Travel Ball Organizations Making Big $$

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Nov 23, 2012
45
0
The fleecing of families in the Travel Ball Community.
Do you get what you pay for and where does the money go?
Parents and players seem to be getting suckered in by Big Name Big Money organizations. Coaches getting paid player dues lining individuals pockets. A few years ago our area had 4 teams from one of these big name out of state organizations and they were the top 1 or 2 team in each age group. As of today they have 10+ teams and rumor is they'd like to have 20 by the end of 2015. Some teams are up front about where the money goes but most aren't. I asked one coach how much of the players monthly dues goes to the organization he said none. A parent on the same team told me approx. $300 a month goes to the Org. as a team fee but the dues they pay go to the team not the Org. .........Guess drinking Kool Aid can make you go blind after all... ???:confused:
This is getting out of control and most people don't realize it's happening.
I understand the business aspect of TB and that everyone wants there kid to get to the next level.
Softball should be a life experience and not a way for greedy individuals to increase there Net Worth!!!
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,567
0
Methinks the original poster needs a refresher course in capitalism and economics.

Travel ball is a business, it is supposed to be profitable by design. If the people who owned and ran travel ball organizations instead owned a plumbing company, would they also be expected to plum without making a profit? Why should people make money off of clogged toilets and leaky pipes, it's just not FAIR!

-W
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,567
0
I'd pay what I believed the product was worth, and I'd expect the business to sell their product at a price the market would bear.

-W
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
Economics understood.
Would you pay more next week for JW Blue Label if it was watered down?

I don't think there are many people who will be shocked by this. TB is like any other product, If an org grows too big and starts watering down the skill level of teams then they will soon start losing and will not command a premium on dues and will damage their brand. As for increasing their net worth, the people who started the big named orgs clearly had to put in a lot of time and effort to get them going. Why shouldn't they be able to capitalize on the good names they worked so hard to create? IF they can grow the org to a place where a premium can be charged and they can make money while keeping the quality high then more power to them. There are plenty of options in TB so it is not like they have some sort of Monopoly.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
I guess it depends on what you define as "big money". Because if you look at the numbers it tells a different story. Even at $300 per month, nobody is making "big money". If you are not getting your moneys worth why don't you move on?
 
Last edited:
Nov 23, 2012
45
0
I get some profit and higher dues especially in the older age groups. Not seeing many college scouts @ 10U & 12U tournaments.
Most parents have no clue what's going on. It's still a game families should enjoy.
I get the business side of TB without it there is no team.
 
Jul 26, 2010
3,567
0
Most "big organizations" have one or two good teams, and the rest of the teams finance the organizations. Of course the parents and players on the finance teams will complain, but it is a meritocracy, so only the "best" players (read skill + grades/marketability + absence of family drama) will actually play on the "good teams".

As some organizations have discovered though, it's fairly easy to mass market the "name" and outsource the finance teams.

-W
 

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