Greg Olsen’s Youth Sports Platform Reels in $4.5M in Seed Money

Former NFL star Greg Olsen is turning his passion for youth sports into a venture that he believes will help millions nationwide navigate a disjointed and fragmented landscape.

The three-time Pro Bowler turned Fox Sports broadcaster has closed on a $4.5M seed round for his new youth sports content and commerce company Youth Inc., a platform that aims to not only entertain and educate listeners but serve as a direct-to-consumer merchandise marketplace. 

“This is something that I live every day, whether it’s through my own kids or spending time training other people’s kids,” Olsen, a father of three, said in an interview. “Five, six days a week I’m in the community living the youth sports experience as a dad, as a coach and as a former athlete … If we build out this platform the right way, this can be a lasting resource that millions of families throughout the country can rely on.” 

The initial funding round was led by Will Ventures with co-investments from Ryan Sports Ventures, Hello Sunshine co-founder Jim Toth and private equity fund ISOS Ventures. 

Olsen, who founded Youth Inc. parent company Audiorama with former Carolina Panthers teammate Ryan Kalil, received help from other football brethren. Star quarterbacks Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) and CJ Stroud (Houston Texans) as well as Ohio State head coach Ryan Day contributed to the round. 

Audiorama, which is backed by Powerhouse Capital, was launched by Olsen, Kalil and Hollywood actor Vince Vaughn in March of 2022. The production company debuted its first podcast (Youth Inc.) that same month originally as a pure content play where parents, coaches and others can explore the changing world of youth sports nationwide during a show hosted by Olsen.   

It wasn’t long after season one was complete that Olsen developed bigger ambitions of creating an all-encompassing youth sports platform that can satisfy a wider range of needs in the market. Fueled by new capital, Olsen and his team are pivoting with plans to launch the new Youth Inc. platform later this year. 

Youth Inc. has tapped some of the more experienced executives in the space to lead the company’s evolution as it goes from podcast to a standalone media and e-commerce company that will be based in Nashville and the greater Philadelphia area. 

Tim Murphy, who is the former executive vice president of strategy and business development at Audacy, will serve as the company’s president of media while former Fanatics director of business development Ryan Baise will serve as CEO and will spearhead the brand’s on-demand DTC marketplace. 

Baise, who oversaw new ventures for e-commerce giant Fanatics, understands the complexities and logistic challenges that come with delivering merchandise for a range of different teams and sports from tennis to basketball. The former Illinois quarterback says what will be key is building a destination brand and creating brand affinity. 

“We’re going to build this commerce platform that services the market with a completely differentiated supply chain than anything that exists out there today,” he said. 

The leaders of Youth Inc. are hoping that within a handful of years their platform will be a streamlined one-stop shop for customers to experience premium media content or score their favorite team’s uniform while also offering business-to-business services including helping larger youth sports organizations manage its merchandise functions. 

“Once people get exposed to us then we can service all of their needs on our e-commerce site whether that’s team store, fan wear, player uniform and other merchandise,” said Olsen, the son of longtime high school football coach Chris Olsen. “We think the content piece really feeds the commerce and obviously the commerce feeds back into people finding us and having access to our content information that we publish.”