Over time, youth sports have proven to be reliable, recession-resistant drivers of traffic and new market spend, which is why the next generation of sports facilities are now being conceived with destination development in mind.
Mixed-use development assets that include retail, restaurants, hotels and family entertainment are all natural extensions of a well-planned sports complex and can play an important role in not only elevating the customer experience, but capturing the incremental spending generated by the sports audience — providing new revenue streams that can generate significant sales, hotel and property taxes over time.
The SF Companies offer turnkey solutions for assessing sports and recreation destinations and mixed-use development projects. These solutions include proven planning and finance services along with site selection from Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA), owner’s representation, venue planning and procurement services from Sports Facilities Development (SFD), and the operational expertise and unparalleled results of Sports Facilities Management (SFM).
Additionally, the SFM Network operates the nation’s largest network of sports tourism and recreation venues, driving more than $200 million in hotel and visitor spend annually.
It all starts with our Site Selection Scorecard that helps to assess not only the core sports asset but mixed-use development and auxiliary real estate opportunities. Our approach includes an assessment of the critical market factors that help to define a “right-sized” facility program, supported by detailed start-up & construction cost estimates and an institutional-grade five-year operational cash flow forecast.
Armed with our detailed market and financial forecasts, our team helps to transition the project from the feasibility to the funding, finance and strategic partnership development phase, engaging key stakeholders and funding partners on ways in which they can materially impact the project. Stakeholder, funding and major partner presentations are led by our team, as we help to negotiate letters of intent and establish agreements for the project.
After funding has been secured, our design, venue planning and procurement development team help to lead the construction and development support phases for the new sports venue. Vendor selection, construction management, and venue planning are all critical components of an on-time, on-budget project. Key staff must be hired during this phase and marketing as well as early business development strategies must be established in order ensure that the facility gets a jump-start on their financial goals.
Once construction nears completion, our experienced SFM leadership team will help to implement a systematized pre-opening management process that will transition the facility to become fully operational. The SFM team will hire and train staff, provide role clarity, set expectations as well as establish budgeting, benchmarking and best practices for developing new programs, managing operations, and initiating key marketing and branding strategies that will ultimately help the facility to meet and exceed their first-year revenue targets.
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