Daniel Connolly - USA Today
https://eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/09/18/cheer-empire-profit-company-created-cheerleading-regulators-pays-salaries/3468551001/

CHEER EMPIRE : A for - profit company built competitive cheer, pays people who make its rules.
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Modern competitive cheerleading has developed a huge following, and its popularity can be largely traced to one company: Varsity Spirit, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Jeff Webb founded the company in 1974 and helped turn cheerleading into a more athletic endeavor, with a gymnastics-based style featuring high-flying stunts and competitions at Disney World that draw thousands of participants.

But Varsity's imprint on cheerleading extends beyond the clothing, camps and competitions emblazoned with its logo.

Varsity's reach extends inside the organisations that govern the sport.

Two seemingly independent organisations - USA Cheer and the U.S All Star Federation - regulate issues concerning cheerleading in the United States today. Varsity created and funded both organisations several years ago.

Today, USA Cheer, the national governing body of cheerleading, has no employees of its own. All six of its staff members, including its executive director, are Varsity employees contracted to work for the regularity body.

Varsity employees also serve as the president and a top vice president of the Memphis-based U.S. All Star Federation, which oversees a discipline of cheerleading that focuses on competition among private gyms. And Varsity-owned companies hold a permanent majority of seats on USASF’s board of directors.

The close ties among Varsity and the governing bodies are under legal attack. At least three separate class-action lawsuits against Varsity allege the company uses its dominant market position and influence over the cheer regulators to crush competing cheerleading businesses.

Varsity says the antitrust claims are baseless and that it supports the governing bodies to protect athletes and expand the sport.

EPs should think twice about getting in bed with varsity.

EPS also know that things like sunnit bids are a huge draw for teams to attend. Varsity have bought out the majority of eps in America, I cant see it being any different here over the next few seasons.

@post2 try telling that to FC and Jamfest! Without summit bids to lure teams to their events they will lose a lot of teams.
Loads only go to certain events chasing summit bids.

Varsity clearly isn’t the best deal over here after all as only 5/15 UK & Ireland EPs bought into the scoring partnership. I bet this drops this again next season to just 3!
@pos 3 with all the law suits going varsity way It def won’t be the same over here. Varsity days are numbered now.