he was just, you know, every breakdown, he was. He was talking. He just brought the energy to every workout. So you saw. You saw these characters, guys that, you know, there's a. Guys that can throw it, you know, 80 yards, and you're like, oh, wow, he can throw it. And then there's guys, hey, they can't throw it as far, but, you know, it's on time, it's in rhythm, their accuracy. So you kind of see all these things. They all, you know, in reality, all these quarterbacks now, they look pretty good, you know, throwing routes on there. Like, they got the big arm, they can make the throws. It comes out tight spiral, and that's obviously part of it. You got to be able to do that to be a good quarterback. Quarterback. But, you know, everything changes. You put a defense out there, and you got to read things, and you got to go to the right place and go through progressions. But these. These guys are all talented. They're great kids. They've worked hard, and you kind of just seen how much the game has changed, the high school game. Like, you know, when I was in high school, I think I was throwing it maybe 15 times a game. Like, not that much, maybe 20 some games. And now, hey, these kids are in shotgun. They're throwing it 30, 40 times a game. They're running more advanced schemes. And so, you know, the high school games Got better. That's led to these kids coming into college more advanced. It's gotten better. And I think in the NFL also, they're able to come in a little bit earlier and start playing right away because they're used to some of these schemes.
- [13:11]
Greg Olson
I love it. No, I just think it's so cool, man. I have young kids, you have young kids, like getting into this next phase and I want to touch on that for a little bit. And then I want to talk to you about something a little more business and serious. But here you are now in this stage of your life, obviously. Hall of Fame career, Super bowl champ, one number one overall pick, right? Like nothing as a player. There's nothing left to do. Now you're a dad. Now you're doing carpool. I asked you before we jumped on, like, are you going to be a coach? Like, give, give everyone, give our listeners a sense. Like, what is Eli Manning now in retirement as like a sports dad? Like, what if I'm in the gym and I'm, you know, your daughter or your son and I'm observing you, like, what of sports dad are you?
- [13:56]
Eli Manning
I'm definitely the dad that kind of stays, stays out of the way. I don't, you know, I'm not emailing the coach or saying that, hey, you should be playing more zone defense for, you know, I just, hey, you know, I appreciate the coaching, what they have to do and they're giving up their time and they're able to be the head coach. And a lot of it, you know, it's youth sports, it's volunteers, it's dads, it's, it's everything. And I have four kids and that are, you know, now girls that are 15, 13, 11, a 7 year old boy. I, I have, you know, they're playing all different sports from, you know, I have a swimmers, my oldest one, it's doing full time swim and doing, you know, travel, lacrosse. I have one that's more into tennis and lacrosse. I have an ice hockey player with my daughter and, and so, and then my son's just kind of coming along and we kind of always went with the, the. I kind of, you know, raised my girls and my son the way we were raised. As boys, you play all the sports early on, you get involved in as many sports as possible and you kind of figure out what you like, like what you really like, what's your passion, what do you want to work on? Like in mine, you know, mine was always kind of basketball and football and then kind of baseball was, was my Third favorite. But, you know, I love going outside by myself and shooting hoops or playing one on one with a buddy or, hey, let's go play a pickup football game. And you saw, like, the passion was always there. And I'm trying to figure that with my kids, what do they like to do? They, like, they don't complain about going to swim practice every day. And hey, they want to go out in the back with a lacrosse stick and, and toss around and a rebounder. I got my baseball glove and I'm throwing the lacrosse, you know, ball back to them because I never played lacrosse. So it's, you know, hockey. I mean, what am I going to, how am I going to get involved with hockey? I've never even been on skates before, so I think maybe my kids chose sports that I know nothing about, so I can't get involved. But, you know, my son is playing flag football now. He's playing NFL flag, he's playing basketball. So I might have be a little bit more opinionated on those things, but I still try to stay away and really just make sure they're having fun, they're entertained when I do. Sometimes I'm assistant coach, you know, and if the head coach is not there, I kind of have my, my ideas and. But I'm really about. I want to get everybody playing. I want to get everybody a touch. I mean, he's seven years old. It's all about just having fun and, and get them active. But, you know, I like going outside with, you know, when, when he has a buddy over and like, all right, let's. You're playing tight end. You know, Charlie's my son. Hey, you're qb. Let's work on a few routes or let's work on a stick route. Let's work on a stick. Not. I mean, you got to, you got
- [16:30]
Greg Olson
to be putting this stick. Not. You start teaching stick nod in the, in the driveway. Now you're talking my language.
- [16:37]
Eli Manning
That's not.
- [16:38]
Greg Olson
I, I want to say that was more like early in my career, I could do a couple stick nods. As I got older, the multiple change of direction. Not, not necessarily stop and start kind of a guy. I was more get going and just
- [16:50]
Eli Manning
stay going, stay shoulder.
