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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2023 0930 PR SPC ITEM 06BPage 1 Item: 6.B. Ventura Roller Sports Table of contents: -General Summary: Pages 1,2 -Programming: Pages 2, 3, 4 -Growth of Roller Hockey/Market Potential: Pages 4, 5 -Future Successes: Pages 5,6,7 -Revenue Projection: Pages 7 -Cost Projections: Pages 7,8 -Marketing Tactics: Page 8 -Fundraising Strategy: Page 9 -Why Tiles are Necessary: Page 9,10 -Comparable Examples: Pages 11,12,13 -Travel Program: Page 14 -Timeline: Pages 14,15 -5 year plan vs. 10 year plan: Page 15 -Final Summary: Pages 16 General Summary: Ventura Roller Sports will be a multi -sports facility specializing in roller hockey located in Moorpark, CA at the city owned Arroyo Vista Park Roller Hockey Rink operated on a rental basis as a full time contract operator. The goal of the business is to provide a much needed top notch roller hockey program & multi sport facility to Moorpark, & the tri-valley region, as well as bring the amazing sport of roller hockey to as many people as possible, with the most affordable price to compete with any recreational sport. In a perfect world, before opening the business, private funds will be used to purchase boards, glass, & sport court tile from a contact of mine that has this available for a very cheap price from the recently closed down Feasterville Sportsplex. This would allow us to install an all-weather tile sport -court surface, as well as renovations to the boards, benches, add designated dressing areas, add lights, and more. Tiles provide a huge advantage for many reasons as they come at a lesser price to the painted concrete surface, will last longer, and add the capability to host many other sports then just hockey. This will convert the current concrete street hockey rink into a state of the art outdoor roller/ball hockey facility. This will make Ventura Roller Sports the best & most competitive roller hockey venue within a 100+ mile radius. Many of my colleagues and I believe that once these slight renovations are put in place, even more customers Page 2 will come in droves, and be two to three times more successful than previous programming in the area. The business will generate revenue from Hockey League Fees for adult & youth hockey leagues, adult & youth clinics/practices, pick-up games, stick times, private rink rentals, open skating sessions, etc. Secondary revenue will be collected from other sports such as Floor/Ball Hockey, Box Lacrosse, Arena Soccer, Futsal, Badminton, Volleyball, Roller Derby, basketball and more. We will operate leagues, tournaments, private rentals, classes, clinics and more within these sports to accommodate as many people as we can, and fill every hour at the rink. I believe if done correctly, this facility has nothing but potential to become one of the top hockey, and multi sport court facilities in California. Programming: The structure of my programming will be the biggest driver for long term success for the growth of roller hockey, and overall success for the business. My methods have proven success in different markets that are similar to the tri-valley region within my years of experience operating rinks in Burbank, CA, and San Jose, CA, as well as my current operation in Camarillo. As we all know, hockey in general is not a sport that can be quickly picked up by most people, especially in california. Players not only need expensive equipment, but need to learn how to skate, use a stick, shoot a puck, etc. As with other sports you can pick up a ball and throw it or kick it, and already have the skills needed to be able to play. My business already provides, and will invest in free rental gear, and have extremely direct marketing strategies to help bring people in for free classes, clinics and even beginner leagues to learn the skills to skate, shoot, pass, stick handle, hockey knowledge, etc. Every class is a feeder system into the leagues, and is structured for anyone of any interest level to have a place at the rink, and ability & resources to go as far as they want to in the sport. I will list some bullet points in order of how a player may advance from being interested, to being a full time league player. Keep in mind, we will have these identical programs for both kids, and adults, and will be offered across multiple sports like roller hockey, ball hockey, and box lacrosse, but we will use roller hockey as the main example. - Free learn to skate class, all rental gear included. Focused solely on brand new skaters working on all skating skills needed to play hockey. - Free novice class, directly after the learn to skate program, as it is the next level up. This clinic will focus on basic stick skills like passing, shooting, stick handling, and more. Page 3 - Intermediate Clinic, $10. This clinic will focus on in -game situations, drills, rules, and everything needed to be ready for someone who has never played hockey before to jump into an organized league. The $10 price will narrow out people who are not interested, and help develop a target demographic of who to get into the beginner leagues. Bronze League. $75. This will be a shorter scale, 6 week long entry level league for graduates of the