i9 Sports
Since 2003, i9 Sports®, the nation's first and largest youth sports league franchise business in the United States, has served 5 million participants at over 1,000 locations across 36 states nationwide. Based in Tampa, Florida, i9 Sports has replaced a high pressure, adult-centered experience with an athlete-first model that shifts the focus from win-at-all-costs to fun programs that prioritize skill-development. Customers enjoy the i9 Sports Experience which emphasizes skill-development for all ages and skill-levels that is fun for kids and convenient for busy families. It's the Way Youth Sports Should Be®. With 20 consecutive years of record-revenue, franchise owners offer youth sports programs for boys and girls in popular sports such as flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, and lacrosse. i9 Sports is ranked in Entrepreneur’s prestigious list of top 500 franchises, featured as a top 100 Game Changer by Franchise Dictionary, and selected as a Project Play Champion by the Aspen Institute for taking meaningful actions to encourage multi-sport sampling and help grow national youth sports participation rates. To learn more about i9 Sports youth sports programs and locations, visit www.i9sports.com. For more information on i9 Sports franchising opportunities, visit www.i9sportsfranchise.com.www.i9sports.com
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Search complete. 16 mentions across 1 episode found for "i9 Sports".
Oct 14, 2026
JamesHOST
Welcome to this episode of the Best of the Best in Franchising podcast.
JamesHOST
Today, we're privileged to speak with Frank Fiume, who is the founder of i9 Sports, the author of Running With My Head Down, and podcast host of the Emerging Franchise Brands podcast.
JamesHOST
It's an absolute honor to have him on the podcast today.
JamesHOST
So, Frank, thanks so much for being here.
JamesHOST
And I'm just really intrigued with your story, what you've accomplished and done.
JamesHOST
Maybe you can tell us a little bit about, you were in medical sales.
JamesHOST
You started this softball league there in New York, built that very successfully, sold that, started building i9 Sports.
JamesHOST
Talk about your story a little bit, how you started i9 and what it became as a result.