Book Review of Stephen Griffin’s New Book – a powerful critique of what can go very wrong in a youth soccer company
Front Row Seat: Greed and Corruption in a Youth Sports Company is available on Amazon.
Released on November 1, 2020, and reminiscent of a tell-all book, Stephen Griffin’s “Front Row Seat: Greed and Corruption in a Youth Sports Company” is a page-turner, even if you don’t know how closely connected the story is with real life. FC Bayern Munich is Germany’s most famous Bundesliga club and they had an agreement with a youth soccer organization to be their youth soccer affiliate program in the USA. The parent company was Legacy Global Sports, and Griffin – the author of this book – was the CEO.
SoccerToday Soccer Book Rating: 5 Stars 
Youth soccer in America is a complex and fractured multi-billion dollar business. Stephen Griffin was the CEO of the parent company of Global Premier Soccer (GPS), one of the largest youth soccer organizations in the USA ever to declare bankruptcy, and a former partner of FC Bayern Munich.
FC Bayern Munich is globally famous as Germany’s most successful football club. This highly acclaimed football club is one of the most decorated in the world and has won the Bundesliga 33 times. The name FC Bayern alone was enough to attract soccer parents to sign their youth soccer players up for programs without asking questions.
A tale from the underbelly of youth soccer, Front Row Seat: Greed and Corruption in a Youth Sports Company, written by Griffin, details an extravaganza of opportunity that ended in sheer dishonesty. “An in-depth study of business ethics and personal resiliency,” the book brings the reader behind the scenes into the world of soccer boardrooms and secret, backdoor negotiations.
After having to take on the CEO role of Legacy Global Sports, a private equity-backed, global youth sports company that acquired the majority investment in GPS in 2016, Griffin reveals (although the book includes a fiction disclaimer and names have been changed to protect the innocent and the ongoing Department of Justice investigation) a tale of deceit that spans years.
“WRAPPED IN A WEB OF LIES, COVER-UPS, AND DEALING WITH INDIVIDUALS DRIVEN BY EGO AND GREED …”
Stephen Griffin
Griffin, an accountant by trade, was not a soccer coach and had no conceived bias on the beautiful game when he became immersed in our world. A self-described private equity guy who invested in Legacy in late 2017, Griffin believes in the youth sports business, particularly the travel and event segment of the market—which before COVID-19 was considered recession-proof.
“America’s youth sports industry has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Youth sports had become big business. Today youth soccer players are embroiled in an ‘arms race’ to play on the best travel (or competitive) soccer team — often with the help of personal trainers and private sessions with expensive coaches,” said Griffin. “This race, coupled with a large, fragmented market subject to minimal regulation, opens the door to a spectacle of greed and corruption that can lurk below the pleasantries of superficial soccer conversations under the guise of player development.”
NEVER IN MY LIFE DID I THINK I WOULD BE DEALING WITH A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION LED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
Keeping in mind that, according to my interview with Griffin, the soccer division in his book generated just under fifty percent of its parent company’s earnings — and, that at first, the founder of the soccer division “seemed an authentic soccer guy” … but after Griffin’s essential inquiry into the soccer division’s financial statements led to uncovering of fiscal irregularities, things quickly turned sour.
If the book parallels reality, it all began unwinding on October 9, 2019, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) raided the GPS’ headquarters. Although Joe Bradley (the founder of GPS) refutes any allegations of wrongdoing, Griffin found him uncooperative in helping to answer the subpoenas.
After just 30 days, and sifting through millions of emails with keyword searches, Griffin uncovered enough data to meet with the Department of Justice and satisfy their subpoenas.
“As a capitalist and an investor, I want to do good while building strong businesses and generating returns. I believe that if you elevate the quality of the customer experience and simultaneously bake in values like sportsmanship and volunteerism, a company in the sports event and travel business can do good,” said Griffin.
Inspired in part to write “Front Row Seat: Greed and Corruption in a Youth Sports Company” because of his diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease, Griffin hopes that people learn from his experiences and avoid history repeating itself.
Of course, every facet of youth soccer is better without a long-running spectacle of greed and corruption, and Griffin is still a fan of the industry when it is done right.
What advice does Griffin have for soccer parents?
“Look at how an organization treats its coaches,” said Griffin. “Do they provide ongoing coaching education? Is there an opportunity for players to volunteer with Special Olympics? Are ways of being a good citizen encouraged?”
“If you are a board member or a volunteer parent on a committee or an investor, this book should alert you to red flags,” said Griffin. “Is there a culture that ignores the rules? An imbalance between delivering great value and profits? A top-heavy leader with his or her thumb on everything or an environment where accounting irregularities can occur?”
WANT TO KNOW MORE? OF COURSE YOU DO.
Griffin is donating a portion of the proceeds from his book to the Positive Coaching Alliance to help coaches lead and develop America’s future leaders. Additional proceeds will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease research. Order this book on Amazon.
Originally published in November 2021, this review was slightly edited and republished March 2025