Indoor Tournament How profitable???

I am newly unemployed so my dad and I are looking into business ventures. I am a sports nut and coach my kids in everything they do having played basketball and softball in college. So my question is how profitable is an indoor facility? We are looking at opening up something with batting cages and pitching lanes with room to expand. I would like to do this in Marysville Ohio but my dad and I have been going over the numbers and just don't see how we can make enough money to be profitable?

What are your thoughts insights or anything else you want to let me know. I don't want my dad to put all his retirement money into something that is going to fold...

Looking at about 12,000 to 14,000 sq feet to start. I want to offer private lessons too having pitched and caught and you name it

Thanks again

To get you started look into the Extra Innings franchise. There is one in Troy, OH and other places.

You may not go the franchise route but if you do, that one should be on your "take a look" list.

Thanks coach MikeH we are actually talking to them now. They seem great but we haven't got through the financials yet... I don't mind using a franchise I actually prefer it.

I have researched this a little bit and as a business person (we operate a couple of stores and we operate a small batting cage) I will tell you to be a little cautious and be sure to look at the pros and cons. There is quite a bit of risk in operating a facility such as this. I have talked to one large facility about profit and loss, and it wasn't pretty. Depending on what sports you support, you may have very little activity during warmer weather. The larger facility I talked with (one of the larger ones in Ohio) said they basically spin there wheels where profit is concerned (over the course of a year) and this place is jam packed duing the colder months. There are different ways of approaching something like this, including which sports you bring into the facility, this particular facility had tried quite a few "turf" type sports, along with speed and agility training and had not found a profitable answer. I am not by any means saying don't do this, but I would be VERY thorough and have a solid plan in place. The investment in something like this, which I am sure you have researched, is quite large. Turf and Netting alone is very expensive. Recouping it will not be easy. We still have some interest in opening something like this ourselves, but to be honest, the numbers (or lack there of) just scare me. It is the passion for softball that even keeps me looking at it. There are probably many other businesses out there that would be far more profitable. Good luck with this should you choose to pursue it.

Just look at all the ones that have filed Bankruptcy or going thru it. It is a tough business. Even the Fort Wayne Doom, that has about everything you would want has had the bank take it over. I looked into this a few years back when a local facility was going under. Very tough to make it. Insurance and Utilities are a killer.

Its a utilization issue. For simplicity sake, let's just say there is 12 hours a day that the facility can make money (9am-9pm), 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. That's 4368 hours that the facility can be generating revenue. Softball/baseball would be interested in using it 21 weeks (Nov-Mar) out of year, but those 21 weeks the kids are in school so they will only utilize it about 50 hours per week (5 hours day x 5 days and 2 x 12 hours on weekends). That's 1050 hours out of 4368 available hours.

In my opinion, the only way you can make money on a facility like this is be able to do two things. 1) Find something that can use the facility during the day from 9-5 M-F. It doesn't matter what it is, it could be anything but the facility needs to be generating revenue during that time. 2) Have a big enough facility that it can incorporate basketball/volleyball into the mix. Basketball/volleyball is the only 2 major sports that are played indoors all year round. You must be able to host l tournaments (4-6 courts) indoor during the summer months because no one else wants to be indoors.

Mike, that is a very good post. What I have found in the past is that these facilities that are in it to make money don't last. However, there are a few places that are out there and they are not out to make profit but rather make enough to stay open and keep the lights on. These places are designed for the players who work out there to develop their skills and not to make any one rich. It takes a very dedicated person to be willing to make that kind of investment in kids that do not belong to them.

I'll put my two cents in. I noticed someone mentioned Franchise. I would not do that; Never heard of them; they are not a "household" name. I think you can do just as much on your own with yourself advertising your facility without paying royalities and advertising.. I am in my own business; I have owed up to 11 restaurants at the same time, and I would never consider an indoor facility for one of them. I just can not see how they make money; like other post said they will sit idle for the summer months. Ohio winters are cold, I couldn't imagine the heating bill for that time of year. I would run and do not look back.

Thanks X-Static Scoob .

I actually think that a profit can be made but you need to know how to leverage your assets in order to do so and make hay all year round, not just the 1000+ hours the facility is overrun by softball/baseball players.

You need to hook us up with those West Virginians and see if we can get some Obama money to build a facility.

you could make a killing if the facility was huge, And FREE. Otherwise its a tough buisness. What I have seen is to make more money the facility raises prices to rent the facility, then everyone quits going to the faciltiy and they go belly up.

This might strike a nerve...

You could always build a facility, and start a travel softball organization that charges a hefty players fee to help subsidize the income. You could also charge ridiculous prices for advertising, and hold one or two tournaments a year as a fundraiser, not to reduce players fees, but again to subsidize income to the facility. I wonder if there are already such organizations in Ohio already? ;&

dq1522 said:

Thanks coach MikeH we are actually talking to them now. They seem great but we haven't got through the financials yet... I don't mind using a franchise I actually prefer it.

Click to expand...

I have owned two indoor facilities. One just cages, space, etc. and the other a multi-sport. What you are wanting to can really work out or it can ruin you.

Thunder's Dad said:

This might strike a nerve...

You could always build a facility, and start a travel softball organization that charges a hefty players fee to help subsidize the income. You could also charge ridiculous prices for advertising, and hold one or two tournaments a year as a fundraiser, not to reduce players fees, but again to subsidize income to the facility. I wonder if there are already such organizations in Ohio already? ;&

Click to expand...

UUUUUMMMMM i CAN THINK OF 2, I THINK THEY ARE EVEN CLOSE BY.......

Mike brings up a very important point about utilization. Even if you have the most beautiful facility in the world, whenever it is sitting empty it is generating ZERO income. You need to "put fannies in the seats".

Way back when I was in high school and college, I worked at a recreational facility and this point was driven home to me. Later in life, as I embarked on an entirely different career in manufacturing, the importance of utilization was driven home again. You can have the most high-tech equipment and processes, but if the equipment is sitting idle you are losing money.

Quite a few indoor sports facilities have popped up in my area over the past decade. Some of the ones that catered to one or two sports have since been closed. The ones that are still going strong cater to as many sports as possible- sokker, lacross, flag football, basketball, field hockey, gymnastics, karate, judo and even strength and agility classes. They have tried to spread their utilization over as many hours of the day and as much of the year as possible.