Parents discuss why rich parents spend thousands of dollars annually on their children's sports teams: 'If you're wealthy then $20K is a small price to pay'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jul 10, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

If you didn't grow up doing expensive travel sports, you probably underestimate how much it sets families back. The average extracurricular activity is a couple of hundred dollars a semester. Sure, spending $300 so your kid can play a puppy in 101 Dalmatians The Musical might sound like an exorbitant price to some families, but a lot of families can fit that into their budget without a problem. However, travel sports require that you pay for the season, constantly purchase new equipment, and cover the travel expenses. It can set a family back by up to five figures, which is not an excellent investment if you think $10,000 is a lot of money. How many of these kids on these travel teams make it to the NBA or the MLB? Is that the goal of spending all this money —to make it back and then some with multi-million-dollar sports contracts? 

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  • Frugal people took to Reddit to answer this question. Why do parents spend all this money on their kids' athletic extracurricular activities? Why is there not a middle ground between playing baseball in your backyard with your cousins and flying all over the country to play it before you're even in high school?

  • 01

    How are wealthy people so easily manipulated into spending millions on the youth sports industry?

    It's estimated that the American youth sports industry is worth ~43 billion as of 2023. I've heard so many stories of wealthy individuals who will spend thousands upon thousands every year for their kids sports. Costs
    via u/MissAnthropecene
  • 02
    include fees, equipment, travel/hotels for games, time off work, etc. Are they all really that dumb to get conned into thinking spending all that money will make their kid a D1 athlete?
    via u/MissAnthropecene
  • 03
    m e
    via Keith Johnston

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10527844864
    via Hannah Gibbs

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 05
    Internal-Reporter-12 It's a cheat code for kids to get into elite universities. Niche and expensive sports are gatekept from the general public which lets wealthy individuals game their way into elite universities. Even with a lot of money it can be hard for a child to be in the 99th percentile for the sat and to compete against thousands of other incredibly smart kids. However if
    via u/Internal-Reporter-12
  • 06
    you play a sport instead of competing against thousands of kids you are competing against tens to maybe hundreds of others. Also, instead of having one shot to impress an admissions officer you can have multiple attempts and personal conversations with a coach that would be interested in you.
    via u/Internal-Reporter-12
  • 07
    She MakesGreatTV This is true for niche sports but these days people are spending tens of thousands of year on volleyball and basketball. I have friends doing this in the hopes of their child getting a scholarship and I always think, "do you know how hard it is to get a scholarship in basketball!?!”
    via u/SheMakesGreatTV
  • 08
    The niche sports investment sort of makes sense if you think of it through the lens of admission, as you've laid it out, since most parents spending that type of money on niche sports aren't really worried about paying for college.
    via u/SheMakesGreatTV
  • 09
    Alternative_East_455 Exactly. We aren't talking about rowing or even lacrosse, we're talking about baseball, football, basketball - sports that are very well established in every region and socioeconomic sector of the US. Parents are a combo of truly being delusional, not having anything better to do, keeping up with the Joneses, or living vicariously through little Jayden Cayden Ayden.
    via u/Alternative_East_455
  • 10
    schurr
    via Ben Hershey