- [16:53]
Isaiah Reese
That was it.
- [16:53]
Greg Olson
But, dude, you're going stick nod and what? Second grade. That, that's why you guys are the Mannix. That's, that's operation.
- [17:01]
Eli Manning
How are you going to stop a
- [17:02]
Greg Olson
stick nod right there in seventh grade and second grade, you're for sure not stopping a stick knot. What? What? But give A sense. And then I want to talk about something more serious. But, like, I just think it's so fascinating. You grew up. You and your. You and your brothers probably grew up in one of the most famous sports houses in the country at the time, if not, you know, ever, you know, with your dad and obviously him being who he was in the NFL, and then you and your brothers, you know, having your careers in high school down in Louisiana, and then obviously through college and whatnot. But, like, was when. When your dad was at your high school. All right, so Friday night football, and you guys are playing, you or Peyton and Cooper, like, is he quiet in the stands? And then he's coaching. Coaching you up in the car. Like, I want to know what. Having Archie Manning as your father, as a high school quarterback. Like, what was that looking like?
- [17:50]
Eli Manning
Yeah, my dad. He was in the stands. My dad filmed. My dad had, like, the old school camera you had to, like, put on your shoulder. It had a full cassette tape in there. Like, you know, people listening, but don't even know what a full cassette tape is. It's not a dvd. This is before all that. And, you know, we didn't, like, you know, the. The foot filming, you know, footage that we had from, like, the school filming was. Was not very good. So he wanted to make sure he was getting the film. And. And so I think by the time I came around, the film had gotten better, and so he didn't have to do it anymore. And we had, you know, we kind of. The school advanced that, but, like, Peyton and I remember just seeing him in the crowd, just up there filming. But they. And I think he was definitely more like, they. They would watch it the next day, but it was definitely Peyton, like, dad, like, you know, help me out here. Like, what do you see? What do you think of my footwork? I mean, he wanted. He wanted to help us, but it had to come from us asking him, like, hey, dad, Hey, I got five receivers going to the high school. Will you come and, like, kind of coach up the receivers? And we want to go through the routes. And he's like, all about it. Love doing that stuff, love being involved. But he wasn't. He wasn't going into the coach, you know, and saying, hey, these are the plays you got to run or you're doing everything wrong. He stayed back. If we asked for help, it was all about helping us. But I think he. You know, he lived his. His kind of football dreams or his athletic dreams. He played baseball in college as well, and he wanted us to have fun. He knew the importance of sports and the life lessons and teamwork and dealing with success, dealing with failure, you know, working hard, you know, just the commitment and dedication. All the things, the life lessons you learned through sports were important, but it wasn't. He wasn't on a master plan to create NFL quarterbacks. You know, nothing could be kind of further than the truth for that.
- [19:40]
Greg Olson
I have a lot. I have a lot in common with Cooper in the sense that I grew up in a family where both my brothers were Division 1 college quarterbacks. And somehow my dad, who was my. My dad coached us all. So, like, he picked our. My dad wasn't in the stands. He was like, the guy yelling at us on the field because he was the coach. So I always say, like, my older brother was a grade ahead of me. He. He was a quarterback in college. And then my younger brother was way below, way younger than me. But, like, I was like, dad, how did you not make me a quarterback? He's like, I needed somebody to catch the ball from, Chris. I was like, it's such bullshit. You know what I mean? Like you. Anyway, I. So me and Coop have bonded over that many times.
- [20:21]
Eli Manning
No doubt.
- [20:22]
Greg Olson
All right. I want to. I want to transition to something that I think is really fascinating. I'm actually really interested to get your take on this. So we're obviously involved a lot in youth sports. We now have this platform with youthink where we're telling a lot of these stories, and I think there's a misconception where maybe not a misconception. I think there's a story being told about all the good that's coming, and then also a story being told of maybe some of the not so good. And you see a lot of these private equity groups investing in youth sports. Youth sports have never been bigger. The players at the table have never been more relevant. And a group that obviously you're super involved in. Brand Velocity Group, recently acquired RCX Sports. For anyone who doesn't know, RCX Sports is running, like, youth leagues, right? Flag football and hockey. They're, like, doing all these leagues, helping them optimize and run them better. I personally think there's a lot of money coming into youth sports that's improving the experience for the families. What say you?