prior clinics, and any beginner entry level hockey players. The goal of the league is to give a low cost, accessible hockey league for new players to have fun, and develop in a competitive & organized setting. This league will begin after a month or so of beginner clinics to build the customer base to advance up into the league, but will be one of the newest leagues established at Ventura Roller Sports. Intermediate/Advanced clinic, $10. This will be a clinic that introduces advanced skills and techniques that are possessed by longer term hockey players to get into the next division. Co -Ed Pickup games, $10 per player. This will be an organized, 16 person pickup game that simulates an organized, timed, refereed official game, without committing to a full season. This allows the customers to try our facility out, as well as test the waters with all skill levels. These pick up games will happen multiple times per week, and will be essential to the growth of the sport in the area. - Silver League, This will be the entry level adult recreational league. It will serve lower skilled players with a long history of hockey, as well as graduates from our bronze league. Cost will be $125 per player to accommodate an affordable price for an 8 week season at a top notch facility. This division will be established immediately upon opening. - Gold League, This will be the next league up from the silver division for established, advanced players with experience. Cost will be $125 per player to accommodate an affordable price for an 8 week season at a top notch facility. This division will be established immediately upon opening. - Ball Hockey Leagues, $75. The ball hockey leagues will be offered on youth, adult, & co-ed levels to truly give the cheapest form of hockey possible to the community to get as many new players started as possible. This will be our lowest cost league, and will continue to help grow the sport of hockey. - Advanced Clinic, $15. The advanced clinic will focus on competitive travel level, advanced strategies, drills, systems, and more to help silver/gold level players advance into the gold/platinum, and travel team levels. The cost is higher due to more coaching, and longer time intervals. - Platinum League, $125. The platinum league will feature college, and professional level players in an organized, recreational weekly league. These Page 4 players typically only have one competitive tournament every month or so, and this league will allow them to have competitive games every week to help them stay in shape to be the best player they can be. This league is one of my most successful divisions in Camarillo, as our area has tons of high skill players. - Youth Rec League, $165. The youth rec league will include 4 divisions, 10u, 12u, 14u, and HS/18U. The league will be the advancement of the youth version of our classes & clinics listed above, and will include one practice during the week, as well as a jersey with a custom number, and a saturday afternoon game. - Traveling Tournament Team Program, cost varies. This team will be a yearly fee to participate in the next stage of the roller hockey tree with competitive travel tournaments in tournament circuits like NARCh, State Wars, TORHS, and many others in places all over the state of California, and even big tournaments in other states like Florida, Missouri, Colorado and more. This program will be essential to give the highly skilled players a home practice rink, and organization to play in, as well as give ice hockey players a competitive outlet to join roller hockey in the summers. - Open Skating Sessions, $10 per skater. Open skate will be a fun, non -hockey related program with a disco theme & music, black light, games like red light green light, etc for fun for the whole family! This event allows us to get the dance skate community out as they do not have many places to skate in an organized fashion. These sessions will also help gauge new customers' interest in hockey. - Monthly lronman Tournaments: $200 per team/$50 per player. We will conduct monthly themed ironman tournaments, which include short form 4 player, 10 minute games, hence the "ironman" title. These tournaments are tons of fun, and a great workout for all ages and divisions from kids to adults! Market Potential/Growth of Roller Hockey: There is no better time than the present to start up a new roller hockey program in a market that is desperately needing it. This rink will serve a huge clientele of people in mostly the tri-valley area, but not limited to outside areas as well. I believe any highly populated area like tri-valley area will thrive in any recreational sport setting, but ours will thrive due to the large number of pre-existing players in the area, with nowhere to play. Cities besides Calabasas like Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Newbury Park, Westlake, Agoura, Moorpark, West Hills, Van Nuys, & all across the San fernando Valley & greater Los Angeles Area, as well as areas with tons of hockey players as far as Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita are forced to travel hours away to the nearest tile roller hockey facility in Irvine to play roller, or simply forced to play ice hockey as a second choice. I will