Your League App Shouldn't Sell Your Data

· By Kyle Reierson
Your League App Shouldn't Sell Your Data

You signed up for a league app to check game times and manage your roster. You probably didn't think much about what happens to your personal information once you create an account.

But a recent investigation suggests you probably should.

The TeamSnap Privacy Controversy

In February 2026, a joint investigation by The Markup, CalMatters, and the Los Angeles Times revealed that TeamSnap — a popular youth and recreational sports management app used by millions of families — has been sharing user data with advertisers and third-party marketers.

According to TeamSnap's own privacy policy, information shared with advertisers includes:

  • Names and contact information
  • Purchase history
  • Geolocation data

TeamSnap's privacy policy states the company has "not sold the personal information of any consumer for monetary consideration" in the last 12 months — but then acknowledges that its "use of cookies and other tracking technologies may be considered a sale of personal information under the CCPA." That's California's Consumer Privacy Act, and the distinction matters.

Common Sense Media, the nonprofit that evaluates digital privacy for families, gave TeamSnap a Warning rating — their lowest — citing that personal information is sold or rented to third parties, shared for third-party marketing, and used to track and target advertisements across other websites and services.

The Kids' Data Problem

This goes beyond adult rec leagues. TeamSnap is widely used by youth sports teams, school districts, and kids' extracurricular programs across the country.

The LA Times investigation highlighted Jen King, a Stanford privacy researcher, who discovered that her 12-year-old son's cross country team was using TeamSnap. The platform had already collected her son's name, email, and date of birth — before she'd even logged in. When she did log in, a pop-up immediately asked permission to track her activity across other apps and websites.

"I was super irritated," King told the LA Times. "You don't need my birth date — I'm a freaking parent."

Multiple California school districts — including Piedmont Unified, Tamalpais Union High School District, and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified — were found to have purchased TeamSnap subscriptions. When reporters asked whether their agreements with TeamSnap prevented the sale of student data, most districts didn't even respond.

Federal law (COPPA) requires parental consent before collecting data from kids under 13, but once a kid turns 13, their data is essentially treated like any adult's. And when a coach or school tells a kid to sign up for an app, what are they supposed to do — say no? As King put it: "Most 15-, 16-year-olds don't have any idea what this is about."

Why This Matters for League Organizers

If you're running a league — whether it's youth soccer, adult kickball, or rec hockey — you're the one choosing the platform. That means your players and their families are trusting you with their data by extension.

Think about what you're handing over when you ask people to sign up for an app:

  • Full names and email addresses
  • Phone numbers
  • Location data
  • Payment information
  • In some cases, their kids' personal details

It's worth taking a few minutes to read the privacy policy of whatever platform you're using. If you're not comfortable with how your players' data is being handled, it might be time to look at alternatives.

What Good League App Privacy Looks Like

This isn't complicated. A league management app should:

  1. Collect only what it needs — game times, rosters, schedules, and payments. Not your birthday or precise GPS coordinates.
  2. Never sell your data — not for monetary consideration, not through tracking cookies, not through any legal loophole.
  3. Not serve targeted ads — your league app shouldn't be the reason you start seeing eerily specific ads everywhere.
  4. Be transparent — a privacy policy you can actually read in under five minutes that says plainly what happens with your information.

That's the bar. It shouldn't be a high bar, but not every platform clears it.

How We Handle Privacy at BeerLeagues

We built BeerLeagues to manage rec leagues, and privacy was a core part of that from day one. Here's our approach:

  • We don't sell your data. No tracking cookies sold to advertisers, no data broker partnerships, no workarounds.
  • We collect what we need to run your league — names, emails, team assignments, and schedules. That's it.
  • No targeted advertising. We make money from the product itself, not from your data.
  • Your data stays yours. Delete your account and your data goes with it.

Privacy shouldn't be a selling point — it should be a given. But given the recent reporting, we think it's worth being explicit about where we stand.

Worth a Look

If you're a league organizer, it's a good time to review the privacy practices of whatever tools you're using. Read the policies. Understand what's being collected and who it's being shared with.

If you're looking for an alternative that keeps things simple and respects your players' information, check out BeerLeagues.

Your players signed up to play — and that should be the end of the story.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, The Markup / CalMatters, US News, Common Sense Privacy Evaluation

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