How To Not Ruin a Childhood Classic

For a lot of kids, Backyard Sports was the first time sports felt like it belonged to them. And then one day, it disappeared. So when I heard someone was trying to bring it back, I flew to Pittsburgh to find out if they could actually pull it off. This video is sponsored by Backyard Sports, who gave me full access to document what they're building. What I found in Pittsburgh wasn't a corporate revival. It was a school teacher who hired a private investigator to track down who owned the IP. A game studio operating out of a house in the suburbs. A team that spent a year on Pablo Sanchez's design alone. And a philosophy about children's entertainment that feels genuinely radical in 2026. Subscribe for my next video:    / @iamjoonlee   Follow me on social media: Twitter: https://x.com/joonlee IG: https://instagr.am/joon TikTok: https://tiktok.com/joonlee Substack: https://substack.com/@joonlee Business/Sponsors: [email protected] Media Inquiries: [email protected] Bio: Joon Lee is an independent sports journalist reporting on YouTube. He’s written op-eds for The New York Times and The Boston Globe and worked for ESPN, Bleacher Report and The Washington Post, where he’s interviewed and photographed sports & pop culture figures like Kylian Mbappe, Shohei Ohtani, David Ortiz, Mookie Betts and Action Bronson. He previously was a contributor to SportsCenter, Around the Horn and First Take. His work has been featured on The Best American Sportswriting series and recognized as a finalist for the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting.