Backyard Sports
Children's sports video game series and media franchise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Backyard Sports (originally branded as Junior Sports[1][2] and then Humongous Sports) is an American video game-based media franchise created by Humongous Entertainment and currently handled by Playground Productions primarily focusing on sports video games for children. The franchise features simplified versions of various sports and is best known for starring a diverse cast of fictional children as well as child versions of famous professional sports athletes. The video game series includes five sub-series based on different team sports—Backyard Baseball (baseball), Backyard Soccer (association football), Backyard Football (American football), Backyard Basketball (basketball), and Backyard Hockey (ice hockey)—as well as the single game non-team sport-based Backyard Skateboarding. The overall franchise also includes a couple animated specials and various merchandise.
- Humongous Entertainment (1997–2005)
- Humongous, Inc. (2006–2010)
- Day6 Sports Group (2015)
- Mega Cat Studios (2024–present)
- Humongous Entertainment (1997–2000)
- Infogrames (2000–2003)
- Atari (2003–2010)
- Fingerprint Network (2015)
- Playground Productions (2024–present)
| Backyard Sports | |
|---|---|
 Series logo as of 2024 | |
| Genre | Sports |
| Developers |
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| Publishers |
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| Platforms | Windows, Mac, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch |
| First release | Backyard Baseball October 10, 1997 |
| Latest release | Backyard Basketball '01 and Backyard Hockey '02[a] November 13, 2025 |
Backyard Sports is currently or was previously licensed by the five major professional American sports leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as their affiliated players associations. Between Humongous's closure in 2005 and Playground Productions' 2024 reboot of the series, the series changed ownership and developers several times and endured a years-long hiatus from 2010 to 2024 (excluding a brief mobile game revival in 2015).
In the games, players form a team consisting of Backyard Kids and (in most entries) professional athletes as children, which players take through a "Backyard League" season, attempting to become the champions of their chosen sport. Players can create their own custom characters in most entries starting with Backyard Football (1999). An additional aspect of the games is the use of power-ups, allowing players to gain "Super-abilities". For instance, "Super-Dunk" allows a basketball player to make a dunk from nearly anywhere on the court, "Leap Frog" allows a football player to jump over the entire defensive line, and "Ice Cream Truck" causes the other team to be distracted for a brief period.
History
1997–2005: Under Humongous Entertainment
The series began in late 1997 when Humongous Entertainment, owned by GT Interactive, created the first game in the franchise: Backyard Baseball.[3] Later, GT Interactive was purchased by Infogrames and was renamed as Infogrames, Inc.[4] Infogrames allowed Humongous Entertainment to expand the series, and Humongous later developed more titles such as Backyard Soccer, Backyard Football, Backyard Basketball, Backyard Hockey, and Backyard Skateboarding. Following the buyout by Infogrames, these titles from the Backyard series were released for game consoles, including the GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii. In 2003, Infogrames, Inc. was renamed as Atari, Inc.
2005–2010: Under Humongous, Inc.
In 2005, Atari laid off much of the development portion of Humongous Entertainment, renaming the company to Humongous, Inc. at the same time.[5][6] In August, they sold Humongous to their majority parent Infogrames Entertainment SA for shares worth US$10.3 million.[7][8] In October 2005, Infogrames announced that the relaunched Humongous brand would mainly focus on new entries in the Backyard Sports franchise.[5][9]
In March 2008, Infogrames purchased the remaining shares of Atari, Inc. that they didn't own and renamed itself to Atari SA the following year.[10][11] The two Atari businesses continued to release entries in the series within this time.[12]
2013–2020: Post-sale and attempted relaunch
In July 2013, private equity firm The Evergreen Group bought the Backyard Sports franchise during the Atari bankruptcy proceedings for its portfolio company, Epic Gear LLC.[13]
In February 2014, Day6 Sports Group acquired the franchise from Epic Gear.[14] The company announced to relaunch the franchise in December with Backyard Sports NBA Basketball for smartphones and tablets, with Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry as the cover athlete.[15] Two mobile games, Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 and Backyard Sports: NBA Basketball 2015, were released in February 2015, but Day6 did not release any further titles afterward, as the company was acquired by a European investment group in 2016[16] and later went out of business in 2020.[17]
In April 2019, Humongous's social media pages tweeted an image of the original Junior Sports logo, hinting at a possible re-release of the original games and/or the developer having re-secured the rights to the series proper,[18][1][2] but a week prior, Humongous replied to a Twitter post saying that they didn't own the rights to the franchise.