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 11
    Steve539 My son is on a travel sports team and I have mixed feelings...my initial reaction after looking into how it all works is that it is a money grab. Positive aspects are character building, improvements of sport skills and being part of a team. Negatives are the costs, the travel, hotels and the parents acting like they are still in high school. I am not paying for this activity (my in- laws have $ and wanted to pay for it). I myself will not stay at a hotel (I just drive home each night).
    via u/Steve539
  • 12
    wildcard seems to be the coaching...a great coach helps develop our youngsters into smart, caring, compassionate human beings...a poor coach simply cares about winning and it often shows in the attitude of the players. My biggest issue with this activity is the attitude of the majority of the parents...they constantly post (on the related sports app where they are going, staying, eating...tbh, I don't care about that cr_p)...I am only concerned about the development and growth of my child in ter
    via u/Steve539
  • 13
    mistermandatory Coming from someone who grew up in a wealthy family- my parents didn't pay for us to do sports as an investment in our potential sport careers, but as an investment in our character. To be apart of a group, learn teamwork, and have an enriched childhood to look back upon.
    via u/mistermandatory
  • 14
    ohreallynameonesong I feel like it's a mix of things. 1 - your child loves it and you're making them happy by giving them the time to play and improve. 2 - spending time with friends, for both kids and parents. 3 - it's kind of a flex and a brag. 4 - me especially think it's the best way to build character. My SO insisting our future kids play football because of the camaraderie he felt and the character it instilled in him. While I'm like... literally any sport
    via u/ohreallynameonesong
  • 15
    will do that for you and many have far less chance of concussion. 5 - it feels like an obligation. Everyone else is doing it and you're a cheap, mean parent if you don't.
    via u/ohreallynameonesong
  • 16
    Visible-Volume3143 But I guess what I don't get is that school sports teams or youth intramural teams are generally low cost, and you learn all the same skills right? I admittedly never really played sports except for soccer when I was really young, and then varsity track in high school, both had fees but neither cost very much at all. So it's not like you have to join the expensive, exclusive leagues to learn teamwork and build character.
    via u/Visible-Volume3143
  • 17
    Not trying to nitpick here and I'm glad you enjoyed your sports teams as a kid, I just don't get why you'd spend a ton of money on something when there's a much cheaper option available
    via u/Visible-Volume3143
  • 18
    Micosilver Take volleyball for example: school season is barely two months - September - October. Club season is minimum 5 months, could be as long as 7.
    via u/Micosilver
  • 19
    butteryspoink The big one that I think people here are neglecting to discuss is that they are rubbing elbows with a lot of wealthy children and parents. This is tremendously helpful later on in life. Took me a while to learn how to talk like them. Other than that, I would actually argue that the level of structure is a big negative. Children are learning to be independent, that means that they need to learn how to deal with life when there's no structure or guidance.
    via u/butteryspoink
  • 20
    pn_dubya Yes but with the travel/elite teams, you'll get better coaching, longer term teams to build familiarity/friendships, and much more individual attention and higher level competition. Local sports coaches are usually volunteers with little to no coaching or sometimes even sport experience, and some kids aren't even interested in the sport just there to go through the motions because their parents signed them up. All that said, my kids are in the local sports as while they're good athletes
    via u/pn_dubya
  • 21
    Infinite_Garbage_467 There is a saying my father used to say: these people have more money than sense. That has always been true with people who have money. They spend it on really stupid sh.
    via u/Infinite_Garbage_467
  • 22
    MountainMantologist It's all relative. If you're making $50,000 a year then spending $5,000 on travel sports is "really stupid sh". If you're wealthy then $20,000 is a small price to pay to give your kid a chance to pursue something they enjoy with kids their own age. The amount of return you're looking for in order for that level of spending to make sense just isn't the same.
    via u/MountainMantologist
  • 23
    That said, I'm sure there are a lot of delusional parents in travel sports who don't fit that mold. I just think it's silly when average folks project their values and tradeoffs onto someone who might be earning 7-figures.
    via u/MountainMantologist
  • 24
    parasyte_steve My MIL isn't even wealthy and spends thousands on her kids swim every year somehow. Like the central AC in her house is out, her power goes off all the time and we have to help her... but she will be damned if her kids can't swim. They do expensive trips all around to neighboring states multiple times a year. I think it's way too much.
    via u/parasyte_steve
  • 25
    WorkFromHomeHun My parents spent a lot on our hobbies, education, and after school activities. I don't see this as consumerist behavior. Obviously, we should be mindful to buy good quality supplies and make eco-friendly choices wherever possible. I would only coubt this as wasteful of you're registering your child for programs they don't attend or buying snacks they won't eat. I wouldn't say simply spending thousands on a hobby is consumerist. Coaching and teaching ia skilled labor and those peo
    via u/WorkFromHomeHun

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sports youth sports baseball parenting soccer wealthy basketball football rich people parent money Parenting Fail rich parents Parenting FAILS
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