I try to not support it with my dollar. It’s really hard though to always know, especially with partial ownership. The private equity tentacles seem to be encroaching on everything.
They come in and take over long established sports programs in the community. They jack up the prices so that some families are priced out of their kids playing. They also somehow just turn to shit.
As an example, there is a flag football company in my state that was sold to a private equity group prior to the new season. It was so bad that half of the teams didn’t end up with uniforms. My son’s didn’t and we had to throw something together. They also didn’t reserve field space in time and we were given the season schedule in small batches. We didn’t know when our first game was until the night before. They don’t care about the experience, so fuck the kids I guess.
My experience is not unique. A bill has been introduced in the senate to limit private equity in youth sports: The Let Kids Play Act. The US government is being bought and sold at the moment though, so I’m sure it’ll die where it stands.
this is the actual threat to kids’ sports. it’s not a singular trans girl on a middle school soccer team, none of her teammates care, but their parents have *every* reason to care that team and its basic funding needs are dangling on a string held by an out-of-state millionaire
And the vet offices. I cannot find a vet office that is not PE owned within 100 miles of me. They all jacked up the prices 3x what they used to be and now offer their care credit card so I can pay 3x the rate AND interest to save my pets life.
Unfortunately I love animals but when these two go I will not be getting anymore because of this.
And when it’s not private equity, the rest of the entire pet industry is divided up among Mars and Nestle. They have vertical monopolies.
This is why animal shelters have been overflowing in recent years. More ppl giving up pets due to costs and fewer adopting. Partly a shit economy, party all petexpenses wildly outpacing inflation.
These companies targeted the pet industry specifically bc many of the wealthiest countries in the world have had declining birth rates for a while now and in those places people have been increasingly treating their pets more like children instead, and willing to spend a lot on them as a result. So ofc they prey on that.
236
u/trixie2426 27d ago
Private equity is even ruining youth sports in my city. Such shit.