start with the hockey history, and potential in the area. Page 5 Firstly, hockey of all kinds has been thriving in the area for 30+ years. The current hockey facility in the county is Iceoplex in Simi Valley, which is flooded with customers, and has many crossover customers who are both roller, and ice players. There was also the Channel Islands Ice Center not too far in Oxnard, CA. This rink was very successful for decades, until the owner decided to sell the business. More importantly, There have also been very successful roller rinks like The Roller Dome in Thousand Oaks that reigned for 20+ years until the business was eventually sold. More Notably, the recently retired TVRHL in Calabasas, CA, as well as some stents in Moorpark! The TVRHL was a league that was extremely successful despite being heavily mismanaged for the past 30 years. This has been a huge opportunity for the community to revive as the only league that was in the area is now inactive, as the program director retired after his final season from the Covid return to play. There are 30+ years worth of players in the area that are in need of a state of the art home facility that can prove beneficial for both the city, and community. Secondly, the state of the sport of Roller Hockey has never been in a better place. The capital of roller hockey has always been Southern California due to lack of ice, amazing weather, roller rink availability, and community efforts of the Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks. New rinks, tournament series, teams, brands, and everything you can possibly think of are at an all time high. NARCh Finals is set to host its largest ever tournament hosting 373 teams across 5 rinks during a 10 day tournament for teams from mostly socal, but all over the country, & the world including teams from Spain, France, Czech Republic, Cayman Islands, Columbia, Namibia, Taiwan, Italy & more. Other large Tournament circuits are hosting massive, record breaking tournaments in orange -county at the next closest roller facilities in Irvine, and Corona, CA. There is no reason these events cannot be brought to the city of Moorpark, with a great venue at Arroyo Vista Park. Believe it or not, the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most beneficial things to happen for the sport of Roller Hockey, as it caused hockey retailers to sell out of all roller hockey skates as the demand to get outside to play was driven through the roof, as it was the only option. Roller skating in general became so popular during the pandemic, as it was one of the best, and only ways to be active. This has caused a boom in all roller sports like hockey, derby, artistic skating, and more. Players are finally realizing the crossover between ice, and roller hockey, and the growth of the sport is absolutely skyrocketing due to the new age of media, and overall rapid growth in the market. A new tile facility will only help this grow further, and create one of the most competitive markets in the roller hockey capital of the world, Southern California. Page 6 Future Successes As we both know, there has been a rich history of hockey in the area, but nobody in the past has developed a truly successful program that can not only withstand the test of time, but also grow the sport. I will list some of the reasons why and how my programming will succeed in the future. Reasons on how I will succeed. - I will devote my full time attention to this rink as my own business, and full time job. - I will relocate my current program from Camarillo that already is maxed out at 120+ players at the limited capacity that the city allows me to do. - I will put months of business development, marketing, planning, renovations, and more into the facility & business before executing the detailed business plan, and opening the rink. - I have years of experience running and starting successful hockey programs with the LA Kings, Bakersfield Condors, California Heat, Pickwick Ice, The Plex, San Jose, as well as my current program in Camarillo, CA. - State of the art renovations will be added to the facility through my own investments, crowdfunding, private investments, advertising, and more. These renovations will be headlined by a new set of boards, and a tile floor to improve game play, speed, safety, and durability, but allow us to compete with any roller hockey facility and allow for other sports like lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, arena soccer, futsal, etc. We will also provide cosmetic repairs like fresh paint where needed, improvements to dressing areas, storage additions, etc. - We will move our current inventory and purchase a large inventory of new, state of the art rental equipment so truly anyone can try our classes out, without the burden of spending hundreds of dollars on equipment to help minimize the barrier to entry. - There are no more competitive leagues in the area anymore. All have been sold, or retired. Players are organizing games themselves, and the demand has never been higher for true roller hockey leagues in the tri-valley area. - Free camps and clinics will be imposed to give the general public the opportunity to learn the sport of roller hockey, and get into our leagues. - I will outsource