Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars

Every parent who has watched their child stand confused on a soccer field, ignored by an overextended coach more focused on winning than teaching, understands exactly what Gustavo Szulansky saw in 2000 when he decided to build something better. Szulansky, an Argentine native and New York City father, founded Soccer Stars after witnessing firsthand the absence of fundamental instruction and genuine coach engagement on his own son's youth soccer team. His solution was disciplined and mission-driven: create a youth soccer development program built around real skill-building, individual confidence, and physical fitness, delivered in a non-competitive, age-appropriate environment for children as young as 12 months and as old as 18 years. That founding vision evolved into one of the most recognizable youth sports development brands in the United States, operating under Soccer Stars, LLC, with headquarters at 606 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10024. By 2025, the Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise had grown to approximately 153 total units, including 147 franchised locations and 6 company-owned units, conducting 3,300 weekly classes across more than 1,200 locations annually and reaching over 140,000 boys and girls each year. The brand's total historic impact now exceeds 2 million children served through more than 100,000 classes, camps, and clinics held nationwide each year. In 2019, the organizational structure expanded significantly when Adam Geisler and John Erlandson founded Youth Athletes United, a parent platform under which Soccer Stars became a flagship brand. Franchising formally launched in 2022, positioning Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars as one of the newer but fastest-growing franchise systems in the youth sports and enrichment category. The brand currently operates in 19 states across numerous major metropolitan markets including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, Miami, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Austin, and Chicago, with its proprietary "Crib-to-College" player pathway differentiating it structurally from recreational leagues and standard after-school programs. For franchise investors evaluating youth services concepts, this is independent analysis — not promotional copy — grounded in publicly available data from the brand's Franchise Disclosure Documents and verifiable market sources.

The youth sports industry represents one of the most compelling secular growth stories in consumer services. The U.S. youth sports market was valued at approximately $19.2 billion in 2021 and is projected to surpass $77 billion globally by 2026, driven by three durable macro forces: rising parental investment in structured child development, growing awareness of childhood obesity and physical inactivity, and increasing demand for organized skill-building alternatives to unstructured recreational play. Soccer specifically is the fastest-growing youth sport in the United States by participation, with an estimated 3 million children currently enrolled in organized soccer programs. The youth enrichment and after-school activities market, which encompasses sports development programs like Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars, benefits from a structural consumer shift where parents now spend an average of $883 per child per year on youth sports participation, a figure that has grown at approximately 9% annually over the past decade. Unlike youth recreation leagues dependent on municipal funding or school district budgets, fee-based private development programs operate in a largely recession-resilient segment — parents consistently prioritize child development spending even during economic contractions. The competitive landscape for youth soccer development remains notably fragmented: most local providers are small, unbranded operations with no curriculum standardization, no proprietary coaching methodology, and no pathway structure that spans toddler-age classes through teenage development. This fragmentation creates a meaningful brand advantage for a scaled, curriculum-driven operator like Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars. The mobile, asset-light business model also sidesteps the fixed-cost vulnerabilities of brick-and-mortar youth enrichment concepts, reducing franchise exposure to commercial real estate risk while enabling rapid geographic deployment across parks, recreation centers, schools, and community facilities. These structural dynamics make youth soccer development an unusually attractive franchise investment category heading into the second half of the 2020s.

The Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise cost structure positions this opportunity in the accessible-to-mid-tier range for service franchise investments. The initial franchise fee is $49,500, with a veteran's discount bringing that figure to $44,550 — approximately 10% below the standard rate, a meaningful incentive for military veterans considering entrepreneurship. Total initial investment ranges from $70,350 to $102,250 depending on territory size, market type, and initial equipment and marketing requirements, with some disclosure sources citing a slightly higher range of $72,800 to $105,800. Investors pursuing a two-territory acquisition should budget for a total investment range of $125,100 to $175,300. The spread between the low and high investment scenarios is driven primarily by initial working capital reserves, training-related travel and expenses, vehicle requirements for the mobile operating model, and launch marketing spend rather than physical build-out costs — a critical distinction from brick-and-mortar franchises where construction costs can add $200,000 to $500,000 above the franchise fee. This asset-light investment profile is one of the most investor-friendly structural features of the Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise opportunity, as the absence of a fixed commercial lease eliminates one of the most common causes of early-stage franchise failure. For context, the median total initial investment across all U.S. franchise systems is approximately $250,000, placing the Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise cost well below the industry midpoint. The parent organization, Youth Athletes United, founded by CEO Adam Geisler and John Erlandson in 2019, provides organizational infrastructure and capital backing to the franchise system. The company's estimated annual revenue falls between $5 million and $25 million USD, and the brand has added 69 new franchised units since beginning its franchise expansion, signaling strong franchisee demand. SBA loan eligibility should be evaluated with a qualified lender, as the brand's mobile model and relatively low total investment may support favorable financing terms.

Daily operations for a Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchisee are structured around a mobile, community-based delivery model that fundamentally differs from storefront franchise operations. Franchisees do not lease commercial retail space. Instead, they deploy certified coaches to parks, school gymnasiums, recreation centers, community facilities, and sports complexes within their defined territory, conducting structured soccer development sessions across age groups ranging from 12 months through 18 years. The "Crib-to-College" pathway is not merely a marketing phrase — it represents a systematized curriculum architecture that creates natural customer retention across multiple enrollment cycles as a single child ages through different program tiers. Staffing centers on recruiting, training, and managing part-time coaching staff, with the franchisee typically operating as the primary business manager rather than a front-line coach, though owner-operator engagement during the launch phase is standard. Leadership support comes from a well-defined executive team: Adam Geisler serves as CEO, Carmen Bellavia as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Digital Officer, Dean Simpson as Director of Programs, and Toby Tenenbaum as Managing Director for Stars Premier. Training provided to new franchisees covers curriculum delivery methodology, coach recruitment and certification, scheduling and operations management, and local marketing execution. The brand's scale — 3,300 weekly classes across 1,200-plus active locations — creates a robust operational playbook that new franchisees can leverage immediately rather than building systems from scratch. Territory structure is exclusive, with available territories spanning 48 states plus Washington D.C., including a broad list of currently underserved markets identified as hot or growing territories. The Soccer Stars United travel team program, currently running 47 travel teams across New York, Los Angeles, and Florida with more in development, represents an optional premium revenue layer that mature franchisees can pursue to deepen customer relationships and increase per-family annual spend.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for the Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise. This is a meaningful gap for prospective investors conducting rigorous unit economics analysis, and it should be addressed directly in franchise candidate conversations with the franchisor before any investment decision is made. The absence of Item 19 disclosure does not indicate poor performance — many emerging franchise systems, particularly those that began franchising as recently as 2022, decline to publish financial performance representations while their unit-level data set is still maturing and before statistically robust averages can be reported with confidence. What publicly available signals do suggest is directionally positive: the brand conducts over 100,000 classes, camps, and clinics annually, generates $5 million to $25 million in estimated annual system revenue, and serves more than 140,000 children per year across 153 units. At the system-level midpoint revenue estimate of $15 million divided across 153 total units, that implies a rough average unit revenue contribution in the range of $90,000 to $100,000 annually — though this calculation is approximate and should not be treated as a unit-level projection. The mobile model with no rent expense and part-time coaching labor creates a cost structure with potentially favorable margins relative to revenue, and the recurring, subscription-style enrollment dynamic of class programs typically produces more predictable cash flow than transaction-driven retail or food service concepts. Investors should request audited or reviewed franchisee financial statements, speak directly with existing Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchisees listed in the FDD's Item 20, and consult an independent franchise attorney and CPA before committing capital. Industry benchmarks for youth enrichment mobile service franchises suggest operating margins between 20% and 35% for mature units, though individual results will vary materially based on territory population density, local coach labor costs, class enrollment rates, and franchisee operational execution.

The Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise has executed a rapid and measurable growth trajectory since launching its franchise program in 2022. From a standing start in franchising, the brand has opened 69 new franchised units and now counts 147 franchised locations plus 6 company-owned units for a total of approximately 153 to 159 locations depending on the data source and timing. Operating across 19 states with territories available in 48 states plus Washington D.C., the runway for continued unit growth is substantial — the brand has barely penetrated its theoretical addressable territory footprint. The integration of Soccer Stars under the Youth Athletes United platform in 2019, followed by the formal franchise launch in 2022, represents a deliberate institutionalization of what had previously been a founder-led direct operation, bringing professional management infrastructure, digital operations capability under Chief Digital Officer Carmen Bellavia, and a scalable support model capable of sustaining rapid franchise expansion. The Stars Premier program, managed by Toby Tenenbaum, and the Soccer Stars United travel team initiative currently covering 47 teams across New York, Los Angeles, and Florida, create premium revenue tiers within the system that strengthen long-term franchisee economics beyond introductory class programs. Geographically, the brand's strength in major coastal metros like New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston provides proof-of-concept in the highest-cost, highest-density markets, which typically validates a brand's ability to perform across a range of market types. The soccer-specific focus also creates a competitive moat that generalist youth enrichment or multi-sport concepts cannot easily replicate: proprietary curriculum, specialized coach training pipelines, and a brand identity synonymous with soccer development for over two decades since Szulansky's 2000 founding. As youth soccer participation continues its upward trend in the United States, particularly among Hispanic and Latino communities which now represent a growing share of the domestic youth sports consumer base, the demographic tailwinds supporting Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars are strengthening rather than moderating.

The ideal Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise candidate combines community connectivity, a passion for youth development, and the organizational capability to recruit and manage part-time coaching staff across multiple simultaneous weekly class engagements. Prior experience in youth sports, education, recreation management, or community programming is advantageous but not a stated requirement — the brand's training infrastructure is designed to equip business-minded operators without soccer coaching backgrounds. Because the operating model is mobile and staff-dependent rather than facility-dependent, franchisee success correlates strongly with talent management, local relationship-building with schools and recreation centers, and consistent marketing execution rather than technical soccer expertise. The brand encourages multi-territory ownership, with a two-territory investment range of $125,100 to $175,300 providing a structured pathway for investors who want to capture larger geographic footprints from the outset. Available territory markets span 48 states plus Washington D.C., with specific hot markets and growing territories identified across the Southeastern, Midwestern, and Mountain West United States, including states like Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington. Confirmed states of current operation include Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Connecticut, among others. The veteran franchise fee of $44,550 versus the standard $49,500 reflects the brand's active effort to recruit military veterans, whose leadership and operational discipline profiles align well with the franchisee requirements of the mobile model. Timeline from franchise agreement signing to first class delivery is typically compressed relative to brick-and-mortar concepts given the absence of construction or build-out requirements, making this a faster path to revenue generation for qualified candidates.

The Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise opportunity presents a structurally differentiated investment thesis within the youth sports and enrichment category: low total investment relative to franchise industry medians, a mobile asset-light model that eliminates commercial real estate risk, a 25-year-old brand identity rooted in a genuine founder story, and a clear demographic tailwind in one of the fastest-growing youth sports participation categories in the United States. The combination of the "Crib-to-College" curriculum pathway, the Youth Athletes United organizational platform, and an executive team with functional expertise across operations, digital infrastructure, and program development positions this brand for continued franchise unit growth from its current base of 153 units toward much larger scale. The absence of Item 19 disclosure is the most significant due diligence gap prospective investors must address through direct franchisee conversations and independent financial modeling. For investors serious about evaluating this opportunity with the rigor that a five-to-six figure capital commitment demands, PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow you to benchmark the Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise cost, fee structure, and growth trajectory against every comparable youth sports and enrichment concept in the franchise market. The Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise investment sits at a genuinely accessible price point, the market dynamics are favorable, and the brand's growth since its 2022 franchise launch demonstrates validated franchisee demand. Explore the complete Soccer Stars, LLC Super Soccer Stars franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.