Player First

What Player First does

PlayerFirst is a youth sports management technology platform operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of 3 Step Sports LLC, a diversified youth sports conglomerate headquartered at 3090 North Lake Terrace, Glenview, Illinois. The platform connects 150+ youth sport organizations and event providers through a single sign-on identity layer, allowing athletes, parents, and coaches to maintain one account across all participating brands. Its core architecture is the PlayerFirst Web administrative backbone (websites, registration, scheduling, team management, communications, invoicing, and financial reporting), supplemented by two mobile applications — the PlayerFirst Club App for athletes and families, and the PlayerFirst Access App for event staff managing gate access, parking, scoring, and on-site operations.

The product portfolio is layered. PF Pay is a Stripe-integrated point-of-sale module deployed at events with kiosk mode, cash handling, refunds, and event-shop financial consolidation into PlayerFirst Web. UCVerified is a subscription-based athlete data verification service offering combine testing times, UCScore ratings, performance comparisons at camp/class/state/all-time/professional levels, a video library, and college pathway and recruiting tools, structured in three tiers (Rookie, All-Star, All-American). The platform integrates bidirectionally with third-party event and registration systems including AES, Exposure, GotSport, AthleteTrax, Smoothcomp, NCAA/BBCS, and Skylight, and uses Canva assets for promotional materials within the Access App.

The business model combines transaction fees on registrations and POS throughput (PF Pay), recurring subscription revenue from UCVerified tiers, and platform fees. Distribution is product-led through mobile app stores and direct web access, with no public funding rounds, no disclosed revenue figures, and no management team identified in the public source data. The customer base is distributed across the US youth sports ecosystem — sports clubs, tournament operators, and the families participating in their programs — with no international footprint.

Name

Player First

Legal name

3 Step Sports LLC

Website

https://playerfirsttech.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

PlayerFirst is a US youth sports management technology platform under 3 Step Sports LLC that provides single-login access across 150+ sport organizations and event providers, offering registration, scheduling, payments (PF Pay), and athlete verification (UCVerified) through web and mobile applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Sports Management Software

NAICS

Sports and Recreation Instruction (611620)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Combine, Tryout & Showcase Programs (MPAKAJAM)

Keywords

• Youth sports management software
• Sports organization platform
• Tournament management system
• Athlete registration platform
• Sports event management

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Platform Fees: PlayerFirst charges platform fees on transactions processed through PF Pay and registration payments
2. UCVerified Subscriptions: Tiered subscription service (Rookie, All-Star, All-American) providing athlete data verification, combine testing access, UCScore ratings, and college recruiting tools. Each tier offers progressively more features including analytics, video library, and college pathway projections
3. Program Registration: Registration fees for youth sports programs, tryouts, tournaments, and events managed through the platform

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

PlayerFirst is a unified technology platform that enables youth sports organizations and event providers to manage registrations, scheduling, rostering, payments, communications, and athlete performance verification through a single login. The offering includes a web-based admin platform (PlayerFirst Web), mobile applications for athletes/parents and event staff, an integrated Stripe-powered point-of-sale system (PF Pay), and a subscription-based athlete data and combine verification service (UCVerified).

Product overview

PlayerFirst is a youth sports management technology platform providing single login access to 150+ youth sport organizations across the United States. The platform operates as a unified ecosystem with PlayerFirst Web as the core administrative platform powering websites, registration, team management, scheduling, communications, and billing. It is complemented by two mobile applications: PlayerFirst Club App for athletes and families to view schedules and manage participation, and PlayerFirst Access App for event organizers and staff to manage on-site operations including gate access, scoring, and location management. PF Pay provides integrated point-of-sale payment processing through Stripe, while UCVerified offers a subscription-based athlete data verification service for combine testing results and college recruiting tools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PlayerFirst Club App: Mobile application for parents, athletes, coaches, and team managers to manage schedules, events, and team communications
• PlayerFirst Access App
• PF Pay
• UCVerified

Products and services

• PlayerFirst Web The primary web-based administrative platform serving as the backbone for managing websites, program registration, team management, scheduling, communications, sales, invoicing, and financial reporting across youth sport organizations.
• PlayerFirst Club App Mobile application for parents, athletes, coaches, and team managers to view schedules, manage profiles, track attendance, message teams, export calendars, register for programs, and purchase products.
• PlayerFirst Access App Mobile application for tournament and event staff to manage gate and parking operations, scan tickets, view schedules and brackets, score games, pin event locations, create custom event pages, and process on-site purchases.
• PF Pay Point-of-sale payment processing system integrated with PlayerFirst Web, connecting Stripe card readers to iPads to enable on-site credit card and cash payments, kiosk mode, transaction management, refunds, and receipt generation for event and shop sales.
• UCVerified Subscription-based athlete data verification platform providing combine testing times, athlete measurables, UCScore analytics, performance comparisons against other athletes and professionals, video resource library, and college recruiting tools across Rookie, All-Star, and All-American subscription tiers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Single login works across 150+ organizations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Active Network / ActiveWorks: Active Network (part of Global Payments) provides event registration and activity management software widely used by youth sports organizations and tournaments. It is a broader incumbent competing on similar registration and event-management workflows as PlayerFirst.
• SportsEngine: SportsEngine, owned by NBC Sports/Comcast, is a leading U.S. youth sports management platform offering registration, scheduling, websites, and communication tools. It directly competes with PlayerFirst's core web/admin platform for the same youth sports organization customer base, with a much larger installed base.
• Genius Sports: Genius Sports is a sports data and technology company serving leagues, sportsbooks, and media. While focused on professional sports, its data and event technology footprint makes it an adjacent incumbent relevant to PlayerFirst's UCVerified data ambitions.
• Stack Sports: Stack Sports is a large U.S. sports technology platform serving governing bodies, leagues, clubs, and events with registration, tournament management, and payment solutions. It competes with PlayerFirst across multiple product lines and benefits from broader sport-vertical reach.

Emerging players

• Bonzi: Bonzi is an emerging sales, engagement, and retention platform with a focus on youth sports and activities organizations. It overlaps with PlayerFirst's communication, retention analytics, and program-management capabilities.
• Crossbar: Crossbar is an emerging youth sports operations platform providing registration, payment processing, and event management tools. It overlaps with PlayerFirst's PF Pay and registration workflows, representing a younger, narrower competitor in the same niche.

Direct peers

• Jersey Watch: Jersey Watch provides website building, registration, and payment tools specifically designed for youth sports organizations. It competes directly with the PlayerFirst Web platform for the same youth club and league customers.
• TeamSnap: TeamSnap is a team and sports management platform used by youth sports clubs, leagues, and parents for scheduling, registration, and communication. It competes directly with PlayerFirst's Club App and web platform for the same SMB youth sports organization and parent/athlete end users.
• LeagueApps: LeagueApps provides registration, scheduling, payments, and communication software to youth and adult sports leagues, clubs, and tournaments. It is a direct head-to-head competitor to PlayerFirst in the youth sports management SaaS category, with similar feature scope and pricing model.
• PlayMetrics: PlayMetrics offers club and league management software for youth soccer and other sports, including registration, scheduling, communication, and payments. It is a focused direct competitor in the same youth sports organization vertical.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Player First