What does it cost an owner to field a semi pro tea

[MDE3]

I thought it might be interesting to run a breakdown on what a 14 game season might cost a diligent owner who is paying the full boat for his team...or most of it. So I offer this breakdown based on a 14 game season.

Assume rink costs based on a "volume commitment" of $150.00/hour

Assume a 14 game season....(7) X 3 hours X $150.00 = $3150

Assume refs get paid approximately $100/game each = $300

Assume head coaches get paid $100.00/game and assistants get half of that....(14) x 150.00 = $2100

Assume a trainer or EMT present for each home game at $100.00/game(barely covers gas in many cases)..........$700

Assume 3 hours of practice /week for 18 weeks total............................................. ....$8100

Assume team provides "Pro Quality" Helmets, Gloves, uniforms ...@ $300/player for an 18 man roster........$5400

Assume team has giveaways at each home game...........$500

Assume three travel games per season require a bus...$7200

Assume an announcer, and a scorekeeper recieve $50.00 ea./home game..........................................$700

Assume stick boys get $20.00 ea./home game............$140

Asssume game promotion and advertising:..............$2500

Assume miscellaneous meals and food picked up........$2100

Total:.......................................... $32,890

Not having an owner owned home rink makes selling "board space" difficult, or any other permanent advertising tough..so tough to sell significant sponsorships.

[GROWL]

yeah thats a bit higher then our budget... we've run about 15K the past two seasons.

[MDE3]

There is no doubt that an owner could spend less. However I put down the sort of expenses I have seen some of the owners incur in order to do it "right" in their minds.

If you did not have to pay for rink time due to the involvement of the rink as a sponsor, if you did not supply high end gloves, helmets, uniforms, athletic suits, travel bags, if there was no team bus for long road trips, no paid announcers, no paid coaches, no partial subsidy of player expenses on the road for travel, then of course it could be done for less.

But we are trying to present these teams as "semi-pro" teams to an audience...image is important for the leagues to gain credibility, and those are the sort of expenses that are incurred to do it that way....if we want to simply be a travelling men's league, of course it can be done for less....

[GROWL]

Well if that is what it takes to run a pro team we should all throw in the towel. I have seen many games in many leagues and I am fairly confident in saying that our team has provided the very best overall package that any of these semi-pro teams offer. Yet still I stretch to make my budget 15K. While most of the things you suggest are needed, the bulk of those jobs are volunteer work. Your ideas are great, but try opening your check book to start a franchise and you will quickly see that most of these things must be done either by you or someone willing to do it for a nice swift pat on the back and maybe a post game brew. The only way any of these leagues will gain credibility is if every team would try to display the professionalism of the handful of good organizations. It's the difference between creating a team to play hockey and creating an organization to further the sport of inline hockey.
I bust my a$$ for a 15K operation, to make it 35K would involve a lot of financial support from outside investors or a new owner with a big wallet. Either way they are going to want to see the big picture and that is again that every team, as well as the league, needs to do the same, not just 2 or 3 teams. Here is my suggestion, the teams that are substandard in their operation should emulate those organizations that are at the upper echelon of semi-pro squads. Once the rest of the league catches up, someone will set the standard again. If every team had a 15K budget, had 200 fans a game,was properly uniformed, and
was at the level i feel our organization is at, then I would probably find a way to spend 20K and to push the envelope a little more.

[NLane]

2 owners have sent teams to California and one of them played the Finals in Denver. That takes a few bucks. I agree that the "look" and "actions" of the players (arriving and departing the arena) can go a long way to the professional appearance of a league. The Destroyer team from years back had the fan base to only help with travel (the home games paid the floor time, refs scorekeeper and put a few bucks in the bank) but the team did most of the travel out of their pockets. Never could we have gone to the left coast. Even northern NJ was questionable at times (us being 15 minutes from NC). But they looked the part and played the part and to me that was what the league was all about.

[5_hole_master]

Someone correct me if I am wrong here, but i believe that the NJ Werewolves of XIHL have the best overall package... the one thing i like about the GROWL though, i dont know if this still happens, but last year at the "all star" game for PIHA they had this amazing little girl sing before the game and at half time... that is a very nice touch, and it seemed as though the players enjoyed that too.

[ScrappersSponser]

She sang at the home opener this past weekend.

