Relates to fairness in youth sports

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Rachel May says this is needed

Youth sports are one of the most formative experiences available to young people. They build discipline, resilience, friendship, and a relationship with physical activity that can last a lifetime. New York families invest heavily in those experiences, and they deserve to do so on fair terms. That is not always what they get. Across the country, and in New York, the competitive youth sports industry has grown into a significant commercial market. Private equity investment has consolidated control of many organizations, and the incentives that follow have not always aligned with the interests of children and families. Contracts obscure true costs. Stay-to-play arrangements use children's playing time as leverage to extract money from families on travel and lodging. Player platforms collect detailed personal and biometric data on minors and face no meaningful restrictions on what happens to it. Children are not products. Their performance data should not be sold. Their families should not be trapped by contracts designed to extract rather than serve. Their access to competition should not depend on which hotel their parents book. This bill restores basic fairness to the relationship between youth sports organizations and the families they exist to serve. It requires honest disclosure of costs, prohibits the most exploitative contract terms, bans coercive travel arrangements, and protects the personal data of minor participants. It holds controlling investors accountable for the conduct of the organizations they profit from. Youth sports should be about kids. This bill helps keep them that way.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.