The Boom in Youth and Amateur Sports Development

Pathik said, "We are now seeing the fruit of many years of the private and public sectors trying to figure out how to build facilities to both accommodate growth in sports travel and pent up demand for the next generation of community recreation centers." Pathik reports that since 2014, his firm has experienced a 27 percent growth in projects with sports tourism as their primary business model.

Projects like the Hoover Met Complex (Hoover, AL) are a great example of this industry trend. The $70 million state of the art development, which opened in spring of 2017, draws thousands to the Birmingham suburb, provides local access to community residents and is expected to produce $27-33 million in economic impact in the first five years of operation. Rocky Top Sports World, located at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, TN, has outperformed even its project economic impact for the area reporting an estimated $17.5 million in its first year of operation and a whopping $27.5 million in year-two (2016).

This perspective is evidenced by the National Association of Sports Commission's 2016 State of the Industry Report, which says that sports travel related spending is up 10 percent - to $10.47 billion – in 2016. According to the report, sports travel related sponsorship spending has grown as well, up 36 percent from 2015 to total 61 percent of respondents with consistent sponsorship related revenue streams.

This boom is felt across the industry from sports industry publishers to equipment manufacturers. Jacob Whittaker, director of sales operations for the industry-leading sports equipment manufacturer Porter Athletic, reports a 20 percent growth in the last 12 months alone for projects in the youth sports facility market. This is in addition to the growth in their primary market space which is K-12 school and universities.

"We've witnessed a sharp increase in the number of people accessing our content on how to plan sports tournaments," said Jeff Gayduk, publisher at Sports Planning Guide. "Website traffic has grown 100.7 percent year-over-year while our A-Z Guide to Organizing a Sports Event is downloaded multiple times each day by new tournament planners. It's amazing to see the breadth and depth of activity, literally from across the globe."

"The demand for market research and business planning services is also climbing," said Pathik, whose firms are currently overseeing more than $400 million in new project planning. He attributes this demand to the fact that major developers and municipalities are finding ways to partner. "We are helping our public and private sector clients take advantage of the synergies that exist between sports tourism and industry sectors like sports medicine, tourism/lodging, entertainment, and economic development. These synergies are turning projects that would have been impossible to finance ten years ago into financeable and feasible opportunities."

Sports Facilities Management, LLC (SFM) and Sports Facilities Advisory, LLC (SFA) are both headquartered in Clearwater, Florida. SFA, founded in 2003, has produced more than $8 billion in institutional-grade financial forecasts for youth and amateur sports complexes, while SFM provides industry-leading, results-driven management solutions for sports, fitness, recreation and event venues, nationwide. Since 2014, SFM-managed venues have hosted more than 50 million visitors and generated millions of dollars in economic impact. For more information, visit: www.sportadvisory.com.

SOURCE The Sports Facilities Advisory and The Sports Facilities Management

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