Jeff Haze

[MDE3]

I have seen two organizations in MLRH and XIHL which approach the levels I am talking about....With Piha, there have been no overnight travel situations which require substantially more money to support, either from the players themselves, or the owners.

My points in this discussion are to help the players appreciate what is being done for them, and why owners have a right to expect some loyalty to both their teams and the leagues they play in. I am talking about why it is so detrimental for a team to pull a "no show" for someone's game. It is also to illustrate just why many teams who jump in to a league end up becoming "no shows" for longer road games...not everyone has done their math, and really appreciuates how much it truly costs to play in a league with extended travel.

What I am talking about in terms of expenses, is really on par with what it should cost to run a semi pro team at this level, and why the need for larger venues is there.

If an organization depends on gate monies to pay for this kind of expense, in a 7 game home season (14 overall) then the attendance per game without sponsorships to subsidize the team, would be in the order of 500 a game in the case of a $15,000 budget, and double that for support at the level I have suggested.

If your rink is not charging you for all the practice and game floor time, as part of your sponsorship, that is great, but as I said before, it has to be included as part of the overall cost. If you get "free advertising" some where, that is also part of your sponsorship money, if someone donates equipment, that too is a subsidy, and must be included on the earnings side of the ledger.

I have no doubt that your out of pocket expenses may fall in the $15,000 range, or that this is the residual direct cost that you need to make up from gate, fees, and direct cash sponsorships, but is that really the true cost?

I am not asking for disclosure. But if you take away the "frills" in my analyses, then you reduce the budget by about $17,000...no team helmets and gloves, no paid coaches, no paid buses, no paid announcers, no giveaways, no team track suits, bags, no road subsidies of travel expenses etc. etc. Of course this can be done.

But if you are talking about Piha...there are no 5 - 7 hour road trips requiring overnight stays either.

Much of this was what the owners involved in XIHL were discussing as the future for their league I believe...in an attempt to take the league to the next level. I do not think many owners would disagree too much that it is in this direction that any league which remains, must strive for.

[NLane]

Just the $2500 up front fee to have a franchise has scared many a team off. It's not just about the playing of hockey, it's a business.

[GROWL]

I see now where you are going with this. In our defense, we had planned for two lengthy trips last season. We paid for a bus to Chicago, which we never got our deposit back (thanx again Alex) and had a hotel deal was in the works. Not to mention our trip to Buffalo was supposed to be a coordinated effort with NTB and be very similiar. We had budgeted to do all of these things, however the Bulldogs threw a wrench into the whole mix and dropping out without any warning and it seemed to put a cloud over the whole travel issue throughout the league last season. Many teams will probably experiment with over night travel again as the travel to pittsburgh this season for what most scheduled as a two day event out there.
As always, you points come across very well Mike.

[GROWL]

Last year's all star game should certainly not be the measuring stick of how a Growl home game should be measured. I have yet to see or hear of any organization that puts on the show that we do. Packs in a crowd like we do and entertain them from the first drop of the puck to the final buzzer like we do. Not to mention that we had built a 1500 locker room, our players do not incur any expense other then travel. We feed out players after games and their is a general sense of family, particularly this season, that I doubt is too common in other teams.

That said I have not seen many of the southern MLRH teams. As for the werewolves, I was at one Wolves game maybe 2 years ago, so maybe things are different. After that I gauge things by what people tell me from the most part.

As for the little girl (Bianca Ryan), she sang our home opener and is schedule for several return visits this season. We have others lined up as well.

[5_hole_master]

just for the record she is amazing...

well apparently the wolves have a new owner, who pays for everything including travel, mike egan might know as his son plays on the team...

[Brooklynite10]

Things are extremely different this year. We are lucky to have a new owner who is VERY generous. I have never been a part of a team like this one. Our team also has that family feel to it. We're like brothers, not including the 2 sets of brothers (Katinsky,Guzman)that are actually real brothers. That tightness might be a result of our travels together. 2 West Coast trips and some road trips. I'm not very familiar with the Growl organization, but it seems like you guys do a super job too. Keep up the good work. You guys set the standard in PIHA as we set it in the XIHL.

[GROWL]

hey sounds like a plan... best of luck to you guys next weekend.

[GROWL]

she was even more incredible on saturday. Its fun to watch players and referee's heads whip around as she begins to sing.