- [21:20]
Eli Manning
Yeah, so, I mean, obviously, yeah, there's been a lot, a lot of news about, you know, private equity getting involved in youth sports. And you, you know, as I read some of those articles, you kind of see some words about, like, you know, junk fees or trapping parents in the long term commitments or specialization in sports and, and driving up, you know, fees for these things. And, and so what, what RCX has done and done a great job is they're doing the exact same opposite. And they're really, you know, they are working with the NFL, they're working with Major League Baseball, they're working with the NHL, they're working with MLS and, and, and the NBA. They're working with the professional teams and creating a platform to, you know, get more kids playing sports at the youth level. It, this is not specialized. This is, you know, kind of working with the YMCAs and the park and recs or working with communities where you know, for most of you sports it is volunteers that are running things. It's a dad or a mom that's trying to, hey, put this, you know, this, this, you know, league together. And it's hard, it's hard on them to manage all these things. With rcx, you come and get them. Hey, they handle all the operational stuff. They handle the insurance and the uniforms and getting the refs in the field space and the background checks and all that stuff. Take that off your plate. And, and it's still, they're not driving up prices, they're keeping prices low because they're working with the leagues. The leagues want more kids playing and that's what RCX says. We're not trying to, you know, have a charge, a higher price to get less kids. We want more kids. We want more communities using it. We want more, more leagues using it and more parents using, calling us to hey, come set up this league for us. And we got a bunch of kids that want to play flag football or play, you know, wreck basketball or baseball. You know, hey, can you help us? And that's, that's what RCX does. And so that's why we wanted to team up with them. We've had our eye on them for a long time. I've known the CEO, Isaiah Reese, who's a former NFL player, known him a long time and he's done a great job. And when you have relationships with all these professional leagues, that means you're doing things the right way. That means you're trusted. That means you're worried about the safety of the kids, consistency and you really have an understanding of what these families need and what the communities lead and what is best for them. And so that's, that's our whole focus is make this accessible for everybody, inclusive and keeping the prices low so more families can, it's not even, you know, a burden on Them, hey, get our kids into youth sports and make sure they're having fun and getting a great experience out of it.
- [23:59]
Greg Olson
Well, so I want to touch on that a little bit deeper. So as you guys are fielding, there's a ton of places to place your money, right? There's a lot of players, there's a lot of people over the country that are either doing really good work or saying they're doing good work. So when you guys are vetting these opportunities and you guys have your eyes on the RCX's of the world, like how do you decide? Okay, you know what, rcx, that's the group that has the credibility. That's the group that's doing this the right way. Like, how hard is the vetting process before you guys say, you know what? These are people that we want to get behind, they're doing it the right way and separate them from maybe some of the other players in the industry that maybe aren't doing it that way.
- [24:40]
Eli Manning
Yeah, man, I think that's, that's, you know, very important. And I think that was, you know, the, the biggest draw to RCX is because, you know, first off, they have relationships with so many of the professional leagues and running their youth programs. So obviously they're trusted and they care about, you know, they care about, you know, you know, the kids and, and putting a great product out there, but also just kind of this how they, you know, how they work and, and the fact that, you know, this is not, you know, trying to get, you know, a, a, a, a small group of kids in a super team. This is, you know, kind of thinking this is kind of your, you know, your 6 year olds, your 14 year olds. This is like, hey, these are at the beginning stages of some of these, these kids in sports and it's about getting them playing multiple sports. And that's the great thing. At rcx, they might start with, you know, with a parent or a community or a ymca, say hey, we'll run your NFL flag. And after, you know, the YMCA says oh, they did a great job doing that. Can you do basketball as well? Can you? Like, you're taking a lot of pressure off us or parents or community. You're taking pressure on us about I don't know how to get insurance or I don't know how to do a background check or make sure the refs are on time or every kid has a uniform. Like these things are important and have to be done and they come in and they handle that. So the operational stuff. So we want to, we Want to team up with, you know, with the companies that are doing a great job already. They have a platform, they're doing great. We're now, hey, we can bring in some capital, we can bring in relationships, we can bring in you know, some operational experience to enhance the, the experience that these families are having around youth sports. And not to, you know, we are trying to make sure more kids have the opportunity. That, that is our, that is our main focus is not, is growing not you know, not growing certain leagues. It's just growing it from a masses and more kids playing youth sports.
- [26:40]
Greg Olson
All right, so let's say I'm running or let's say the local YMCA here in Charlotte is running like a winter rec league, basketball for fifth graders, whatever.
- [26:48]
Eli Manning
Yeah.
- [26:49]
Greg Olson
And it's mom and pop. They got some volunteers, they're putting it together, they're called, they're, they're connecting with their RCX and saying listen, I got a couple hundred kids but we're just bootstrapping, right. We're organizing game times and schedules and insurance and uniform. RCX is coming in and there's like an economies of scale. So our RCX is doing that not only for the YMCA here but, but they're putting that like management and operations across all the landscape around all different examples like that around the country. And just like taking that off there is, is that like the practical like how, how they apply, like is that what's going on? Boots on the ground?