2020–present: New ownership and full brand relaunch
After Day6's closure in 2020, the franchise was purchased by Ari Pinchot and Stuart Avi Savitsky via Backyard Sports LLC in 2021. While Backyard Sports LLC owns the trademarks associated with the brand, in 2024, Playground Productions LLC, a company founded and run by former schoolteacher Lindsay Barnett, began to work with Pinchot and Savitsky in relaunching the IP across gaming and other verticals.[19][20][21] This collaboration was accompanied by an animated trailer featuring several of the Backyard Kids preparing to start a game of baseball.[22][23]
The franchise regained media attention in January 2024, when NFL player Jason Kelce, in an episode of his and his brother Travis's podcast New Heights, reminisced about playing Backyard Football and Backyard Baseball, and stated his desire to purchase the rights to the brand to develop a new game in the series,[24][25][17] unaware of Pinchot and Savitsky's 2021 purchase. It received further attention that August when Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals used a baseball bat themed after Pablo Sanchez, a popular character in the series, to hit a home run against the Cincinnati Reds during Major League Baseball's Players' Weekend.[26]
Playground Productions and developer Mega Cat Studios began the revival of Backyard Sports with a series of remastered classic titles released throughout 2024 and 2025, including Backyard Baseball '97, Backyard Soccer '98, Backyard Baseball '01, Backyard Football '99, Backyard Basketball '01, and Backyard Hockey '02.[27][28][29] Over 60 athletes from the original releases, such as Barry Sanders, Lisa Leslie, Dan Marino, and Mark McGwire, signed with Playground Productions to return for the remasters.[30] Most of the remasters received releases on mobile devices.[31] It was also announced in 2024 that a new original Backyard Sports title was in development for a 2026 release,[32][33][34] which was later revealed at the end of Backyard Sports: The Animated Special to be a new Backyard Baseball game.
Characters
The series is known for is diverse cast of children characters, known as the "Backyard Kids", who vary in appearance, personality, and stats, with some kids being stronger in certain sports and weaker in others. The below lists only show the original characters of the franchise, excluding the real-life athletes who appear in the games.
Backyard Kids
The Original Thirty
These are the original Backyard Kids introduced by Humongous in 1997's Backyard Baseball. They all appeared in every game up until Backyard Skateboarding (2004), which featured only a limited selection of the kids as either playable characters or non-playable characters. From that game until the 2024 reboot, some of these kids were excluded in select games, especially from 2006 to 2010 when Atari, Inc. controlled the franchise.
- Achmed Khan: A Pakistani American boy who loves rock music to the point of wearing headphones all the time in most games. He is the lead singer and guitarist of a rock band featuring his younger brother Amir Khan and their cousins called the Knights of Rockville.
- Amir Khan: A Pakistani American boy who is the younger brother of Achmed Khan. He also loves rock music and serves as the drummer of the Knights of Rockville, although earlier games showed that he desired to play bass guitar.
- Angela Delvecchio: A tomboyish Italian American girl whose personality is modeled after the Pink Ladies of the 1950s-inspired musical Grease (1971) and its 1978 film adaptation. She is the clumsiest player among the Backyard Kids. She has a sibling rivalry with her older brother Tony Delvecchio and usually gets a stat buff when playing against the team he's on and a nerf when they're both playing on the same team.
- Annie Frazier: A Caucasian American girl who has a peaceful, hippie personality.
- Ashley Webber and Sidney Webber: Caucasian American identical twin sisters who come from a rich family and enjoy tennis (despite the sport never being represented in the franchise). In most games, both sisters get a stat buff if they both play on the same team.
- Billy Jean Blackwood: A tall Caucasian American girl with a Southern belle personality. She loves fashion and aspires to be a model in Paris. She dislikes Marky Dubois and is usually nerfed when she plays on the same team as him.
- Dante Robinson: An African American boy with a large afro who is obsessed with food and is frequently hungry.
- Dmitri Petrovich: A Caucasian American boy who is the most intelligent Backyard Kid and resembles a stereotypical nerd.
- Ernie Steele: A tall African American boy who likes to crack corny jokes and laugh. His backyard, Steele Stadium, is frequently featured in most games, particularly the Backyard Baseball games with its shallow center field with a shed and a neighbor's swimming pool outside left field.
- Gretchen Hasselhoff: A scatterbrained Caucasian American girl who talks fast.
- Jocinda Smith: An African American girl who likes playing baseball and basketball and has a passion for art.
