Never Just a Kids’ Sports Facility

I’ve posted previously about making the best use of the space at your sports facility, and how to make sure that each area in your facility can potentially make money for your business at any given time of day or year.

If you truly plan for this, you’ll quickly realize that you need to attract clients from a broad range of ages and lifestyles in order for your facility to generate its maximum possible revenue. This means you should absolutely offer programming for adults, even if your main revenue stream comes from your kids’ services.

(If you already offer programs for all ages, good job! You can stop reading. If you only focus on kids programming, I hope I can convince you to do otherwise.)

There’s a reason I’m bringing up this topic right now: the New Year’s holiday is quickly approaching. It’s no surprise that this time of year is often when most adults decide to make healthier choices and get in better shape. Your younger clients aren’t stuck at desks in 9-to-5 jobs. They aren’t likely to be making fitness-related New Year’s resolutions. Their parents, however, will be. Ignoring the demand for adult-focused fitness classes, especially in January, is a mistake.

Several of my own clients took advantage of Black Friday to offer discounted packages to adults that offer personal training or a “boot camp” style classes for new adult clients at steep discounts. Although Black Friday has passed, it’s not too late to consider offering discounted packages that can be promoted as holiday gifts.

Other than the great opportunity to use holiday demand to generate revenue, here are some more reasons to offer fitness programs for adults.

Reasons to Offer Fitness Programs for Adults

Optimal Scheduling: The kids who come to your facility for sports training and classes all typically have the same schedule. Adding adult programming can fill in the gaps during the day for most of the year when kids are in school.

Qualified Leads: Parents who bring their kids to sports lessons at your facility should already know your staff and be familiar with your facility’s layout. Add the fact that they already have to drive to the facility regularly. Meaning, you have very ideal potential customers who should be much easier to convert than a typical lead.

Uncomplicated Programming: You don’t need fancy equipment to offer adult fitness classes. You just need an open turf area and a professional instructor who is knowledgeable about functional training. (Functional training focuses on using your body using simple exercises that are well within your daily range of motion.) If no one on your current staff is qualified to teach adult fitness classes, do some research and ask around. Many instructors are available for hire to come to your facility and teach a class regularly. They can be paid commission based on attendance.

Family Memberships: Offering quality programming for adults also reinforces the loyalty of your younger clients. If the parents enjoy coming to the facility, the kids are more likely to come, as well. This diverse programming also means you can offer family memberships that can incentivize entire families to join.

Before you introduce adult fitness programs at your facility, ask the parents of your current younger clients if they would be interested in taking adult fitness programs, which kind, and at what time. Take that feedback into account as you plan.