Pacific Northwest i9 Sports Franchisees Make It a Family Mission

Dan Jacobson, along with his daughter and son-in-law, have grown their i9 Sports business in four territories in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, by offering Nike Kids Camps.

Becoming an i9 Sports franchisee was a life-changing event for Dan Jacobson and his family.

Nearly a decade later, the chief financial officer of a large scrap metal recycling company based in Portland, Oregon, is grateful for the positive impact their youth enrichment sports programs have had on communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Along with his daughter and son-in-law, Kate and Brandon Harper, Jacobson owns four i9 Sports territories in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, with more than 800 children ages 3 to 14 registered in their after-school sports programs. They also run 60 week-long Nike Kids Camps for 5-to-12-year-old kids in the summer as part of a partnership i9 Sports has with the shoe and apparel company.

“The connections we have been able to make in our communities and the sports activities we have provided kids has been very satisfying for us,” said Jacobson, whose family operates its i9 Sports and Nike Kids Camps under the company name Game Changer Youth Sports. “We’re seeing more and more kids choosing to focus on playing just one sport now. i9 thinks it’s important that they are exposed early on to many sports and activities.”

Like i9 Sports, Nike Kids Camps emphasize personal growth and provide instruction for a variety of sports such as flag football, soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball. i9 Sports’ Nike Kids Camps launched with more than 80 camps across 35 territories in 2024. That number has since grown to 358 camps in 97 territories, with some franchisees like Jacobson’s family hosting multiple weeks or locations.

i9 Sports operates within the Roark Capital-backed Youth Enrichment Brands platform and offers a variety of coed recreational sports leagues, camps and clinics. Coaches are required to teach one of nine sportsmanship values each week and also recognize players who demonstrate those values. The name i9 Sports symbolizes its nine key approaches to youth sports: imaginative, innovative, interactive, integrity-driven, impassioned, inspirational, instructional, insightful and inclusive. 

i9 Sports began 2024 with 245 territories and closed the year with 264 and about 651,000 youth registrations. The brand has added another 15 territories so far in 2025.

Related: i9 Sports Wins Franchise Times Zor Award as Top Brand to Buy

Jacobson said his family gets lot of personal satisfaction being i9 Sports franchisees.

He hardly minds the 25 to 30 hours a week he spends co-running the business while fitting it in around his full-time gig at Metro Metals, where he’s worked for 33 years. He credited his son-in-law and his daughter for doing most of the heavy lifting, with Kate Harper in charge of marketing outreach and her husband handling field operations.

Jacobson hired another marketing team member to help his daughter pull back from her daily responsibilities at i9 Sports so she can focus on being a full-time mom. Two of her children, Jacobson’s oldest grandkids, are pitching in with the older one refereeing flag football games and the younger one helping put together the coaches’ bags and cleaning the equipment trailers from home.

i9 Sports offers two investment options: a five-year term agreement with an initial investment range of $36,500 to $46,500, and a 10-year agreement with an initial investment range of $59,900 to $69,900. The average unit volume is just over $531,100, according to its franchise disclosure document.

Related: Emotional Ties Essential for Youth Enrichment Brands Franchisees

Jacobson said his main contribution to the family business, other than providing the initial investment and overseeing finances, is creating partnerships with local schools and recreation departments.

“A lot of the gyms in schools and facilities owned by towns are not being used during off hours, so I do a lot of reach out to them and try and convince them to allow up to use their facilities,” said Jacobson. “It’s worked out well in a lot of towns we’re in, but we still run into challenges with some rec departments looking at us as competition rather than potential partners. What I try to get across to them is that we all have the same goal of giving our kids opportunities to get involve in fun sports activities.”

Jacobson said the business has grown considerably since it started offering Nike Kids Camps. He credited i9 Sports with providing his family with a fun and rewarding business.

“I grew up in poverty, even though it didn’t feel like it at the time, with my parents being ministers in a small town in Oregon,” he said. “I owe so much to playing sports. It helped me become a better person and to succeed in life and that’s the i9 mission statement.”