Varsity's Cheer Safety Revamp Under KKR Strained by Event Mayhem

Yahoo

15-03-2025

Last summer, as Varsity Brands neared the final stages of its $4.75 billion acquisition by KKR, the cheerleading parent company touted the hiring of its first-ever chief security officer, Lisa Olivieri, a former U.S. Secret Service special agent in charge.
'There is nothing more important to us than the safety and security of our employees, athletes, participants, and customers,' Varsity Brands CEO Adam Blumenfeld said in a statement at the time. The appointment of Olivieri, who previously ran security for online furniture retailer Wayfair, was part of a broader set of initiatives announced last year as Varsity sought to shore of its reputation for keeping its vulnerable clientele safe.
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These efforts followed the company's settlements in several high-profile cheerleading sexual abuse lawsuits, which accused Varsity and its former corporate owner Bain Capital of fostering a cheerleading culture ripe for abuse.
In addition to hiring Olivieri, Varsity brought on former child protection prosecutor Kristen Meeks as its associate general counsel, enlisted external security consultants with federal law enforcement experience and created new, board-level safety committees. The company also amended its rules and regulations to address aggressive or disruptive behavior from participants, coaches, gym owners and spectators.
Olivieri, for her part, hailed Varsity as a 'recognized leader in safety,' an assertion that was open for debate. It has come under new scrutiny this month following a chaotic and traumatizing incident at Varsity's largest cheerleading event, the NCA All-Star National Championship in Dallas, which drew more than 58,000 participants and spectators over three days.
On March 1, police descended upon Dallas' Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where the championship was holding its second day competitions, as a stampede of cheerleaders, coaches and parents ran fleeing from what many believed to be an active shooter situation. While local authorities have since said the incident spawned from a physical altercation between two attendees, and that firearms were not involved, the resulting melee left at least 10 people with non-life-threatening injuries and numerous claiming emotion distress.
As of this week, no arrests had been made and the investigation remains ongoing, a Dallas police spokesperson said in an email.
On March 5, Bill Seely, the president of Varsity Brands' cheer subsidiary, Varsity Spirit, released an open letter calling the situation 'unsettling for all of us' and announcing 'immediate steps' the company was taking to strengthen its safety and security for future events. Those included increasing the presence of security officials and police officers onsite, banning the sale or possession of alcohol during events and evaluating a 'clear bag policy' for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
Varsity offered March 1-only ticket holders a total refund of their $30 entrance fee and a 50% refund for those who purchased the $80 weekend pass.
The incident is poised to spawn new litigation against Varsity, just as the company had cleared a heavy docket of legal battles—including the sexual abuse cases and three federal class-action antitrust lawsuits—dating back to 2020. One of those antitrust suits resulted in an $82.5 million settlement last May.
Kansas City law firm Paul LLP, which represented plaintiffs in that suit, is now assisting NCA All-Star attendees weighing legal action against Varsity and the city of Dallas for alleged negligence in securing the event.
'Had these companies prepared the event better, provided adequate security, had an evacuation plan in place, or so many other precautions, the entire situation could have been avoided,' the law firm wrote in a notice posted on its website in the days following the event.
In an interview with Sportico, Ashlea Schwarz, a partner at Paul LLP, stated that the firm had been in contact with over 300 individuals who attended the NCA All-Star Championship and had secured representation agreements with many of them.
Based on preliminary conversations with people at the event, Schwarz also expressed doubts about the police's working theory, which attributes the chaos to a fight between two attendees that allegedly knocked metal poles to the ground, creating noises mistaken for gunshots. Police have said that bullet holes found in a window of the convention center were connected to a separate criminal mischief incident from years ago.
Schwarz said that after making a 'big hullaballoo of hiring a chief security officer and increasing security,' she believes that Varsity failed to live up to its rhetoric.
While metal detectors were not in use, Varsity said it is 'accelerating the rollout of weapon detection technology or screening devices' for its future events.
Any litigation will fall to Varsity's new chief legal officer, Jim Baldwin, who was hired in February to succeed Burton Brillhart. Baldwin previously led the legal department at Keurig Dr Pepper, before retiring in 2021.
Varsity is currently entangled in an antitrust lawsuit brought by rival tournament operator Open Cheer & Dance, which was filed in September 2023. Additionally, it continues to litigate with multiple insurance providers over the extent to which its policies should cover the legal fees and payout costs associated with the sex abuse lawsuit settlements. Last month, a Delaware Superior Court judge granted the motions to dismiss by two of the 10 insurers, Arch Insurance Company and Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, which Varsity had sued for breach of contract.
In more uplifting news for the company, Varsity, which also owns BSN Sports, announced this week that it has secured a strategic investment from Patricof Co, the private equity firm known for partnering with professional athletes.
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