Brandi Dowell Co-Founded The Bennett School, an elite baseball academy in Texas, because she was tired of the archaic school system. Using The Alpha School's 2 Hour Learning Model TBS utilizes AI-powered curriculum so student athletes don't have to spend six hours a day in the classroom. Instead they develop their baseball skills most of the day and get dinners with family back. We talk to Dowell about the AI curriculum that has student-athletes learning 6x faster than peers, student's day-to-day, the baseball facilities, self-funding the school, and tech they’re using to track verifiable data for the next level. Stick around after the interview as we react to the cutting edge ideas the mom and Texas commodities trader discussed.

0:00 - Welcome to Buying Sandlot

1:10 - How Students Only Need to Learn 2 Hours a Day

6:25 - What is The Bennett School's Objective

9:59 - Student's Day-to-Day

11:28 - Students are Learning 6x Faster Than Peers

14:10 - How Sports Fills the Gaps

16:34 - How the AI Curriculum Challenges Students

18:28 - The Baseball Facilities

21:11 - How They Track Player Data for Scouts/Coaches

22:59 - What's the Future of The Bennett School?

25:15 -An Elite SELF-FUNDED Baseball Academy + Tuition Costs

28:33 - Reactions to Interview + IMG Academy

35:18 - IMG Academy's Focus on School

37:50 - How The Bennett School is Capitalizing on Youth Sports Trends

41:16 - Reacting to the Learning Development Approach

44:17 - The Consolidation of Sports Academies Will be WILD!

46:40 - Examining a Company Vertically Integrating from Youth to Pro

50:20 - Parents Continue to Take Youth Sports Back

Get your tickets to our Youth Sports Business Conference in Philadelphia from April 14th-15th: https://events.buyingsandlot.com/summit-2026

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Rick Abbott has over 25 years working for the most iconic brands in sports like ESPN, NBC, and Formula 1 and is a former CEO of Cooperstown All-Star Village with Unrivaled Sports. A certified stick and ball guy Rick tells us why he's bullish on softball and the impact of major networks like ESPN on youth sports. We also talk about the Savannah Bananas youth approach, the needs for major brands to reinvest in grassroot sports, and the gives his thoughts on the recently popular "Norway Model".

0:00 - Intro

3:38 - Why Rick is Bullish on Softball

13:34 - How ESPN can Make Softball a Valuable Property

14:32 - ESPN and LLWS Relationship

16:40 - Streamers Future in Youth Sports

21:16 - The Concerns Around Youth Gambling

24:16 - The Softball Facility Conundrum

25:50 - Banana Ball or Little League Ball?

37:34 - The Mental Toll on Youth Baseball Players

40:47 - How NIL is Transforming High School Recruiting

44:10 - Do Youth Sports Parents Get a Bad Rap?

47:47 - Can the Norway Model Work in the U.S.?

53:23 - The Importance of Major Brand Sponsorships

Get your tickets to our Youth Sports Business Conference in Philadelphia from April 14th-15th: https://events.buyingsandlot.com/summit-2026

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Kyle Pagan, Kyle Scott, and James Kratch discuss tech and businesses improving safety protocols following a tragic shooting at a youth hockey game, LiveBarn's complex case of video copyright, and USA Volleyball ending it's deal with SportsEngine, which brings out the Sale-O-Meter.

0:00 - Intro: Grab Tix to the Buying Sandlot Summit

1:59 - The Business Case for Improving Safety after a Youth Hockey Tragedy

12:20 - LiveBarn's Complex Video Copyright Case

26:35 - USA Volleyball Ends Deal with SportsEngine

28:32 - The SportsEngine Sale-O-Meter Update

29:45 - Who Will Replace SportsEngine at USA Volleyball?

33:00 ...breaking news about the breaking news

36:58 - The Future of Streaming

40:55 - We'll be at the Flag World Championships in Orlando

Get your tickets to our Youth Sports Business Conference in Philadelphia from April 14th-15th: https://events.buyingsandlot.com/summit-2026

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Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.buyingsandlot.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buying-sandlot/

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