- [27:28]
Eli Manning
Yeah, they're, they're on the ground. They are setting things up. They are, they're a platform and kind of a one stop shop to creating you know, these leaks. And so because of, you know, in, in the end it really started with NFL Flag, you know, maybe seven or eight years ago. And that was kind of, there was maybe you know, 200,000 kids playing that and you know, five or six years ago now there's a million kids playing NFL flag. And so and, and that's, you know the NFL loves it from the sense now these kids, hey, they're wearing the uniforms. It says the Dallas Cowboys, it says the New York Giants. They got the logo and, and so they feel like they're, they're kind of getting these kids and starting that fandom around football, around teams, around players. Hey, I want, I want to be number, you know, 88, you know, like you know, the quarterback of their local team or I want to, you know, my favorite players, Josh Allen, I want to be on the Bills or whatever it might be. And so you know, you're starting that Fandom and you're giving the kids a great experience. So that's the advantage of working, you know, with the professional leagues is that hey, you have the support of the NFL, of, of you know, the NBA and, and they, they want to keep the prices low also they want to get more kids playing. And, and so hey, here are some of our sponsors, here are some of the people that can help. And so you're kind of getting a lot of resources from other places to keep the prices low to make sure more kids and more people are doing it.
- [28:56]
Greg Olson
What, so let's take NFL Flag for example. So like if my kids play an NFL flag in Charlotte, yours is in Jersey and someone else is in California because that's all run by rcx. Is there like a pretty similar like experience? Like would my kid and your kid. Would all of us experiencing the NFL flag on the RCX platform, like would we all be pretty much experiencing it, give or take in the same capacity?
- [29:20]
Eli Manning
Yes. Just from the uniforms coming, the refs, just the timing of it, the whole
- [29:24]
Greg Olson
process would look the same.
- [29:25]
Eli Manning
Process would look the same. And then you know, it's still very much volunteer that hey, it's dad's coaching and so I mean there's a level there but I think that's where you know, kind of now that hey, we can bring in some, you know, some more relationships where you know, and I have again I have a seven year old that plays NFL flag.
- [29:44]
Greg Olson
I need to ask, I want to play for what happens if he's the Dallas Cowboys.
- [29:51]
Eli Manning
We kind of got that worked out. I have a little pull.
- [29:53]
Greg Olson
I just want to make sure we're clear here.
- [29:55]
Eli Manning
Even more pull now. But you know, in, in the local area they, you know, they do see Manning, they're not going to put him in a, you know, if he showed up in Eagles uniform. No, I, I, your house would be egged.
- [30:09]
Isaiah Reese
Let's just be cool.
- [30:10]
Eli Manning
So he's been, he's been doing this for three years. He's been on the Giants every year and so he helps to know but, but I think you do like you got to help these. Now we need, you know, that's my, you know, you need resources to help these dads coach. Like especially flag football. It's kind of a new sport for a lot of dads. They might have played, you know, tackle football or played football in high school, but now, hey, this is a little different. And they're six years old and what are the plays and what, you know, what can a 6 year old do versus what can a 10 year old do? And just ideas, concepts to, to make sure again, enhance the experience of all these kids and you know, whether it's, you know, had some suggestions or videos to watch on plays. So kind of through the platform just to make sure everything is enhanced and you have all your resources to make it a great, a great, you know, it's fun, you know, it's great for the parents and great for the kids.
- [30:59]
Greg Olson
I love it. You mentioned Isel Reese. I'm gonna have a chance to talk to him here in a couple minutes. But the last piece of this I just want to dive into is I think this is an important part of this conversation. So often there's a negative connotation when private equity and money starts entering any sort of field, right? Any sort of business that now takes on investment dollars, there's an expectation of return, right. There is a reality to all of this. The way that Isel has built this, right, about growing the game, access, equity and all the stuff that goes into what you've talked about. How do you guys make sure from your end, from the private equity end that you are giving Isaiah and his team the resources to grow this in the vision he started. But then there also is an economic element where you want to make sure it's being run right and it's financially responsible. How do you guys blend the gap between. Yes, we're investing in this company because we believe in it long term from a financial perspective. But also we don't want that to ever get in the way of executing the vision and the mission of rcx.
