Travel Ball is Killing Rec Ball

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Apr 28, 2014
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If a kid has talent the travel team will cut a deal so the kid plays with the org. I found this out when my son tried out for multiple teams this winter. I told the big name team their fees were too expensive and we were going with another team. They cut the fee by 50%.
my daughter is a pitcher... what exactly are these fees you speak of?
You guys pay to play on travel teams? ;)
 
Feb 20, 2020
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I dunno. 15 girls at $3,000 per is $45,000 in revenue. Tourney fees might be $5,000. Uniforms $3,000. Field and facilities rentals? Does it leave that much profit? I assume the coaches have other revenue or coach multiple teams.

Let’s use your math. 45,000 incoming in fees, minus tourney fees (8000) minus unis (3000) minus coaches (4000) minus facilities and insurance (10000), you’re netting 20K per team. If your organization fields a team per age group (12, 14, 16, 18), that’s 80k per town. Throw in a couple of divisions with both an A and B teams or a 10u squad, and that’s over 100. And that’s assuming the facility cost is constant, which it wouldn't be.

That’s some money being made.
 
Mar 10, 2020
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Let’s use your math. 45,000 incoming in fees, minus tourney fees (8000) minus unis (3000) minus coaches (4000) minus facilities and insurance (10000), you’re netting 20K per team. If your organization fields a team per age group (12, 14, 16, 18), that’s 80k per town. Throw in a couple of divisions with both an A and B teams or a 10u squad, and that’s over 100. And that’s assuming the facility cost is constant, which it wouldn't be.

That’s some money being made.
Tournament fee's too low.
Or not playing much.
 
Feb 20, 2020
377
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Tournament fee's too low.
Or not playing much.

I figured 16 tourneys at 500 each. I don’t know many Bs that do more than that, at least around here. That’s nearly a quarter of the year. But even if you take that number to 10, it’s still a good profit.

As for uniforms, 200 a girl sounds like a safe number because they don’t replace helmets and bags every year.

My point was those national organizations have a financial incentive to win, because winning brings them more paying customers. It’s why they offer discounts to top players, because it helps them win and bring more customers. I’m sure they love softball and I’m sure they want to help the girls all they can. But at the end of the day, it’s a profit-making enterprise, and I’m sure that motivates their decisions more than anything else.
 
Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
I figured 16 tourneys at 500 each. I don’t know many Bs that do more than that, at least around here. That’s nearly a quarter of the year. But even if you take that number to 10, it’s still a good profit.

As for uniforms, 200 a girl sounds like a safe number because they don’t replace helmets and bags every year.

My point was those national organizations have a financial incentive to win, because winning brings them more paying customers. It’s why they offer discounts to top players, because it helps them win and bring more customers. I’m sure they love softball and I’m sure they want to help the girls all they can. But at the end of the day, it’s a profit-making enterprise, and I’m sure that motivates their decisions more than anything else.

18U Gold tournaments run around $2300.. or more. Don't think that "B" teams charge $3000, I kinda remember paying around $1400 for the type of team that played Utrip $695 tournaments.
A big factor is the cost of indoor facilities. They range widely. No teams are losing money but dont think most org directors wear ski masks either:)
 
Feb 20, 2020
377
63
18U Gold tournaments run around $2300.. or more. Don't think that "B" teams charge $3000, I kinda remember paying around $1400 for the type of team that played Utrip $695 tournaments.
A big factor is the cost of indoor facilities. They range widely. No teams are losing money but dont think most org directors wear ski masks either:)

I don’t think they are robbing anyone; I think they are working to maximize profits and they operate with that as a primary motivation. I think the trickle down and ripple effect of them has damaged Rec ball — I think it’s crippled it in my area. Other areas may be different.

I can’t speak for 18u gold tourneys, but o did check with the ones we’re in this year. 500-695 per tourney. The organizations I was talking about are all signed up for some of them. DD plays for one of the few remaining P&R comp teams around here, and we had to basically beg them for this season. Our fees were in the range you talked about; our coach works for free. But many other teams have had players siphoned off by the national orgs, and our board flat out told us we couldn’t compete with the organizations offering more. Which is true, but they are also charging much more, too.

And if profit weren’t a motivation, why would groups out of California bother with Colorado? Our high school season is in the fall; our spring season is truncated by snows into May. We’ve got great girls, but when we went to OKC last year, the nine Colorado teams went 4-32, and two of those wins were against other Colorado teams. We’re not exactly a hotbed. I could see one of them coming in, but in the last three years we’ve had six or seven. They see a market and they came into it. That’s not bad per se, but the original question was whether travel ball in all its forms damages rec ball, a the answer seems to be an obvious yes.
 

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