- Jorge Garcia: A snobbish Hispanic American boy from a rich family who hates getting dirty. His full name is Jorge Raúl Luis Garcia III.[35]
- Kiesha Phillips: A stocky African American girl who likes to make one-liners with pop culture references.
- Kenny Kawaguchi: A Japanese American boy who is a paraplegic and thus plays sports in his wheelchair. He is also the older brother of Vicki Kawaguchi.
- Kimmy Eckman: A Caucasian American girl who is obsessed with candy and sweet foods and usually has the poorest stats.
- Lisa Crocket: A Caucasian American girl with large glasses and a very stoic personality.
- Luanne Lui: An East Asian American girl who is the youngest Backyard Kid and the fastest girl. She is often seen holding her pink teddy bear named Teddy.
- Maria Luna: A Latina American girl who loves girly things including ponies and the color pink, to the point of wearing a pink dress regardless of the colors of the team she's on. In most games, putting her on a team wearing pink gives her a stat buff.
- Marky Dubois: A Caucasian American boy who is the redneck of the Backyard Kids. He usually plays barefoot and carries a pet frog with him. He also has a crush on Billy Jean Blackwood and usually receives a stat buff when playing on the same team as her.
- Mikey Thomas: An African American boy who is seemingly always sick and has peculiar interests. He is usually the slowest player but is balanced out by having good batting and defensive stats.
- Pablo Sanchez: A short Hispanic American boy who is regarded as the most athletically talented player among the Backyard Kids and is regarded as the franchise's mascot. He normally speaks Spanish in almost all his appearances, though English is his native language as originally revealed as an Easter egg in the original Backyard Baseball.
- Pete Wheeler: A Caucasian American boy who is the fastest runner of the Backyard Kids but also the least intelligent. He speaks with a simpleton voice in the games, although The Animated Special removes this quality and slightly increases his intelligence to give him a sense of sarcasm.
- Reese Worthington: A Caucasian American boy who is asthmatic and acts in an annoying manner, causing him to be seen as a "nerd" by the other kids, even Dmitri who better fits the stereotype.
- Ricky Johnson: An African American boy who is very shy and apologetic. His middle name is "Alexander".[35]
- Ronny Dobbs: An African American boy who aspires to play like the bigger kids but is often a crybaby when things don't go well for him. He is particularly annoyed by his older sister Sally Dobbs, often getting nerfed when he's on the same team as her.
- Sally Dobbs: An African American girl who is considered to have a mother-like but bossy personality, particularly towards her younger brother Ronny Dobbs. She often gets a stat boost when she's on the same team as him.
- Stephanie Morgan: An African American girl who loves baseball and is incredibly talkative, although her speech is more cohesive than Gretchen Hasselhoff.
- Tony Delvecchio: An Italian American boy whose personality is modeled after greasers of the 1950s. His original theme song resembles the song "Greased Lightnin'" from the 1971 musical Grease and its 1978 film adaptation. He has a sibling rivalry with his younger sister Angela Delvecchio and usually gets a stat buff when playing against the team she's on and a nerf when they're both playing on the same team.
- Vicki Kawaguchi: A Japanese American girl who loves ballet and is thus the most coordinated Backyard Kid. She is also the younger sister of Kenny Kawaguchi.
Introduced in Atari-published games
These Backyard Kids were introduced by Atari, Inc. after they took control of the franchise from Humongous. They only appear in games released from 2006 to 2010, and do not return for the reboot.
- Ace "Acer" Patterson
- Arthur Chen
- Jimmy Knuckles: A bully who serves as the antagonist of Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers.
- Joey MacAdoo
- Samantha Pierce
Introduced in the 2024 reboot
- Chase Downfield: A Caucasian American boy who is the younger brother of Backyard Football League color commentator Chuck Downfield. He was introduced as a replacement for Brett Favre in Backyard Football '99, the remaster of the original Backyard Football, due to Playground Productions being unable to get the rights to use Favre for the remaster.
Commentators
- Sunny Day (voiced by Jen Taylor from 1997 to 2001, Lani Minella from 2002 to 2003, Samantha Kelly from 2002 to 2009, and Ashleigh Crystal Hairston in The Animated Special): An African American girl who is the play-by-play commentator of the various Backyard Sports Leagues, appearing in the role in most games in the series.
- Vinnie the Gooch (voiced by Dolores Rogers in Backyard Baseball and Backyard Baseball 2001, Lani Minella in Backyard Baseball 2003, and Lindsay Barnett in The Animated Special): A Caucasian American boy who serves as the original color commentator of the Backyard Baseball League. He has a dry wit and a snarky personality.