- [32:04]
Eli Manning
And our goal is to just provide rcx, provide Isel with, with what he needs to continue doing what he's been doing. And he has built this, he's the one who's built these relationships with these leagues. He's built NFL Flag into this success. So we want to just, hey, keep doing what you're doing and where can we help? How can we add value and again enhance the experience of these kids and get more kids doing. And Isaiah is, I mean he was, as I said, he was a former NFL player. So he knows what's going on as an athlete. He's a dad, so he knows it from a parent, he knows it as an operator. He knows how to kind of navigate these different professional leagues and dealing with them and what they're looking for to kind of get, make sure they're getting, you know, everything out that they want to get out of this. So he's done a great job just kind of building it and creating this and so now, hey, where can we add value? And that's what we like he is, he's, he's built it. There's been success and now how do we take it to the next level in the sense of not, you know, we're not worried about how to grow the, you know, the company or to, you know, to get a better, you know, profit line. We're trying to, we want more kids playing. How do we get more kids playing youth sports and make sure that these kids are getting the benefits of youth sports that we believe in. So we very much are on the same kind of path and have the same mission and just have the same values and that's why it's been, you know, such a good start and I know we'll continue to be.
- [33:37]
Greg Olson
No, it's awesome. I'm looking forward to talking to Isle and kind of dive a little deeper into the journey. Last thing like for brand Velocity Group, like obviously I'm assuming, you know, it's not going to stop with rcx. You guys probably feel lots of opportunities. Like where are you driven? Like where do you guys most connect with just big picture especially in the youth sports world. Like what besides rcx, like where are you guys fielding opportunities and fielding, you know, pitches where you go, you know what, this is a path we want to continue to pursue. Like where do you see the opportunities across the youth sports kind of landscape that you guys feel you can best impact?
- [34:13]
Eli Manning
Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean this, this is, this is one we've been most excited about. And again we met Isel probably four or five years ago and really when I started, you know, doing in the NFL Pro bowl games with flag football and I got, hey, I need, I need some advice. I need you know, this flag football coaching this and just some ideas around that. And so I mean we are really excited about this because it really hits all the things that we, that we believe in. We believe in the, you know, in new sports, we believe in consumer, we believe in, you know, kind of creating a great experience. So I think, you know, we're kind of our focus as a company is on the consumer side but it's really about working with great companies, creating a great culture, making you know, making the world a better place. It's not always, you know, profit related. Hey we, we all want to make a profit and do well and make smart business decisions but it's also about doing it the right way, working with the right people and being very mission driven.
- [35:13]
Greg Olson
I love it. Super cool man, it's always fun to visit with you. It's just so cool that you're using everything you accomplished as a player and your voice and obviously your face and what you're doing with your brother. With Manning cast as you know, in the sports media stuff and the Omaha, you just, you do so many cool things. A lot of it touches on the youth sports world and then obviously now through investment side, through a business side, super relevant to what a lot of the conversations we have here at you think. So appreciate you, man, for jumping on. So fun to catch up with you. And I'm gonna take you up on that golf invite when I saw you in Augusta.
- [35:46]
Eli Manning
There we go. Let's do it. Let's get it in. No, that was. That was a lot of fun and again, love what you're doing as well, Greg, with you think and telling the stories and the power of use of sports and how important it is. So keep doing, keep doing your thing.
- [35:58]
Greg Olson
Appreciate it. Thanks, Eli. Eli Manning, super bowl champ. Appreciate you, man. I'll. I'll see you soon. All right, so welcome back to part two of this conversation. Now we're going to be joined by Isaiah Reese, founder CEO of RCX Sports. Just had a really. Isaiah, first off, thank you for joining us here on you think. I just had a really cool call conversation with Eli Manning. I know obviously he's super involved from Brand Velocity Group and their acquisition of rcx and just he really spoke glowingly about the company and the mission and all the history behind it. But I thought it'd be appropriate to the person who built it, to the person who founded it, to the person that brought it to the point where, you know, groups like Eli's with Brand Velocity want to get involved and want to kind of help accelerate your growth. So why don't you take all of our listeners, myself, kind of back to the beginning, like at its root, at its purest form. What is the mission and purpose of rcx and why have you guys been able to gain such traction over these last couple years?
- [37:00]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah, yeah. And it goes back to 2018, of course, starting I've been in youth sports since 2007, but in 2018 was this. This whole vision of youth sports leagues and the opportunity of NFL Flag came rolling across my desk. And that was that light bulb moment. Aha. Moment of, hey, this is really an opportunity to make an even greater impact in youth sports. And that was through youth sports league play. And the mission of which has always been true. When NFL started NFL Flag, gosh, almost. Almost 30 years ago, believe it or not. It's been around a very long time and they always want to see, you know, kids having a different outlet and opportunity for the sport and also keeping it affordable. But it was important for them, for us in this model and vision of what we're doing now, now across multiple sports though. But I really just saw an opportunity here after spending a considerable amount of time in youth sports and just trying to do what I could to make it better of creating these wrecked leagues. And I jokingly tell a lot of people, it's my simple way to explain it. We're like Little League baseball meets fanatics. And I would say Little League is. I've always been a fan of Little League and I mean it's been around since late 30s, 40s. I mean it's been around a very, very long time in a global sport. And I just like every sport needs this league based model that is mission aligned. And I saw this just as a great opportunity and obviously a lot of work and a great team I've been able to build behind me and has been able to do that and successfully now do that across multiple sports tied to pro leagues, brands and but staying true to the mission of keeping things affordable, figuring out how to get more girls playing sport and just really listening and learning and just understanding where this need in youth sports lies as youth sports continues to evolve and expand. And so we've been fortunate to be able to do that over another number of years and now excitingly get to do it after these past few weeks now with Eli, who's also like minded and mission aligned as you know, and brand Velocity Group who acquired us a few weeks ago.
