Startups

Baltimore company sees national opportunity in laidback sports leagues

Social Leagues has seen recent growth, including the acquisition of another league in NYC.

Baltimore Social offers flag football leagues. (Courtesy photo)

As the season of after-work softball and kickball approaches, the Baltimore company that organizes adult sports leagues has eyes on becoming a national player.
Since starting with a bocce league in 2009, Social Leagues has grown to include sports and activities of various exertion levels from skeeball to soccer, and expanded to other cities like Denver, Charleston, S.C., Seattle and San Francisco.
Over the winter, the company added to its existing New York City presence, called Play Big Apple, by acquiring NYC Social. This spring, it’s set to offer more than 80 leagues in that city. CEO Giovanni Marcantoni said Social Leagues now holds the crown of having New York’s biggest bocce league. The move also puts the company closer to the big brands that are headquartered in New York. It’s an extension of the business opportunity the company sees in relaxed after-work recreation.
“Our goal is to take the lead in the industry,” he said.

Social Leagues started with Bocce. (Courtesy photo)

Social Leagues started with Bocce. (Courtesy photo)


With its aim to grow fast, the company has found a home among other small and growing businesses at Betamore. Marcantoni said Social Leagues has been able to take advantage of some of the same resources that can help tech startups, and has found a lot to talk about with startup founders as they look to scale and be creative.
“Any company that has the same amount of employees and same amount of revenue, you have the same kind of problems,” he said.
There is a sizable offline element to getting people together and distributing T-shirts. Still, Marcantoni says the company focuses on making the online signup process reinforce the idea that there’s no skill required to join a league, and you don’t need to know anyone.
“We really hone in on making it very easy to sign up,” he said.
The company has also dipped into youth sports recently, founding a nonprofit that looks to organize sports leagues for city kids.

Companies: Betamore

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

What does this VC exec and founder look for in an AI startup? Something ‘inherently unique’

A new model for thinking about how to grow regional economies: the Innovation Ecosystem Stack

Congress is working on a bill to boost public awareness of AI

Can the nation’s biggest cyber hub even handle Craiglist founder’s $100M security pledge?

Technically Media