Each year, millions of Americans flock to sports facilities to compete and train. Andy Card, a parent of several athletes, was “always transfixed by the thousands of athletes and their parents who would pay for events time and time again,” according to an interview with the Washington Post. Also a lifetime entrepreneur, Card thought to himself, “This has got to be a business.”
Nearly 60 percent of American youth play organized sports, according to some estimates. The youth sports industry grew over 50 percent from 2010 to 2017 and is now worth an estimated 19 billion – more than the revenue of the NFL or NBA. According to the Aspen Institute, families spend over 30 billion each year on coaches, travel, equipment, and registration fees.
State-of-the-art, massive sports complexes are the latest facet in this war for control of this highly competitive industry. Grand Park, located 20 miles north of Indianapolis, is a 400-acre example of how the explosive youth sports industry affects not just teams and players, but also government leaders and the allocation of tax dollars.
“There’s competition everywhere. The barrier of entry to build these facilities now — like just starting, like any other new city would, it’s almost impossible,” said Card. “The whole business plan to have set up for these things to be sustainable — it’s very tricky. They don’t make money very quick. You just have to have the sustainability and power.”
Lebanon, a small town just a half-hour drive from Grand Park, has announced a plan to build its own mega sports complex. Lebanon is the first “super facility” that Card will develop; not only outfitted with softball fields and baseball diamonds, but with basketball courts and indoor turf as well. “There’s no guarantee anybody is going to show up to Lebanon … We’ve done all the homework like everywhere else, but I’m going to put up a $30 million building and we haven’t put one team or anything in there yet,” Card said.
Despite the huge scale of Lebanon, it’s only a small part of Card’s plan to establish facilities across the country. He plans to build another super-facility in Las Vegas, and two more in Jacksonville, Florida. Card has also offered to buy Grand Park from the city: “I think the city has done all they can … [but] it’s time now for someone like myself that’s going to inject other stuff that they haven’t been able to attract.”
Nearly 60 percent of American youth play organized sports, according to some estimates. The youth sports industry grew over 50 percent from 2010 to 2017 and is now worth an estimated 19 billion – more than the revenue of the NFL or NBA. According to the Aspen Institute, families spend over 30 billion each year on coaches, travel, equipment, and registration fees.
State-of-the-art, massive sports complexes are the latest facet in this war for control of this highly competitive industry. Grand Park, located 20 miles north of Indianapolis, is a 400-acre example of how the explosive youth sports industry affects not just teams and players, but also government leaders and the allocation of tax dollars.
“There’s competition everywhere. The barrier of entry to build these facilities now — like just starting, like any other new city would, it’s almost impossible,” said Card. “The whole business plan to have set up for these things to be sustainable — it’s very tricky. They don’t make money very quick. You just have to have the sustainability and power.”
Lebanon, a small town just a half-hour drive from Grand Park, has announced a plan to build its own mega sports complex. Lebanon is the first “super facility” that Card will develop; not only outfitted with softball fields and baseball diamonds, but with basketball courts and indoor turf as well. “There’s no guarantee anybody is going to show up to Lebanon … We’ve done all the homework like everywhere else, but I’m going to put up a $30 million building and we haven’t put one team or anything in there yet,” Card said.
Despite the huge scale of Lebanon, it’s only a small part of Card’s plan to establish facilities across the country. He plans to build another super-facility in Las Vegas, and two more in Jacksonville, Florida. Card has also offered to buy Grand Park from the city: “I think the city has done all they can … [but] it’s time now for someone like myself that’s going to inject other stuff that they haven’t been able to attract.”