- [39:16]
Greg Olson
That's awesome. Well, congrats on that. Give us a sense like order of operations. We've talked a lot about NFL Flag and of course they're a big player and a big brand with the NFL backing. But if you had to kind of give us like a sequence of events, I know you have all the major leagues now as partners and on board. Like give us a sense of like the early days, what were the big sports? Like where did you guys was. Did it start with Flag? I know you have some like street hockey story in there, like what would you say the order of operations of getting the professional leagues on board and how that correlated to like what. Where you saw the biggest growth, you know, in the community level with the different sports. Like did it start with Flag? Was it hockey? You know, basketball? Like what, what was the order of the interest?
- [40:03]
Isaiah Reese
It started with Flag. And actually, for me, it started, if you remember, Rivals Camps and Combines. That may ring a bell to you.
- [40:13]
Greg Olson
I know Rivals camps. Yeah.
- [40:14]
Eli Manning
Yeah.
- [40:14]
Isaiah Reese
I ran Rivals Camps and combines for almost 10 years.
- [40:17]
Greg Olson
Okay.
- [40:18]
Isaiah Reese
So that kind of caught the NFL's attention. Here's one of our own. A former player running one of the largest Camps and Combines tour series for kids for free and doing it the right way. And that was giving a lot of kids a lot of exposure. Not just D1, but just all kids.
- [40:36]
Greg Olson
Yeah.
- [40:36]
Isaiah Reese
And how we built that out and added combines. And then I got, you know, my first opportunity of working with the NFL. They asked me to do a camp at the super bowl. And this was back in 2017. And they said it'd be great if we could have 100 kids there. Well, I think it was in Houston that year, and we got 500 kids to show up. So it was like, wow, this group is amazing. And it was successful. It was a great experience for those kids. And then in 2018 is when the RFP came across my desk for NFL football Flag. And so that's when it really started. It was about 200,000 kids or so playing at that point. And we started in 2019, getting ready to ramp up. Granted, it was also a pandemic that took place. And then immediately after that, we really started to surge with NFL Flag. And in about 2019, 2020 is also when I started the conversations with NBA about creating the same model and how could we do it called junior leagues, and that being NBA and wnba. So we picked up two more pro leagues there, and mind you, they came to us. So similar to the NFL, it was a demand and the work that I'd been already been doing within youth sports, which is something I'm proud of and a testament that, hey, we're doing this right, that we're attracting attention of pro leagues. NFL Flag continued to surge year over year, and then the attention of some of the other pro leagues started to come on board. We started working with having conversations with NHL about, hey, how do we create something within hockey? And we didn't know if it was going to be 3 on 3 on the ice or what do we do? But sometime to the NHL brand. But the more when we looked at the core of our mission and what NHL truly wanted to do and expand more access to kids that had never been introduced to hockey. Here it is. I'm from Alabama. We don't have ice, so there's, you know, there's never been an opportunity to anything hockey for me growing up, and then the light bulb moment came about what about ball hockey? Right, still hockey. And when you weren't playing on ice for those that played, you know, they get out in the street and play hockey. So ball hockey. And so NHL street the name came to be. And so here it is now we now have NHL street hockey where we could bring them in to the fold as well. And in that mix also MLS came on board as well with MLS soccer and you know, we're just coming off of World cup or in the middle of World cup. So having having soccer in our midst also was huge. And again it was just, it kept coming in the demand. USTA also came on board our first governing body as well. So I was excited. My kids played tennis, I didn't play tennis growing up, I couldn't afford to play tennis. And here they wanted to create an affordable program and a rec based program for kids that played tennis. And so I said of course, I'm all in and was excited about the opportunity of now starting to bring governing bodies into the fold. And also we are also in our third year working with MLB as well with Pitch, Hit and Run, another free event nationwide program and kids that participate in Pitch, Hit and Run, exactly what it says. You pitch, you hit, you run, you get your scores.
