EA SPORTS Signs First High School Athlete
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⛳ Inside Youth Golf’s Biggest Moment Since 2004
🎮 Exclusive: YSBR sits down with John Reseburg, VP of Marketing, Partnerships and Communications to unpack EA SPORTS first High School athlete signing to the GEN / EA SPORTS program.
Quick Hits
Nike Soccer and Unisport are launching a multi-year partnership with Alianza, the largest Hispanic soccer property in the U.S. The 2026 Alianza Tour will visit eight cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, drawing an estimated 27,000 players and 240,000 fans. Participants in the Sueño development track compete in front of scouts from U.S. Soccer, Liga MX, MLS, and NWS. Read more here…
GEICO capped its NCAA March Madness partnership with community-focused activations during Final Four weekend, donating equipment to Boys & Girls Clubs in Houston, San Diego, Phoenix, and Indianapolis through a partnership with Good Sports. Read more here…
MADE Hoops and Gold Level Sports & Entertainment are launching the first Transfer Portal Combine, a centralized evaluation event for elite DII, DIII, JUCO, and international basketball talent. Players get verified measurements, professional analytics, and HD game film through a single digital platform accessible to every participating coach. Read more here…
BSN inks new club direct partnership with USA Prime
⛳ Inside Youth Golf’s Biggest Moment Since 2004
Last Sunday at Augusta National, 80 junior golfers from 34 states competed on the same green where Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam a year ago. Nine-year-old Roy Moon of Bellevue, Washington won the Boys 7-9 division. Eleven-year-old Ava Chen of Brooklyn sank a 30-foot uphill putt to claim the Girls 10-11 title. The Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, now in its 12th year, remains free to enter and is backed by the Masters Tournament, USGA, and PGA of America.
But the business story behind these kids on the green is far bigger than one Sunday at Augusta.
The numbers:
Junior on-course participation reached nearly 4 million in 2025, a 58% increase since 2019 and the highest level since 2004, per the National Golf Foundation. Off-course participation among juniors (driving ranges, simulators, Topgolf) jumped 82% over the same period to 4 million. Total U.S. golf participation hit a record 48.1 million Americans in 2025.
The demographic composition has shifted significantly. Today, 35% of junior golfers are female, up from 15% in 2000. Twenty-six percent are people of color, up from roughly 6% two decades ago.
The money:
Private equity firms deployed more than $5.5 billion into golf businesses over 18 months ending in late 2025. Three deals frame the landscape:
Bain Capital acquired Concert Golf Partners from Clearlake Capital in a deal valued at more than $1.3 billion including debt, per Bloomberg. Concert Golf grew from 25 to 39 clubs during Clearlake’s hold while more than doubling revenue and profitability.
Leonard Green & Partners agreed to acquire a 60% stake in Topgolf at a $1.1 billion enterprise valuation. Leonard Green also controls Troon, giving it cross-portfolio leverage across entertainment and operations.
L Catterton acquired a majority stake in L.A.B. Golf at a valuation exceeding $200 million. CEO Sam Hahn told Golf Digest the company’s sales have grown 18,000% since he took over in 2018.
The access play:
Youth on Course, the nonprofit that subsidizes rounds to $5 or less for junior members, hit its 5 millionth round in September 2025. The first million took 14 years. The fifth million took eight months. Bank of America’s “Golf with Us” initiative enrolled 86,000+ kids in free memberships and surpassed its 50,000-enrollment goal in 31 days.
The media funnel:
The PGA Tour's Creator Classic Series, sponsored by YouTube, ran three events in 2025 at TPC Sawgrass, Philadelphia Cricket Club, and East Lake, with the TPC Sawgrass edition alone generating 55 million reach and 16 million video views across social platforms. Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports added a $1 million Internet Invitational for 48 creators at Big Cedar Lodge, with a 2026 edition already confirmed. Behind those flagship events sits a sprawling ecosystem of golf content creators, from Good Good Golf (2M+ YouTube subscribers, now hosting its own PGA Tour event this fall) to channels like Bob Does Sports, No Laying Up, and Rick Shiels, that are collectively introducing the game to millions of viewers who may never watch a traditional Sunday broadcast.
🎮 EA SPORTS Signs First High School Athlete to GEN / EA SPORTS program
EA SPORTS has partnered with athletes for decades. What it has not done, until now, is partner with one still in high school.
The company announced that Elijah Haven, a rising senior and dual-sport athlete from Louisiana ranked as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the Class of 2027, has joined the GEN / EA SPORTS program, the cross-franchise athlete platform launched in 2024. Haven becomes the fifth member of the roster alongside Travis Hunter, Alyssa Thompson, Bianca Bustamante, and Endrick.
YSBR sat down with John Reseburg, VP of Marketing, Partnerships and Communications at EA SPORTS, to understand what the signing means for the future of athlete partnerships.
Why a high schooler, why now:
Reseburg framed the move around fan formation timelines. “We know that 50% of sports fandom is formed by age 14, and today’s fans often feel more connected to athletes than teams or clubs,” he said. “So instead of waiting until everything is fully formed, we want to be there earlier in the journey.”
The program is not tied to a single EA SPORTS title. It operates across the company’s gaming, content, and cultural ecosystem, positioning athletes as collaborators rather than endorsers.
What co-creation looks like at 17:
For Haven, the partnership extends beyond football. Off the field, his interests include music, drumming, and filmmaking. EA SPORTS says the deal is designed to support that full identity rather than compress it into a single athletic narrative.
“GEN / EA SPORTS is about the future and that’s what I’m focused on,” Haven said. “I’m working toward the next level in football, but I’m also building my voice and my creativity.”
The approach mirrors what EA SPORTS has done with existing GEN athletes. Last year, the company gifted Travis Hunter a custom-built gaming studio in his home to support his passion for streaming, an investment tied to who he is off the field, not on it.
Where the GEN / EA SPORTS program goes from here:
With five athletes now spanning football, soccer, racing, and basketball, Reseburg signaled the platform will prioritize depth over scale. “It’s less about scale for the sake of it, and more about building deeper connections between next-gen fans and athletes,” he said.
A new GEN / EA SPORTS anthem film, voiced by Lewis Hamilton, accompanies the announcement.
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