marketing, and use my prior experiences that have proven success to market my business. Page 7 - I will brand the rink as its own facility, instead of just a league offering one sport. We will offer many sports, events, and activities besides just roller hockey to make the business thrive as not only a roller hockey league, but a multi -sport facility in general. - There will be job opportunities, and will be a team effort to make the rink run as efficiently as possible, instead of just one person running the show. Job creation will include referees, scorekeepers, league managers, & more. - Costs will be as low as possible for the lowest possible entry point to get more people involved in the sport. - Tournaments will be organized to bring competition from other markets to the facility, and help build the sport, and competition for our local customers. - Facility will be upkept at an extremely high level, creating the best and most competitive atmosphere possible for customers. Revenue Projection: In this section revenue will be broken down in different increments. Keep in mind, these numbers are the projection after the rink is up and running for some time. I will break down everything on a per league basis, as well as a per month basis. Leagues will mostly be in 8 week increments with 7 regular season weeks, and 1 week of playoffs/championships. -Adult leagues (Silver, Gold, Platinum): $125 per player, 48 players/4 teams: $6,000/ $3,000 per month, per league. -Beginner Adult League(Bronze): $75 per skater, 6 week season, 48 players/4 teams: 3600$ per season/$2,376 per month -Youth Rec League: $165 per player, includes one weekly game and practice, as well as jerseys with a custom number (Mite, Squirt, Peewee, HS) 128 players, 4 teams per division, 4 divisions, 16 teams: $21,120 per season/$10,560 per month -Co-ed Pickup: $10 per player, 16 players per session, 8 sessions per month: $1,280 per month -Adult/Youth Clinics: $10 per player, 20 players per session, 16 classes per month: $3,200 per month. -Private Rink Rentals: $75-$100 per hour, cost and availability varies depending on consistency of rental tenants. -Open Skate Sessions: $10 per skater, cap of 200 skaters, includes rental skate demand varies. -Box Lacrosse Leagues: $125 per player, 48 players/4 teams: $6,000/$3,000$ per month, per league. Page 8 Cost Projections: Costs for this business model differ from event to event. The main expense will be staff members. I will list some different costs of operating the business below. Business Operation Costs. -Staff Members: including, Referees ($20 per game), scorekeepers & skate guards (16$ per game), League Managers/Coaches ($20 per hour) -Marketing: 500$ per month including advertisements, direct marketing, social media campaigns, graphic designers, photographers & videographers to create content, etc. -AAU Player Insurances: TBD on plan, ranges from $80-200$ per year, players pay $25 per year individually. -Facility Upkeep/Supplies: $500 per month, including cleaning, fixing tiles, boards, chairs, benches, equipment, pucks, etc. -Rent & Utilities: TBD$, rent or percentage of program paid to the city/P&R department for monthly use of the facility as a contract operator. Business Initial Startup Costs. -Boards & Tiles: $15,000 plus shipping. -General cosmetic upgrades: $3,000 Including paint, storage areas, benches, chairs, cleaning etc. -Lights: $10,000-15,000 plus shipping. -Rental Equipment: $10,000. Includes head to toe equipment for players of all ages and sizes to allow for free equipment for low barriers of entry. All in total investment of $30,000-$45,000 of privately raised money to get the rink off and running. Marketing Tactics: Page 9 -Heavy Social Media presence -Social media ads -Targeted google/online ads -Word of mouth marketing -Email marketing -Website/website boosting -Direct press like newspaper, news stories, influencer marketing, etc. -Creative discount/free marketing tactics like "Try a game free", Half -off league fees if you bring a new team", try hockey free classes, etc. -My own/my teams' vast network within the roller hockey and sports industry in the area Fundraising Strategy: As I have mentioned before, I am extremely passionate about this business opportunity, and the exponential growth of roller hockey in general, and I am willing to spend my own money to start the business. In order to operate this rink properly with an eye on long term success for the future, I will need significant startup funds just like any other business would need. I have current funds to start it from program revenue from my camarillo leagues, as well as my own money. However, I can also raise extra money and revenue in a few different ways, and I will let you know how I will do that below. I am hoping to fund a startup rate of $30,000-$50,00 dollars. -Start with my own personal money. I am willing to put up my own money to start up this business to prove the worth of the opportunity we have. -Crowdfunding: The large population of hockey families in the area would love to help donate to the local rink in order to fundraise for tiles, and I believe we can raise a significant amount for this, as many other rinks have proven success this way when it comes to facility