- [43:59]
Greg Olson
It's the old school punt, pass and kick.
- [44:01]
Isaiah Reese
That's exactly what it is. That's exactly what it is. And so it just keeps coming Greg. And it's been great. That's awesome. There's a second wave of three or four sports that we're going to add to the mix as well with some notable reputable brands and I'd be excited to announce those when they come across. And so when it rained it pours, man. And it's, it's just been great to just stay true to the mission of what I set out to do and, and wanted to do within youth sports and, and my team believe in this pine and sky vision that I had and they, they're still here with me and growing. That's awesome to be able to service these organizations, man. And it's just been, it's been great to have been a part of sport, man, and just to create this and, and honestly it means more to me than my NFL career to just be able to impact kids the same way sports impacted me at a young age.
- [44:51]
Greg Olson
That's awesome. I know you just kind of teased it. I'm not asking you to blow the surprise, but I was going to ask you like you're mentioning all major American sports, right? Football, baseball, Basketball now, soccer. What can you give us a sense of like what the next horizon is? Like is it lacrosse? Is it like what are, what are other sports that you feel like? I'll put it this way, without asking you to put you in a bad spot to tip your hand. Where are the untapped markets? Like where are the sports that just really there's so much opportunity to be had of just organizing them a little bit more at the youth level.
- [45:26]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah, yeah. I'll start by saying I have problems. My wife kills me for this. I have a problem with saying no when it deals with kids in sports. So I entertain kind of anybody in the sport if it gives a kid an opportunity. So you know, a lot of what we try to do, I try to listen to our base and that is, you know, these YMCAs, these parks and recs, these organizations, they are truly the ones that where the demand comes from. Because the minute we start working with them with NFL Flag, they said what about basketball? What about this sport? What about that sport? And that's where the, you know, the idea of also came from. Coupled with the demand coming from the pro leagues. We should be a multi sport platform and servicing them. So some of the demand I'm starting to hear volleyball comes up quite a bit from organizations of saying, you know, what about volleyball at the rec level and would you ever considering something like that? And I actually served on the board of USA Volleyball foundation for a number of years. So I could see an opportunity in the volleyball space. You'd be surprised. Lacrosse has come up in the past as well as cricket. Cricket is one of the biggest sports globally. I mean that's even come up interesting.
- [46:41]
Greg Olson
Do people play cricket in the States?
- [46:44]
Isaiah Reese
Not as much as they should be given how big the sport is. It's one of the biggest sports globally,
- [46:50]
Greg Olson
believe it or not.
- [46:51]
Isaiah Reese
And so it is going to be in the Olympics in LA28 as well. So I'm sure that's only going to peak even more interest. So for me I think we're at a point where a lot of I guess the core true sports that are easy to rattle off, I mean you mentioned cricket, I just mentioned volleyball. You start thinking about what's left and for me the bigger question becomes is if we can service it and there's demand and it offers an opportunity for kids to be exposed to sport and if the program is affordable, I feel like it's important and you know, the more we can continue to service sports and continue to be this continued multi sport platform and if the Model makes sense and we can flesh that out and you know, pilot something just to learn, which I'm big on, of course, testing. You know, I want to keep saying yes as long as I can, as long as I feel that we can do it and we can, you know, reach the demand and reach the goals of what we want to accomplish with said partner, be it pro league or governing body. And it's important for it that it's the right group and it has to fit into the mission and alignment of what we're trying to accomplish.
- [48:10]
Greg Olson
Yeah. So right, right along that, kind of along that line, you know, I just had a chance to talk to Eli and just how important it was that RCX was such a good, you know, mission fit for the companies that they're looking to acquire and to do business with at Brand Velocity. And obviously he, you know, he raved about mission and the way you've built this and that they see themselves as just kind of help you accelerate, make sure you have the resources that you need to, you know, kind of take some of these ideas that might seem pie in the sky and might seem a little too crazy in the moment, but here you are kind of executing them. So I'm going to ask you the same thing, flip it around. Like, how do you ensure as you need capital for growth and you need investment for growth and obviously now Brand Velocity being, you know, acquiring you as a partner, how do you make sure that taking on private equity, taking on outside capital doesn't deviate you guys at all from your overall mission of expanding access, keeping it affordable, you know, all the things you guys have both really been adamant about.
