Eli Manning’s Private Equity Firm Buys Youth Sports Company Behind NFL Flag

BusinessSportsMoneyEli Manning’s Private Equity Firm Buys Youth Sports Company Behind NFL FlagByTim Casey,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tim Casey is a reporter who covers basketball and sports business.Follow AuthorJun 04, 2026, 07:00am EDTFILE - NFC coach Eli Manning cheers on his players during the tug of war event at the NFL Pro Bowl football game in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reservedBrand Velocity Group, a private equity firm whose partners include former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, has acquired RCX Sports, a company that manages and controls the official youth sports licenses for most major U.S. professional leagues.BVG bought RCX from the Raine Group, a merchant bank. The companies would not disclose financial terms of the deal, although they said the RCX brand and leadership team will remain intact, including CEO Izell Reese who played in 93 NFL games as a defensive back from 1998 through 2004.RCX is the youth sports operating partner for the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. The company works with local parks and recreation departments, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs and for a fee provides officially licensed uniforms, equipment and support for leagues, tournaments and events.RCX’s largest partner is NFL Flag, the league’s youth flag football initiative. More than 800,000 children participate in NFL Flag leagues, up from 500,000 when RCX took over the license in the fall of 2019.“I jokingly tell people a lot of time when I’m trying to explain it that we’re like Little League Baseball meets Fanatics,” Reese said. “The pro leagues’ (intellectual property and trademarks) all go through us when a local rec organization wants to run these programs.”MORE FOR YOUInstead of raising a fund, BVG capitalizes its investments on a deal-by-deal basis. For this transaction, BVG’s limited part...