- Abner Dubbleplay (voiced by Adam Watson): A Caucasian American boy who serves as the second color commentator of the Backyard Baseball League, appearing in the Backyard Baseball GameCube and PlayStation 2 games and Backyard Baseball 2005. He speaks with a voice resembling those of old-time baseball announcers. His name is a pun on both Abner Doubleday (the supposed inventor of baseball) and the term "double play".
- Earl Grey (voiced by Dolores Rogers in Backyard Soccer and Backyard Soccer MLS Edition and Lani Minella in Soccer 2004): A Caucasian English boy who serves as the color commentator of the Backyard Soccer League. His name is a pun on Earl Grey tea, which he normally has for Backyard Soccer matches.
- Chuck Downfield (voiced by Klem Daniels in most appearances and Dave Rivas in Backyard Football for GameCube): A Caucasian American boy who serves as color commentator of the Backyard Football League, which he used to play in before retiring due to a Charley horse injury. He is a parody of real-life football commentator John Madden.
- Barry DeJay (voiced by Dex Manley): An African American boy who is the color commentator of the Backyard Basketball Association. He is also a secret character in the Backyard Basketball games, in which he has perfect stats.
- Buddy Cheque (voiced by Dex Manley): A Caucasian Canadian boy who is the color commentator of the Backyard Hockey League. His name is a pun on the ice hockey term "body check". He is also a secret character in the Backyard Hockey games, in which he has perfect stats.
- Erik Stream: A Caucasian American boy who is the color commentator of the Backyard Skate Tour. His name is a pun on "air extreme". He is also an unlockable character in Backyard Skateboarding.
Other characters
- Mr. Clanky: A robot made from various household appliances who is the "commissioner" of the Backyard Sports Leagues. He is sometimes a secret or unlockable character who can be used in pick-up games. Othertimes, he serves as a referee, umpire, or official. In the Backyard Football games, he serves as the captain of an all-robot team called the Tackling Dummies, which serves as the player's opposing team when practicing.
- Practice Bots: Six tackling dummy robots, each numbered 1 through 6, who were built by Mr. Clanky to serve as practice opponents for the Backyard Kids. They and Clanky are part of a dedicated BFL team called the Tackling Dummies.
Games in the series
| Title | Released | Sport | Developer | Publisher | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backyard Baseball | October 10, 1997 | Baseball | Humongous Entertainment | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh |
| Backyard Soccer (Backyard Football in UK) | October 13, 1998 1999 (UK) | Association football | |||
| Backyard Football | October 28, 1999 | American football | |||
| Backyard Baseball 2001 | June 6, 2000 | Baseball | |||
| Backyard Soccer MLS Edition | October 3, 2000 | Association football | Infogrames | ||
| Backyard Football 2002 | September 19, 2001 | American football | |||
| Backyard Soccer (Junior Sports Football for PAL) | September 28, 2001 (US) November 3, 2001 (PAL) | Association football | Runecraft | PlayStation | |
| Backyard Basketball | October 30, 2001 | Basketball | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh | |
| Backyard Baseball (GBA) Backyard Baseball 2003 (PC, Mac) | May 30, 2002 (GBA) June 7, 2002 (PC) | Baseball | Game Brains (GBA) Humongous Entertainment (PC, Mac) | Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh | |
| Backyard Football | September 25, 2002 (GBA) October 10, 2002 (GC) | American football | Torus Games (GBA) Left Field Productions / Humongous Entertainment (GC) | Game Boy Advance, GameCube | |
| Backyard Hockey | October 18, 2002 | Ice hockey | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Soccer 2004 | March 11, 2003[36] | Association football | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh | ||
| Backyard Baseball | April 15, 2003[37] | Baseball | GameCube | ||
| Backyard Football 2004 | September 4, 2003 | American football | Atari | Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Basketball 2004 | September 4, 2003 | Basketball | |||
| Backyard Hockey | October 9, 2003 | Ice hockey | Mistic Software | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Basketball NBA (Junior Sports Basketball for PAL) | October 21, 2003 (US) November 19, 2004 (PAL) | Basketball | Humongous Entertainment | PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Baseball (PS2) Backyard Baseball 2005 (PC) | March 23, 2004 (PS2) June 22, 2004 (PC) | Baseball | PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows | ||
| Backyard Hockey 2005 | September 21, 2004 | Ice hockey | Microsoft Windows | ||
