It’s easier to find success when a path has been paved for you. By following a playbook full of ideas and suggestions that have worked before. This scenario works just as well in business as it does in athletics. Think about it: With franchises, just like in sport, you can succeed using the lessons that were learned from other people's experience. And sports is a prime industry to find a franchise.
Millions and millions of people love sports. Those looking to capitalize on this deeply ingrained passion benefit from the increased number of franchise opportunities available, including some in areas that are surprising at first glance.
Traditional sports franchises share a lot in common with fitness franchises.
Sports leagues make up a large portion of the industry. These franchises, such as Skyhawks Sports Camps, provide leagues, tournaments, clinics and other events for people of varying ages who form connections with friends, family or work colleagues.
Of note, the primary goal for a number of these franchises isn’t simply exercise and entertainment. A primary stated focus of franchises like British Swim School Premier Martial Arts, and United Martial Arts Centers is to teach vital safety skills.
Early childhood fitness is also a major segment of the sports franchise industry. The franchises with the largest market share in the children’s fitness center franchise industry, per IBISWorld, are: The Little Gym, My Gym, Gymboree Play & Music, and Stretch-n-Grow.
Performance training has also seen an increase in the number of opportunities available. Franchises such as D1 Sports Training, Redline Athletics, and others give access to “professional-level athletic training and workouts” to a wider population of people.
Sporting goods retailers are a popular choice for a sports franchise too. According to Statista, U.S. sporting goods stores routinely do well over $45 billion in yearly sales. Popular franchises in this area include Play It Again Sports and Fleet Feet.
And when it comes to all of this equipment people need, there needs to be people that can set it up. That’s where franchises like My Backyard Sports comes in. Specifically, this sports franchise takes on projects that range in scope from the purchase and installation of basketball hoops and other sports equipment and accessories at private residences to professional full court sport facilities encompassing both single and multi-court offerings.
Unique Franchise Opportunities Related to Sports
There are also opportunities that involve sports which are totally unique.
Unfortunately, budget cuts have severely impacted school sports. In addition to pushing business towards traditional sports franchises it has created opportunities such as Fundraising University. Fundraising University is a franchise that does the groundwork for students, staff and coaches.
Another way to get involved, but not be totally involved is with photography. Parents are always looking to commemorate special moments in their children's lives. Because of this sports photography franchises have been a consistent favorite of people starting a sports-oriented business.
How about a franchise that’s primarily in another industry altogether, but still sports-related? An example of this is Sport Clips, which enables men and boys to get their haircut in a uniquely designed, sports-themed environment, with a range of memorabilia across the walls. Another example is the staffing franchise NexGoal, which specializes in placing former high-level athletes into the workforce. And there’s the always popular sports bar franchise like Beef ‘O’ Brady's as well.
Recreation also factors into sports franchises. When searching, you’ll often find franchises centered on folks having a good time with a little bit of physical activity required. Examples in this area include billiards and bowling franchises like 810 Billiards & Bowling as well as franchises in the expanding activity of axe throwing.
The Next Big Thing in Sports Franchising: eSports?
With global esports and game streaming revenue expected to pass $2 billion in 2021 and grow to over $3.5 billion in 2025, it’s no surprise enterprising franchisors are getting in on the action.
For background, as Axios Charlotte puts it, “‘eSports’ is exactly what it sounds like: sports in which almost every aspect is electronic. Simply put, it’s competitive video gaming in professional sport form. Professional video game players come together to form teams and play against other teams in competitions and tournaments.”
While competition has been a feature of the culture surrounding video games since the arcade days, eSports tournaments began to really grow in earnest around the turn of the century and have only skyrocketed since.
And that foundation was a big help when a pandemic came along.
As you can probably imagine because of its online nature, the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t impact the industry as much as many others were negatively impacted. As traditional sports were largely shutdown, the eSports community was easily able to pivot to keep connections with customers alive while waiting for restrictions to be lifted.
“When the shutdown hit, we did not lose a connection with our customers or people already connected with us,” says Brett Payne, founder of gaming center franchise Contender eSports. “Even though our doors were closed, we kept those conversations active, and we were able to shift the gaming experience online where they were still interacting with staff. We were running tournaments, events, nonprofit fundraisers. It’s nothing ideal that we want to do long-term, but in the interim, it kept connections so that when the doors opened up again, everyone wanted to see each other again.”
The eSports franchise industry is also hoping to turn a negative into a positive by helping small business owners fill empty office or retail space left vacant due to COVID-19 impacts.
“Our concept can essentially be operated from anywhere and some of our franchisees are filling existing commercial real estate with a XP League franchise,” says Jay Melamed, co-founder of eSports franchise XP League. “This is a perfect example of how our simplistic operations allow our league operators to open and scale fast.”
Bottom line? Get ready to see more eSports opportunities soon.