Sports Illustrated Play

What Sports Illustrated Play does

Sports Illustrated Play is a privately held amateur sports league management platform founded in 2015 and headquartered in New York. It operates as a sub-brand of Sports Illustrated within ABG-SI LLC, the corporate entity through which Authentic Brands Group controls the Sports Illustrated trademark. The platform provides online tools for player registration, scheduling, communication, and tournament administration, targeting amateur leagues, tournament organizers, coaches, and individual players in the youth and recreational sports ecosystem.

The company's product strategy has historically relied on partnerships with established online sports management providers rather than purely organic build, and in April 2016 it expanded through the acquisition of Tourney Machine, a tournament-bracket management tool. Beyond this acquisition, no additional product launches, funding rounds, pricing disclosures, customer logos, or technology-stack details have been publicly disclosed. Revenue model mechanics — whether freemium, per-league subscription, per-player SaaS, advertising-supported, or a hybrid — are not specified in available data.

Sports Illustrated Play operates as a small unit within the ABG-SI LLC corporate structure with an estimated 11-50 employees, suggesting a niche, capital-efficient operation rather than a venture-backed growth-stage SaaS. It benefits from the Sports Illustrated brand association but appears to lack the standalone operational visibility (no disclosed revenue, no management team biographies, no funding history) typical of independent vertical SaaS companies of comparable vintage. Its strategic positioning is therefore best characterized as a brand-licensed sub-product within a media conglomerate portfolio, leveraging parental distribution and trademark equity rather than competing as an autonomous technology platform.

Name

Sports Illustrated Play

Legal name

ABG-SI LLC

Website

https://siplay.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sports Illustrated Play is an amateur sports league management platform providing online tools for players, coaches, and league organizers. Founded in 2015, it operates as a sub-brand within Authentic Brands Group's ABG-SI LLC entity holding the Sports Illustrated trademark.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports League Management Software

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth & Scholastic Sports Organizations (K–12, AAU, Club Leagues) (MPAKACAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

National Collegiate Governing Bodies (e.g., NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA/USCAA) (MPAKACAC)

Keywords

• Sports league management
• Tournament management software
• Amateur sports platform
• League scheduling software
• Youth sports management

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Sports Illustrated Play is an amateur sports league management platform that provides a suite of online tools for player and league administration. The platform supports tournament organization, scheduling, and team management for amateur sports organizations. It operates as a sub-brand of Sports Illustrated under ABG-SI LLC.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sports Illustrated Play: Amateur sports league management platform

Products and services

• Sports Illustrated Play Platform

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• LeagueApps: LeagueApps provides sports league management software for youth and adult recreational sports organizations, including registration, websites, and scheduling. It is a head-to-head competitor in the amateur league management SaaS category.
• Jersey Watch: Jersey Watch provides websites, registration, and league management tools specifically for amateur and youth sports. It targets the same amateur league administrators as Sports Illustrated Play with a similar product scope.
• PlayMetrics: PlayMetrics offers club and league management software for youth soccer and other amateur sports organizations. It is a direct competitor in the amateur sports management platform space, particularly among club-based leagues.
• Tourney Machine: Tourney Machine was acquired by Sports Illustrated Play in 2016 and continues to operate in the tournament and bracket management space. It remains comparable as a sibling product and a competing offering for amateur tournament organizers.
• SportsEngine (Stack Sports): SportsEngine, now part of Stack Sports, is a leading provider of sport management software for youth, scholastic, and amateur sports organizations. It competes directly with SI Play across registration, websites, and tournament management.
• TeamSnap: TeamSnap is the leading SaaS platform for managing youth and amateur sports leagues, clubs, and teams, offering registration, scheduling, and communication tools. It directly competes with Sports Illustrated Play in the same end market with overlapping product functionality.
• Blue Sombrero / Stack Sports: Blue Sombrero, now part of Stack Sports, provides online registration and league management tools for youth sports organizations. It is a closely comparable offering to Sports Illustrated Play for amateur league administrators.

Broad incumbents

• NBC Sports Next (SportsEngine parent): NBC Sports Next operates the SportsEngine platform within Comcast/NBCUniversal, providing sports management technology across youth and amateur leagues. It is a broader incumbent leveraging media synergies comparable to the SI brand halo supporting Sports Illustrated Play.
• Active Network (ActiveSports): Active Network is a long-standing incumbent in event registration and sports activity management, owned by Global Payments. It overlaps with SI Play in registration and league administration but serves a broader activity-based portfolio beyond youth sports.

Emerging players

• Bonzi: Bonzi is a smaller SaaS provider of league and tournament management software focused on amateur sports. It competes with SI Play in a narrower segment with overlapping registration and scheduling features.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/siplaysports
• Facebookfacebook.com/sportsillustratedplay

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sports Illustrated Play