upgrades. -Selling advertising space at the facility on the boards, and on banners at the facility. When the rink is up and running, there will be many people at the facility every day, and many eyes on the rink on social media & events. This makes board ad/hung banners a huge opportunity to raise startup money, and provide an excellent advertising opportunity for local businesses. I will pitch a year's worth of advertising space to local businesses at a discount to help raise startup capital to start this community facility. This strategy can pull hundreds of thousands of dollars for the facility each year, as we used this strategy at all of my former facilities that I have managed. Why Tiles are Necessary: Page 10 Putting down a tile floor is absolutely essential for the short term and long term success of the rink. The tile floor, or lack thereof, is one of, if not the largest reason for failure of growth in the past. Tiles will take the sport & facility to the next level. Allow me to explain: Cons of concrete. The largest difference is a concrete rink is a street hockey rink, not a roller hockey rink. The concrete rink, painted or not, is not meant for skating, and is therefore extremely slippery for hockey wheels, making it more dangerous to skate, and play the game at high speeds. The surface is much more rough, which has many negative traits. The worst trait is how rough it is on your stick, wheels, and equipment. You can only use an old -school style wooden stick, as the concrete eats through the blade of a modern composite stick in no less than an hour of play. It also wears through wheels, and rips pants, and any mesh/fabric parts of your equipment when falling/sliding on concrete. It also significantly slows down the speed of the puck, as street hockey typically uses a ball. The puck's speed slows down the game, as well as not having the ability to stop on the smooth, slippery concrete/paint. Lastly, the concrete surface also collects dust, and only gets worse as time goes on, and actually requires more maintenance than a tile surface would need. Not to mention, concrete surfaces eliminate the opportunity to host other sports that require sport -court like box lacrosse, arena soccer, futsal, arena football, volleyball, badminton, and more. These traits are what urge hockey players away from the concrete rinks, and convince them to commute farther to the & ice rinks. Pros of Tile. - While it may not seem as important from an outside perspective, having a tile surface for the rink is the most important factor for the long term success of the business. Unlike concrete, it is softer, smoother, grippier, faster, more versatile, and all around much safer than a concrete floor. The tile is a smooth surface that does not destroy hockey equipment like concrete does.The surface simulates the grip, and playability of ice, so the game, and puck moves quickly, and creates an extremely competitive playing surface. The tile surface is also much easier to skate on with the grip, so it is optimal for new players to learn on. Sport court is the universal roller hockey floor material, and is a rarity across our area, so customers drive far distances to places like Irvine, and Corona just to play on a tile surface. The installation of a new tile surface alone will bring hockey players from near & far to come play at the rink, and will help jump start the business in a big way. Tile is also required for secondary competitive sports like arena soccer, arena football, futsal, basketball, box lacrosse, volleyball & more. It will allow us to bring huge Page 11 events to the city like outside tournaments in all these sports, & especially roller hockey. Not to mention, a the facility will allow for exponential growth, & have league play during every hour of the day if we want it, and create a truly successful program, and business for the long term with very high demand. Comparable Examples: For reference, I would like to show a couple of comparable examples that started in a similar fashion as my vision for the Arroyo Vista Roller Rink. Example #I. Escondido Sports Center, Escondido, CA Escondido Sports center is a two rink roller hockey facility that also accommodates box lacrosse, arena soccer, and many other sports as well as roller hockey. This rink started in a very similar state of how Arroyo Vista Park is now. It was a one rink, concrete street hockey facility in a city owned park in the San Diego Suburb of Escondido. The rink struggled in its early years, and had a new boom of roller hockey, which contributed to placing down outdoor hockey tiles. This proved to be a hugely successful move, and the rink skyrocketed, and soon added a second rink, as well as a roof over the facility. Now, it is an indoor/outdoor two rink tile facility that serves the northern San Diego area in a very successful way. Before - After: Page 12 Example #2: Roller Hockey Naples, Naples, FL Roller Hockey Naples is a one rink facility in a suburb about two hours from Tampa Florida that is city owned and situated in the Veterans Community Park in Naples, FL. This rink started out as an outdoor concrete rink, and has been rented, and operated by a contract operator in the same way that I am hoping to do in Moorpark. This facility