Adam Blumenfeld, CEO of Varsity Brands, the parent company of BSN Sports and Varsity Spirit, spoke with SGB Executive about the potential synergies and opportunities arising from BSN Sports’ acquisition of Sports Endeavors, the operator of Soccer.com and lacrosse retailer Lax.com.
Terms of the deal, announced last week, weren’t disclosed. As part of these acquisitions, BSN Sports will add more than 800 employees from both organizations. Mike and Brendan Moylan, the founders and CEO and COO, respectively, of Sports Endeavors, will continue to lead the soccer retailer, while John Arrix, CEO of Lax.com since 2010, will continue to lead the lacrosse retailer as part of the BSN Sports family.
Founded in 1984 as a soccer catalog business known as Eurosport, Sports Endeavors’ portfolio now includes Soccer.com, WorldSoccerShop, 431 Sports, Sports Promotions Group, INARIA, and Soccer Master. Lax.com, founded in 1999, includes Lax.com, Laxsteals.com, Allusportswear.com, universallacrosse.com and Zima.com. It also operates several stores under the Universal Lacrosse banner.
SGB: Can you tell us any more about the terms of the deal?
Adam Blumenfeld: We’re not sharing the specific terms of the transaction. Bringing these businesses into the BSN Sports family allows us to create what we believe to be the preeminent youth sports platform in the United States. To that end, we will be investing in people, process and technology at lax.com and soccer.com while simultaneously taking advantage of their sport specialization and tribal knowledge across the club and team sports landscape.
SGB: Will Mike and Brendan Moylan, of Sports Endeavors, and John Arrix, or Lax.com, be leading the next phase of growth for their respective businesses or do you see them taking on more transitory roles at BSN Sports?
Adam Blumenfeld: First, let me say just how excited I am to work with Mike and Brendan, who I’ve known and admired from afar for nearly 20 years, and now have the chance to work and strategize alongside every day. They have an outstanding reputation as business and community leaders and their company cultures are centered around building lifelong relationships. I think we share a lot in common – personally and professionally.
And while I’ve just gotten to know John over the last year or so, it’s clear he shares a similar passion for serving his teammates and customers.
I expect each of these successful and talented leaders to play an important role in helping shape the future of our business. We have a tremendous amount to learn from them, and I hope a number of ways to reciprocate.
SGB: Can you tell us any more about the transition?
Adam Blumenfeld: Our approach here is simple. We’re not coming in to disrupt what’s working. Sports Endeavors/Soccer.com and Lax.com will continue to serve their customers the way they always have. Over the next stretch, we’re going to listen, learn, and understand where we can support them with the scale, infrastructure, and experience we bring. Any long-term decisions will come from that foundation. Our strategy is to build on strength, not replace it.
SGB: The acquisition complements last November’s formation of BSN Sports Club Direct. Can you tell us about BSN Sports Club Direct and how it relates to the acquisitions?
Adam Blumenfeld: We launched Club Direct because the club space demands something different: more precision, speed, the 1-2 punch of technology and a local touch, and a deep understanding of the club, athlete and family.
BSN’s Club Direct tightly connects and curates proprietary and distributed product, hundreds of millions in inventory, and industry-leading technology. When combined with the sport-specific expertise around product, logistics and relationships that Soccer.com and Lax.com bring, we’re positioned – we think – to turn the myriad behind-the-scenes complexities into a simplified, intuitive customer experience.
For clubs, this shows up in very real ways, like two-day shipping on customized cloth from the world’s biggest brands, a full suite of complementary equipment, and an unparalleled sales force to deliver the goods.
SGB: What do the acquisitions mean for BSN Sports and Varsity Brands? Were you struggling to gain a strong foothold in soccer and lacrosse categories in the team space?
Adam Blumenfeld: These acquisitions aren’t intended to fill a gap. Our focus has never been to be the biggest – just better. Done right, this approach can create scale. And scale has advantages like speed, technology, and the ability to invest deeply in inventory and provide value that accrues directly to the customer.
Their authenticity in soccer and lacrosse, particularly in the club space, complements what we do and sharpens how we go to market. It allows us to be more specialized where it matters, while still delivering the choice and value our customers rely on.
I’d add that soccer.com and lax.com have plenty to offer inside and outside the club marketplace. We look forward to leveraging their expertise and capabilities in every conceivable way.
