Game Day Valet rents chairs, tables, tents and wagons to families attending tournaments.
Packages range from $129 to $529 for entire event
Targets out-of-town teams
Gear is at first field when parents arrive
Parents can move gear around; it is collected at final field
Revenue-share deals with complexes
Katie Bennett — a North Carolina physical education teacher and youth sports mother — came up with the idea when trying to lug her stuff to the field while toting a fussy 1-year-old. She told Buying Sandlot her original idea was to put pre-order smart lockers at complexes, but “people want that extra little bit of customer service that we provide.”
LakePoint Sports and Grand Park Sports Complex are among the venues Bennett said she has contracts with. The extent of the venues’ involvement is allowing access and some help with publicity.
Rentals are currently only available at events if Bennett is there. She is a one-woman band at the moment, driving around the country in her Jeep with an enclosed trailer and two “unpaid interns” — her parents.
But her long-term goal is to have independent contractors manage inventory in various regions near major complexes. Bennett — who also has an app offering travel tips for youth sports parents — said she would also like to eventually move into coolers and other offerings, including food delivery.
“In my mind, I’ve already got the next ten years planned out for this,” she said. “I’m trying to start small with what we’re doing now.”
I love this.
The Sports Parent Economy piece is one of my favorite pieces I’ve written here.
Why? There is a substantial consumer opportunity in serving parents and families where they are increasingly spending more of their time at youth sports fields— from food, to convenience, to comfort, and even finance and travel. The opportunities are massive, but so are the challenges. The very long-tail of sports participation makes for logistical headaches. With the consolidation and proliferation of tournament venues, however, you are now getting broader surface areas to which to market.
These businesses cut one of two ways:
Way 1: You develop regional storage hubs in high-density areas, a network of independent contractors or gig workers, and stellar customer service and marketing and build a high-cash-flowing business.
Way 2: You start doing this well, and larger venues see what works and decide to do it themselves.
Re: Way 2: You can offset this risk with quality and service. At Disney World, you can choose to rent a Disney stroller, which appears to have the comfort of a shopping cart. Or you can get the super-hyper-deluxe model from a third-party and ride in style.
Follow on LinkedIn: Kyle Scott, James Kratch, Kyle Pagan