was made in the boom of roller hockey in the 90s & 2000s. The success of the rink drove the city to put a roof over the facility, earning even more success in the region. Like Southern California, Roller Hockey Naples has a huge population of Roller Hockey players in the community, so the long time operator started a crowdfunding campaign to fundraise a tile floor. They quickly raised the money, and an amazing new Racing Courts Tile Floor was put down. Since installing the floor, the rink has become a premier facility in Florida, and has quickly started to host some of the best pro players, and have Page 13 huge tournament events across multiple sports. I will show some before and after photos below, Before: After: Page 14 Travel Program: One of the last items of programming in my plan is a full scale Travel Program. This program is not so much about profit, but instead about growth of the game, and channels into our more profitable programming. The travel program will be a group of teams from every division starting at 6u all the way up to Mens, Pro, and 40+ divisions. Every rink has a tournament team organization like this that is meant to showcase the area's best players in the most committed, and competitive environment possible. The name of this team is still TBD, but will represent Arroyo Vista Park, and the city of Moorpark greatly at tournaments across the country. This program is where we draw in competitive ice hockey players to convert into a cross over roller & ice player. A lot of these players only play travel, but our travel teams will have practice time, and home tournaments in Moorpark, with the goal to inspire some of the travel level players to play in the youth rec league, adult gold/platinum leagues, and vise versa. Timeline: As I have previously explained, starting this business is no overnight task, and many things are still TBD. I hope to get started ASAP while beginning renovations, & soft openings in the spring/summer of 2024. 1 will list my general timeline below: - Pitch & Negotiate Full Contract Operation immediately after decision has been made on the business pitch this fall. - Create new LLC organization and register a legal business entity & business license fall 2023 - Begin & Execute Formal Business Plan - Purchase Boards & Tiles by fall 2023 to allow a 2 month timeline of arrival for a winter installation. - Install lighting system in Winter 2023 - Continue Camarillo Leagues until rink in Moorpark is ready to move the program - Begin executing formal/physical business plan in August/September 2023 to have everything ready when the rink is ready to restart programming Page 15 September/October: Push media outlets, advertising, and marketing in all forms to build hype in the community of a new rink, and start establishing a customer base ready to begin at TBD start date grand opening in the early spring/summer 5 Year & 10 year Plan: have big plans for this rink, and I will start with the 5 year plan. I hope to establish a state of the art tile roller sports/multi-sport facility with league nights packed on every night & a booming learn to play program that can help the sport continue to grow, and share the amazing sport of roller hockey with as many people in Moorpark as humanly possible. After the years of development of a successful recreational roller hockey program, I hope to be able to fundraise enough capital to add a roof, and locker room structures to create a state of the art indoor/outdoor facility that can host large scale events & allow the sport to continue to grow. My ten year plan implements the ability to keep pushing the growth of the facility, and sport in the area. This is a facility that can host hundreds of teams per week, and I truly believe this is possible with some time, and proper management. After years of proven success and continued growth throughout the programs, I would love to potentially explore expansion with a second rink on the premises to really grow the potential growth of the facility, and sport. I know this is a long sighted vision, but I truly can see the potential for this down the road, as the demand will be there. Final Summary: In conclusion, my vision for the Arroyo Vista Park roller hockey rink is to transform it into a state of the art outdoor roller hockey, & multi -sport recreational facility for the community of Moorpark. This will allow for a competitive and centrally located facility to serve the large population of hockey players in the Ventura County area, as well as give us a facility that will allow us to grow the sport exponentially in the area. My vision is to give the lowest possible entry point to the sport with free classes, free equipment, and cheap league fees to grow the amazing sport, and offer it to as many people as possible. I see this property as a perfect place to host events & bring many people to Page 16 the city of Moorpark, as well as host sports of all kinds to give back to the amazing local community. I have long term goals/visions for success like a roofed facility, but I look forward to growing the sport in its initial years while bringing an amazing opportunity to the local community & the sport of roller hockey to enjoy such an amazing sport & facility for years to come!