SGB: Can you comment on the opportunity you see in soccer?
Adam Blumenfeld: Soccer continues to build momentum. You can sense the growth, and major moments like the World Cup only accelerate it. In particular, I think the growing popularity of women’s sports, sports leagues, and the general embrace of soccer at the professional level in the United States act as tailwinds for the youth and club markets.
We see an opportunity to support that growth in a way that removes friction. As rosters expand and demand increases, the burden on coaches and club operators grows too. Our role is to simplify that by making sure product is there, timelines are reliable, and the experience using our My Team Shop+, our ordering platform designed specifically for Club customers, is unparalleled.
We’re in the unique position of helping programs scale themselves up, without the headaches of added complexity. It’s about saving time and creating peace of mind.
SGB: What’s your take on the lacrosse opportunity?
Adam Blumenfeld: Lacrosse has been on a steady rise for years, and it’s expanding well beyond traditional strongholds on the East and West coasts. Participation continues to grow across both boys’ and girls’ programs at the school and club levels. It has gone mainstream and become more exciting to both play and watch at the youth and professional levels. Much like our Pro Cheer League did in its first season, the PLL [Premier Lacrosse League] and NLL [National Lacrosse League] are putting a fresh spotlight on a sport with such rich history and tradition.
What stands out is how tight-knit and knowledgeable this community is. That’s something we respect. The Lax.com team brings with it unmatched credibility and authenticity, and the BSN Sports team has embraced the opportunity to learn from it.
As the sport grows, and it will with moments like the Olympics on the horizon, we want to make sure we’re delivering solutions that match the way lacrosse athletes train, compete, and prepare. We’re meeting the sport where it is and I hope helping advance its expansion.
SGB: What do the deals mean for the brands BSN Sports works with?
Adam Blumenfeld: Our brand partners trust us because we’ve been consistent, durable, and we do what we say. We show up, deliver, and represent them like the world class brands they are in front of athletes, fans, and the community-at-large.
These acquisitions strengthen that foundation. When we simplify the experience for coaches and athletes, we’re also creating a better environment for our brand partners to succeed.
At the end of the day, our brand partners want to work with people who represent them well, connect them to the marketplace not just transactionally but experientially, and make life simple for coaches and players. That’s where – over decades in some cases – we’ve built trust.
SGB: Do the deals impact BSN’s appetite for acquisitions?
Adam Blumenfeld: We will, as always, remain focused on profitable growth, be it organic or acquired, in all our markets. We wake up every day and think like a startup so we can approach opportunities like an insurgent rather than an incumbent. The day we stop doing that, it’s time to ship me outta here.
When we look at opportunities, it comes down to three things: great people, deep authentic relationships, and a great experience for our customers. These acquisitions check all three boxes.
We’ll continue to stay disciplined, but we’re always open to opportunities that make us better.
SGB: How is BSN Sports’ overall business doing?
Adam Blumenfeld: The business is strong, and we’re seeing healthy momentum across the board. Participation is up, the appetite for in-person engagement and physical activity is strong, and our team continues to execute at record levels.
Initiatives like Club Direct and Collegiate Select are part of how we’re evolving: getting closer to specific segments of athletes and delivering bespoke solutions. We think the mix of hyper-focused category attention with broad selection and choice is an important combination.
We’re building for the long term and doing it with a relentless focus on the customer. That shows up in how we invest in our people, how we strengthen our systems, and how we continue to elevate the experience. That’s what has and will continue to drive sustained profitable growth.
SGB: How is the overall team dealer space performing these days?
Adam Blumenfeld: It would be a bit presumptuous for me to speculate on how the team dealer marketplace is performing.
What I can say is that expectations have changed. Athletes and coaches want consumer experience: speed, transparency, customization – all shipped right to their doorstep. This wasn’t as prevalent just a few years ago.
We’re leaning into that. We’re building a nimble supply chain that shortens design cycles, and gives teams options, whether that’s stock product in days or highly customized gear in just a couple weeks.
There are always external pressures like budgets, costs, broader macro factors, but we’re focused, as we have been for 54 years, on the long game.
It’s like the best version of Groundhog Day: we wake up every morning and try to keep and earn the trust of 8000 teammates and hundreds of thousands of customers. And to keep getting better, we challenge ourselves to do that every single day!
Images courtesy Varsity Brands and Soccer.com
