We Talked About This Before It Made National Headlines

The USA Today just confirmed what Lisa Bry and Cat Pierce told us months ago.

Back in December, we had two guests on Beer League Live who told us something that sounded almost too wild to believe.

Lisa Bry and Cat Pierce — hockey moms from the Dallas area — laid out in detail how a single organization had quietly taken control of the rinks, the leagues, the coaches, the tryouts, and even what parents were allowed to say out loud. We called it a cautionary tale. We talked about what Nashville should watch out for. We talked about the $40 billion youth sports machine and how parents keep feeding the beast without realizing it.

Now USA Today is saying the same thing — on the front page.

 "The kids aren't dollar signs." That's a line from our episode. It's also exactly what this story is about.

Their investigation, titled "Lord of the Rinks," takes a hard look at how private equity-backed companies have been buying up ice rinks across the country — locking in coaches with non-compete agreements, controlling player rankings, restricting parents from filming their own kids' games, and using their market power to squeeze out anyone who tries to compete.

Sound familiar?

Lisa and Cat didn't wait for a national newspaper to validate what they were seeing. They started a podcast, built a Facebook community of over 5,000 Texas hockey parents, stood in front of league directors asking hard questions, and got threatened for it. Cat was banned from a rink for posting in her own group. Coaches were warned not to cross the wrong people. Parents were afraid to speak up without being anonymous.

And they came on our show anyway.

 "Dallas is the cautionary tale." — Lisa Bry, Beer League Live

If you haven't heard that episode yet — go back and listen. It's one of the most important conversations we've had, and everything they told us is now being reported nationally.

The lesson isn't just for Dallas. It's for Nashville. It's for every market where one organization owns most of the ice, runs the leagues, and decides who gets to play.

Ask who owns the rink. Ask who runs the league. Ask who's on the board. And if something feels off — say something. Loudly. Even if you're scared.

That's what Lisa and Cat did.

👉 Check out the Showcase page to Watch & listen to our full episode with Lisa Bry & Cat Pierce : beerleaguelive.com/lisa-bry-kat-pierce

👉 Read the full USA Today investigation — "Lord of the Rinks": usatoday.com

🏒 Real talk from the rink.