| Backyard Basketball | September 22, 2004 | Basketball | Mistic Software | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Skateboarding | September 27, 2004 | Skateboarding | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Baseball 2006 | March 16, 2005 | Baseball | Game Brains | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Football 2006 | September 20, 2005 (PC) October 4, 2005 (PS2) October 18, 2005 (GBA) | American football | Humongous Entertainment (PC, PS2) Torus Games (GBA) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Skateboarding: Game of the Year Edition (PC) Backyard Skateboarding (GBA) | October 4, 2005 | Skateboarding | Humongous Entertainment (PC) Full Fat (GBA) | Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007 | June 12, 2006 (GBA) September 5, 2006 (PS2) September 11, 2006 (PC) April 3, 2007 (GC) | Baseball | Game Brains | Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, GameCube | |
| Backyard Sports: Football 2007 | September 26, 2006 | American football | Torus Games | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Sports: NBA Basketball 2007 | November 14, 2006 (GBA) February 13, 2007 (PS2) February 20, 2007 (PC) | Basketball | Mistic Software (GBA) Game Brains (PS2, PC) | Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Basketball | September 25, 2007 | Basketball | Mistic Software | Nintendo DS | |
| Backyard Hockey | October 9, 2007 | Ice hockey | |||
| Backyard Football '08 (PS2, PC) Backyard Football (Wii, NDS) | October 16, 2007 (PS2, Wii) October 23, 2007 (PC, NDS) | American football | FarSight Studios (PS2, PC, Wii) Torus Games (NDS) | PlayStation 2, Wii, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS | |
| Backyard Baseball '09 | March 25, 2008 (PC, NDS) June 10, 2008 (PS2, Wii) | Baseball | FarSight Studios (PC, PS2, Wii) Mistic Software (NDS) | Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii | |
| Backyard Football '09 | October 21, 2008 (PS2, NDS, Wii) October 29, 2008 (PC) | American football | FarSight Studios (PS2, Wii, PC) Torus Games (NDS) | PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Baseball '10 | March 26, 2009 (NDS) March 27, 2009 (Wii) April 28, 2009 (PS2) | Baseball | Mistic Software (NDS) FarSight Studios (Wii, PS2) | Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Football '10 | October 20, 2009 | American football | FarSight Studios | Wii, PlayStation 2 Xbox 360 | |
| Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers | May 25, 2010 | Baseball | HB Studios (Wii, 360) Powerhead Games (NDS) | Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Wii | |
| Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush | October 20, 2010 | American football | |||
| Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 | February 6, 2015 | Baseball | Day 6 Sports Group | Fingerprint Network | iOS, Android |
| Backyard Sports: NBA Basketball 2015 | Basketball | ||||
| Backyard Baseball '97[a] | October 10, 2024 (PC) March 27, 2025 (iOS, Android) June 12, 2025 (PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch)[38] |
Baseball | Mega Cat Studios | Playground Productions | Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch |
| Backyard Soccer '98[a] | November 27, 2024 (PC) November 13, 2025 (iOS, Android)[39] |
Association football | Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android | ||
| Backyard Baseball '01[a] | July 8, 2025[40] | Baseball | |||
| Backyard Football '99[a] | September 9, 2025[41] | American football | |||
| Backyard Basketball '01[a] | November 13, 2025[39] | Basketball | |||
| Backyard Hockey '02[a] | November 13, 2025[39] | Ice hockey | Microsoft Windows | ||
| Backyard Baseball | July 9, 2026[42] | Baseball | Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S |
Other media
Animated specials
In 2002, a live-action animated hour-long special based on the Backyard Football games entitled NFL Backyard Basics: Football Tips from the Pros aired on CBS on November 16, featuring the then quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, Donovan McNabb.[43]
On October 10, 2025, Playground Productions revealed that they had wrapped production on a fully-animated special, titled Backyard Sports: The Animated Special.[44] A few weeks later, it was announced that the special would feature the voices of Tiffany Haddish, Arturo Castro, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Donald Faison, Adam Pally, Ego Nwodim, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Ashleigh Crystal Hairston.[45] The 11-minute special was released on January 29, 2026 on YouTube.[46]
Proposed film
In 2016, Cross Creek Pictures and Crystal City Entertainment were reportedly in development of a film based on Backyard Sports with producers Brian Oliver and Ari Daniel Pinchot.[47] Although no news about the film has been revealed since, Playground Productions announced new plans in 2024 to expand the franchise into film.[48][33]
Notes
- Remaster of an older game derived from a hacked CD-ROM copy of the game, as the original games' source code is lost.[27]