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Alliance Reservations Network acquires youth sports platform to enhance group travel management

Integration of Playbook365 with Group Productivity Solution creates easy, end-to-end solution for rapidly growing sports travel market.

ORLANDO, FLA. – Alliance Reservations Network (ARN) announced it has acquired Playbook365, a youth and amateur sports management platform for tournaments, leagues, clubs, showcases, tryouts, and camps. The solution will integrate with ARN’s event lodging management platform, Group Productivity Solution (GPS). 

The integration will create the youth and amateur sports industry’s first end-to-end group travel management platform. This means event organizers will no longer need to juggle multiple platforms for different tasks. Organizers will gain tools to plan and manage the entire event lifecycle on a single platform, from registration through event performance and hotel checkout.

“We’re delighted to bring Playbook365 into the GPS platform,” said Mike Mason, general manager of Group Productivity Solution. “Using our integrated solution, sports organizations will gain a deeper understanding of the entire attendee journey. They can leverage these insights to deliver a richer, more personalized experience for young athletes and their families.”

Industry’s First All-in-One Solution in a Rapidly Growing Market
Worldwide the $24.9 billion youth sports markets are poised for significant growth as travel teams gain popularity. 

Unlike other tools in this space that focus on one or two core capabilities, GPS with Playbook365 presents an all-in-one solution. The innovative platform streamlines workflows, drives registration, and enhances the experience for coaches, players, and families. Notable features include:

  • Flexible registration lets clubs place orders for all their teams in minutes. The system allows event registration for individual athletes as well as single and multi-team sign-ups. Organizers can draft players to teams and roll over teams and rosters yearly to boost efficiency.   
  • The feature-rich scheduler helps event operators create custom schedules in a fraction of the time it usually takes. A drag-and-drop interface makes building tournament schedules for more than 300 teams easy. Whether programs are complex or straightforward, the platform streamlines the process with auto-conflict checks, schedule requests, multiple views, and attendee notifications.
  • Simplified team roster management happens effortlessly, with registration and player information stored in one place. Attendees can view team and player profiles directly from schedules. College and pro staffs get special access to full bios at scouted events.
  • The communication module saves organizers time while keeping coaches, parents, and players up to date. The custom, template-based system features robust filters. Organizers can ensure everyone gets the right event information by sending emails and text messages in real-time or scheduling them for the future to all contacts or targeted groups.

The Playbook365 platform drives youth and amateur sports events, including baseball, softball, football, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, and cheerleading. In 2022, the solution registered 55,000 teams and served more than 1.7 million attendees. The integrated GPS product will benefit millions of event attendees worldwide.

As part of the acquisition, Playbook365 Founder & CEO Billy Becher will join Group Productivity Solution as Director of Operations. He will head up development for combining GPS and Playbook365, ensuring a seamless, integrated solution for customers.

Becher brings a great depth of professional and personal experience as a team parent, player, manager, and coach. He began his career in the events industry in 2003. For the past decade, he has worked with tournament organizers and sports facilities, focusing on technology, marketing, and operations.

“Our mission at Playbook365 has always been to provide the best all-in-one technology for amateur sporting events,” Becher explained. 

“Group housing is a huge part of this market,” he continued. “We’re proud to team up with the youth and amateur sports travel leader, GPS. Their resources and expertise will allow us to build the most comprehensive planning and management platform, serving organizers, clubs, coaches, young athletes, and their families.” 

Co-Founder & Chief Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | Website | + Posts

Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.

She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.

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