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Baseball Facility Best Practice: Umpiring Clinics

February 11, 2014 by Sports Facility Expert

Most of the sports facility managers I talk to on a regular basis are always looking for new programming ideas. In particular, baseball and softball facilities are usually looking for ideas because they’re typically at risk for over-relying on rentals – which is one of the top contributors to sports center failure.

If you’re struggling to come up with diverse programming for your sports center, consider hosting umpiring clinics.

Umpiring clinics offer your baseball and softball facility several advantages. The participants are not school-aged kids, which compose a bulk of your regular clients, so you might be able to host the clinic during non-peak hours. Also, umpires are typically well-connected in your local baseball and softball community, so meeting them and getting them familiar with your facility is likely to result in referrals and word-of-mouth marketing. Finally, working with an outside organization to host a class at your own location compliments your marketing efforts.

How to Host an Umpiring Clinic

Find the experts: The first step is to connect with the people and organizations in your area that specialize in training local umpires. Here’s a link to an MLB.com article on the process of becoming an professional umpire, but a simple web search with your local city should yield results for local organizations, if you’re not already familiar with them. Once you connect with the local organization and the decision maker, you can discuss their specific needs and determine whether or not you can meet those needs.

Decide on a revenue split: If you find a fit, the first item of discussion will probably be pricing. How much will each participant pay for the clinic? Of that price, how will the revenue be split between your sports complex and the umpiring organization? I suggest establishing a percentage rate for the overall revenue generated. This way, both of your organizations will have an incentive to increase marketing efforts to get more participants. As always, class programming brings in the most revenue for the space than any other programming option, so even when the third party organization is taking a cut of the profit, it’s worth it.

Nail down the details: Finalize the other details, such as the dates, times, curriculum and staff. Remember to build in time to market the clinic, just as you would with any other event at your facility, and discuss how the umpire organization will assist in marketing efforts. There’s no need to implement a lengthy contract, but it’s best to get at least some written record of your agreement. You can also decide whether you want to require a deposit for the space. Consider your potential lost revenue if they cancel, and consider that as you build a relationship, these safeguards will become less necessary.

After you confirm the details, proceed with enrollment as you would for any other class, hopefully via your online baseball scheduling software!

To schedule a consultation with Mike Meszaros on sports facility management, call (513) 791-4940.

Filed Under: Sports Facility Operations Tagged With: Baseball Facility Marketing ideas, baseball facility programming ideas, Owning an Indoor Baseball Facility

How to Host a Showcase at Your Facility

December 10, 2013 by Sports Facility Expert

College showcases are an increasingly popular way to connect high school athletes and college coaches. Showcases can also be a powerful tool to show high school athletes that your facility is tuned in to their needs and to the college recruiting process. If you’re interested in hosting your own showcase, here are a few first… [Read More]

Filed Under: Sports Facility Operations

How to Create a Sports Management Internship at your Sports Facility

August 23, 2013 by Sports Facility Expert

As I mentioned in my post on hiring sports facility instructors, your staff has the potential to make or break your business. In the sports instruction industry in particular, competition for clients can be fierce, and most sports facility owners can recall a time when a instructor left abruptly and took their dedicated clients with… [Read More]

Filed Under: Sports Facility Management, Sports Facility Operations Tagged With: Create a Sports Facility Internship, Manage sports facility staff, Sports Facility Staff

Increase Revenue from Sports Facility Lessons with this Tip

August 29, 2012 by Sports Facility Expert

Private lessons can bring in a lot of money at your sports facility, particularly if you have well-known instructors on staff. Most sports facilities that offer private lessons have policies in place that pay the instructor a commission on each lesson, either by a flat rate or a percentage, based on the value of the lesson…. [Read More]

Filed Under: Sports Facility Management, Sports Facility Operations Tagged With: Best Practices: Lessons and Rentals, Owning an Indoor Baseball Facility

How Software as a Service Offsets Cost of Ownership

August 25, 2010 by Mike

SaaS (software as a Service) can address your IT needs for a fraction of the cost of building and supporting your own infrastructure. One of the biggest benefits of SaaS in how it effects cost of ownership.

Filed Under: Sports Facility Management, Sports Facility Operations, Sports Facility Start Up Tagged With: cost of sports facility ownership, sports facility software

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