- [49:10]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah, yeah, well, it was. So I was part of a, another company beforehand under private equity and RCX was birthed on the private equity. So while we were a spin off and the previous company we were part of, kind of that was in the recruiting services business, was acquired by a different organization. We kind of became our own standalone and I shifted more into the true CFO founder mode of this vision and this idea that I had with Rec League participation. So that being said, to me, it's business as usual, but with a stronger support group in bbg. I mean, you said it before, I mean Eli and I can already finish each other's sentences. I've known them for five years and so they couldn't be more of a fan or true to the business of what we created and what we do. And their continued echo message to me has been how can we help? How can we help you accelerate the Vision. How can we help you take on more sports, Hazel, if you feel that's the way, right direction to go to, how can we pour in more resources that allows you to more service these organizations, develop these organizations, continue to operationalize your organization? How can we use our network to continue to support you and what you're doing in getting more kids playing youth sports? I mean, that's been a continued echo message from when I met Eli and BVG five years ago. And so now having that opportunity to be able to do that is just going to give me an opportunity to accelerate the growth and everything I've been able to accomplish up to this point in our team. And I couldn't be more thrilled and excited about the impact that I now can make at an even greater capacity now with BVG backing me in the RCA sports team.
- [51:04]
Greg Olson
That's awesome. All right, so last thing. And obviously I'm biased with NFL and the flag football and the growth there. So flag football is kind of your baby early. That's kind of what you ride the wave of this expansion into all these other sports. You're still expanding and looking at all these different sports to continue to build operations and leagues to service these clients. But like, I have to imagine flag football is still kind of standing over here as like, all right, they're as big as it is. There's still a lot of growth right now. Here we are, it's in the Olympics, 2028's coming up in LA. Lot going on. There'll be most likely NFL players like the sport of flag football for men and women, as big as it is now, I don't even think has scratched the surface. So as you guys start mapping it out, A, what are you seeing at the youth level? And then B, how big and how big of a boost do you feel is still even to come with the. Both the anticipation of the flag, you know, in the Olympics and then obviously the aftermath.
- [52:07]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah, yeah. Well, the. The flag in the Olympics as well as pro league coming for flag, both men and women, right?
- [52:13]
Greg Olson
Oh, true. Yeah.
- [52:14]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah, yeah. So. So if you, if you, if you take it now, I mean, you're seeing young kids play. Play flag it. The It. The sport is now officially legitimized. I mean, you just brought up Olympics. The collegiate level is exploding, and we've. We've had a hand in all of that. And it's been amazing to kind of see and be it girls now having a full pathway to being an Olympian. And within the next year or two, they say, hey, I'm a pro flag player. It's just amazing. And also say, hey, you know, I got a full ride to play collegiately, or I'm playing in college. And so to see that pathway of now women having that opportunity, but then also young boys and men, you know, there's an alternative to go either route or obviously do both. And we've seen all of it, and that's been great. There's also this pathway from flag to tackle for boys and men. So just the evolution of the sport and the core structure of it, the global expansion, we haven't even began to scrape the surface of that because the minute Olympics came, the minute collegiate happened, you'd be shocked how many young women are playing now collegiately in the US that came from another country. So that is already starting to happen and continues to evolve as well. So, you know, just the continued opportunity around flag football and as much as we talk about playing and participation, the opportunities to coach the sport, to be a pro coach, to be an Olympic coach, to be a college coach, high school coach, is opportunity officiating at all those different levels. So, you know, you think about just all the different levels of what's happening, and knowing that it started at the base of youth and knowing it started that, you know, NFL Flag and other organizations that are continuing to kind of drive this and grow, it just has opened up all of these doors. So the base and the foundation, yes, the tailwinds of NFL Flag and being that we've worked with them for so long is what's attracted, you know, the other pro organizations and governing bodies that I work with. But no, make no mistake about it, this continued work, you know, with the NFL, with Flag football, is still tried and true and will continue to be. And I'll continue to use all my energy and efforts to continue to expand the sport and see this all the way through. It's just been an exciting road and it's unbelievable what's happened in a very short period of time.
- [54:56]
Greg Olson
Yeah, well, we can't wait to follow it all. We can't wait to continue to tell the story here on Youth Inc. We love. This is what we do. We tell the stories of the expansion of youth sports. The good stories, the bad stories, everything in between. But ISO Reese Founder CEO, RCX Sports the the recent partner with your partnership with Eli and brand Velocity Group, and just what you guys are doing in the youth sports marketplace in the landscape is just, you know, we applaud and we look forward to having you back on here in the near future. And get an update when you guys open that American Youth Cricket League. I'm going to hold. I'm going to hold you to that. All right.
- [55:34]
Isaiah Reese
All right. I look forward to it and many others.
- [55:36]
Greg Olson
Sign me up.
- [55:37]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good, Greg.
- [55:39]
Greg Olson
Appreciate. Congrats on everything, man. It's awesome. Super impressive what you built and look forward to see what you guys continue to do.
- [55:45]
Isaiah Reese
Yeah. Appreciate it.
- [55:46]
Greg Olson
Great.