Varsity Brands

Varsity Brands monopolized cheerleading and sold for ~$4B

Shaan researched a company barely mentioned in Netflix's 'Cheer': Varsity Brands, based outside Dallas, which monopolized cheerleading by owning the largest competition, requiring its own uniforms to compete, banning cameras, and charging to view. It sold to Bain (with KKR) for roughly $4 billion, the same as the UFC.

“They just monopolized cheerleading. And so they do a lot of— a lot of it sounds like people don't like them, right? Because They own the largest cheer competition, right? Okay, so they make money off that. You have to use their uniforms in order to participate, and no cameras are allowed, and you have to pay money to view it direct. It's crazy. They just monopolize this whole fucking thing.”