The Best SportsEngine Alternatives Following the PlayMetrics Acquisition

In early May, PlayMetrics completed the acquisition of SportsEngine from Versant Media Group. This created a handful of questions for the many clubs, leagues, associations, and sports organizations that currently run on the SportsEngine platform. 

Notably:
Is this still the right platform for us?

This guide is designed to help SportsEngine customers weigh their options after the announcement.
What to expect in the coming months? What are your options for next steps? And, what to consider if changing platforms is on your mind. 

Disclaimer: This page is based on publicly available information. SportsEngine® and PlayMetrics® are trademarks of their respective owners. This content is for informational purposes only and does not imply affiliation or endorsement.

How to choose the right SportsEngine alternative?

What are my options after PlayMetrics acquired SportsEngine? 

When SportsEngine customers learn of the acquisition news, they will likely fall into one of two buckets. 

1. Many will stay with SportsEngine and await the next steps from PlayMetrics. This is a completely valid option during the transition.
2. However, many will see this as an opportunity to evaluate the other options on the market. The youth sports world is full of different registration, scheduling, and communication platforms.

Many of these providers have unique strengths and weaknesses. Some platforms are better aligned for specific sports, for different organization sizes, and even varying compliance needs. 

Let’s dive into a few SportsEngine alternatives, what to consider when switching providers or platforms, and some other helpful advice along the way. 

What to know when evaluating SportsEngine alternative options

Any club director, sports administrator, or league operator can use this quick checklist to prepare for a new platform search. 

The right set of features for your organization 

Certain features have become table stakes across the industry. Think about your registration providers and payment processors. Communications between your parents, coaches, teams, club-wide, and league-wide. Roster or member management. Scheduling tools. Basic reporting. 

When conducting a new platform search, first confirm these features are all included at the base level. 

But that’s just the start. Evaluate which of these tools are the highest usage or priority in your organization. Does a provider excel at one, multiple, or all of these?

Even after that short evaluation, it’s still important to look at the add-on features. These can be the real difference-makers. 

• Are you looking to transfer a website with 10+ years of score data and award photos?
• Does your platform connect directly with a user-friendly mobile app for your parents and coaches?
• Are live streaming and player highlights available? If so, are the reviews good?
• Does the platform include additional support for coaches? Practice plans, team drills, etc. 
• Any additional support with fundraising or sponsorships to help drive down rising costs? 

Think about what’s most important for your organization. 

Pricing and payment considerations  

Hopefully, the feature sets helped you narrow down a few options.

Another helpful way to trim the sea of options of sports management platforms is to look into pricing. The pricing structure in your new platform plays a major role in determining the long-term financial health of your organization. 

Upfront cost is the first number you’ll learn during the discovery and demo process. Though an important number, you must also look beyond this upfront cost and understand how much a provider charges as your organization grows. 

The best advice is to find a platform that provides clear, predictable, and transparent pricing. For example, TeamSnap ONE uses flat subscription tiers where your value scales with you, rather than eating into your hard-earned revenue.

You’ll also want to look out for the add-on fees:
How much does a website with this new platform cost?
How about live streaming?
Will the service be included?

Support while switching platforms  

As you work through the feature set and the pricing structure, we’re confident a new platform choice will become clearer and clearer.
Still need help deciding between a couple of finalists?

Here at TeamSnap, we often see this as a deciding factor: how much support is offered by the new platform when switching from a different provider?

Will you work with a dedicated onboarding specialist?
Are there additional fees involved in that process?
Are you stuck building forms, transferring player data, and rebuilding a website on your own?
Or does the new platform provide support?

We’d highly recommend asking about this on any calls or demos you take! 

TeamSnap vs PlayMetrics comparison

After evaluating the alternatives, we expect many sports organizations to find themselves between two choices. Some may stick things out and wait for the next steps from PlayMetrics.

However, many others will consider a new all-in-one platform such as TeamSnap ONE. Here’s a high-level comparison between the two sports management platforms:

• Pricing Model: TeamSnap ONE is known for our transparent, flat subscription tier pricing. Never any hidden fees. We pride ourselves on scaling with our sports organizations as they grow, never eating up their additional revenue. 

• Platform & Features: While both platforms deliver on a strong set of features, TeamSnap ONE excels with a single, connected ecosystem for every single one of your administrators, coaches, parents, and team members. With our combination of HD live streaming, coaching practice plans (built with our pro-league partners), and the market’s top-rated mobile app, everything works together seamlessly. 

• Setup & Onboarding: TeamSnap ONE provides each new customer with a dedicated 1:1 onboarding specialist. They’ll guide you through the entire process and ensure you’re up and running in hours, not days or weeks. 

• Customer Support: TeamSnap ONE provides comprehensive live chat and email support operating from 8 AM to 10 PM, 7 days a week, for administrators, coaches, and parents alike, ensuring you never have to act as your community’s tech support during critical Saturday morning game windows.

• Platform Focus by Sport: PlayMetrics is often reviewed as a soccer-centric platform and structure within your day-to-day use. Meanwhile, TeamSnap ONE features true multi-sport capabilities, engineered to work across organizations of every type, size, sport, and operating structure. 

Is TeamSnap ONE the best alternative to SportsEngine? 

Absolutely. TeamSnap ONE stands out as the ultimate modern alternative to every youth sports management provider across the industry. Not only does TeamSnap provide a clear, predictable, and flat pricing structure, but we pride ourselves on the true interconnectivity of our software platform, top-rated mobile app, and feature set. 

Designed to work optimally for every type of organization, no matter the sport, the size, the operating structure, or their move from a different platform.

Learn more about TeamSnap vs SportsEngine and check for any live promotions.