Team Travel Source
Overview
The dominant stay-to-play housing provider in U.S. youth sports. Founded in 2012. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Partners with 125+ tournament companies to manage housing for 1,600+ events annually. Official housing partner for 3STEP Sports (since June 2024), which makes TTS the default travel provider for the largest PE-backed youth sports platform in the country including all EDP Soccer events.
Founded by event producers — more than 50% of TTS staff were high-level sports event producers before joining the company.
Portfolio
Not a club or tournament owner. Pure-play housing/travel service provider.
Key partnerships:
- 3STEP Sports — Official housing partner (June 2024). Covers EDP Soccer, Lacrosse America, and other 3STEP properties
- EDP Soccer — 130,000+ players, 5,500+ teams, 25+ tournaments annually
- Operates sport-specific booking portals (e.g.,
/sport_lander/edp-soccer/,/sport_lander/lacrosse_america/)
Multi-sport: soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, baseball, and other youth sports.
Business Model
Hotel commission/rebate model — the standard stay-to-play revenue structure:
- Negotiate group block rates with hotels near tournament venues
- Create branded booking portals for each event/tournament partner
- Enforce stay-to-play compliance on behalf of tournament operators
- Earn commission on room bookings (typically $7-10/room night rebate + percentage of room revenue)
- Revenue share with tournament partners — TTS claims to have increased housing revenue for partners by an average of 20%
Additional revenue from Refund Protect insurance partnership (trip cancellation/protection for families).
Technology: Custom internal operating system, event-branded booking sites, mobile event apps, booking software. More sophisticated tech stack than smaller competitors like 365 Sports Travel.
Strengths
- Scale: 125+ tournament partners, 1,600+ events/year — largest dedicated youth sports housing provider
- 3STEP relationship locks up the biggest platform’s housing across 9 sports and 43 states
- Founded by event producers — deep operational understanding of tournament logistics from the organizer’s perspective
- Technology investment — custom booking platform, mobile apps, branded portals
- Extended call center hours covering all U.S. time zones — real-person customer service
Weaknesses
- Dependency on 3STEP — the partnership is massive but also concentrates risk. If 3STEP sells (Goldman Sachs exploring sale, Jan 2026), new ownership could switch housing providers
- Stay-to-play legal risk — the Varsity Brands antitrust settlement ($126M) established that bundled STP policies can constitute illegal tying arrangements. If this precedent extends to youth soccer, TTS’s entire business model is at risk
- Pure-play housing — does not offer tournament management services, limiting wallet share vs. full-service providers
- Not an acquirer — TTS is a services company, not a platform builder
Key People
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Kelley Roberts | CEO and Partner |
| April LaFramboise | Owner |
| Serena Higdon | Owner |
| Barbie Baggett | Director of Guest Experience |
Financials
Not publicly disclosed. Scale proxies: 125+ tournament partners, 1,600+ events/year. At a conservative $5,000-$10,000 average housing revenue per event, implies $8M-$16M annual revenue (LOW — estimate). Margins are likely strong given the commission-based model with minimal capital requirements.
Strategic Notes
TTS is the market leader in youth sports event housing and a critical piece of the stay-to-play ecosystem. The June 2024 3STEP partnership is the defining relationship — it gives TTS access to the largest youth sports platform’s event calendar, but it also ties TTS’s trajectory to 3STEP’s ownership outcome.
For a platform acquirer, TTS is relevant as:
- The most likely housing partner if acquiring tournament properties that participate in EDP/3STEP leagues
- A benchmarking reference for what housing partnerships are worth financially
- A potential direct partner for any tournament operations (the 3STEP deal is not exclusive to 3STEP events)
- An indicator of stay-to-play industry health — if TTS is thriving, STP remains robust despite Varsity Brands legal precedent
The competitive alternative would be to partner with a smaller housing provider (365 Sports Travel, Traveling Teams, Athlete Travel) or build in-house housing management (the JJRP/Vegas Cup vertical integration model).
Open Questions
- Is the 3STEP partnership exclusive, or does it apply only to 3STEP-branded events?
- What is TTS’s actual revenue and margin profile?
- Who founded TTS in 2012? (Kelley Roberts is current CEO but founding team unclear)
- Is TTS itself a potential acquisition target if 3STEP sells?
- What happens to TTS if stay-to-play mandates face legal challenges in youth soccer specifically?