Sports
SPORTS OF ALL kinds are watched and played by millions. From the great British athletes and sportspeople down to the Sunday park footballers, casual golfer’s armchair fans, sport holds a great deal of importance. That’s exactly why it attracts a great deal of business.
Whether you watch sport on TV, play once a week to keep fit, or whether you have a particular specialist sporting interest, or even if you know nothing at all about it, there are many different sport-related businesses that you can easily set up and run. Here are 20 of the best sport-related business ideas:
- Sporting breaks and holidays
People fanatical about particular sports often take holidays to accommodate their favorite sporting pastime. To take advantage of this why not organize sporting weekends and holidays?
Golfing, cricketing and snooker playing weekends, for example, are all likely to attract customers, although you could offer sporting weekends in practically any sport if you can find the right facilities. You will need to organize accommodation with suitable sporting facilities nearby, such as a golf course, cricket pitch and nets, or a pool hall. You can then offer tuition, perhaps by a sporting celebrity or even by yourself, with time afterwards to ask questions, work one-to-one on technique, and hold full-scale matches.
Advertise your service to local sports clubs and travel agents and at big sporting occasions such as cricket matches.
- Sporting trips and travel
Big matches in various sports of national importance take place all the time. There are bound to be people from all over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland wishing to see their national sides, so you could provide a service ferrying people to and from matches.
There are also big events in particular sports, such as Badminton Horse Trials, national snooker championships, motor racing and athletics meetings, and the FA Cup Final – the list is practically endless. You can provide the travel on its own, offering a coach or minibus service, or offer an all-inclusive service combining travel with tickets for the event.
Another idea is to provide a service taking supporters of a particular team to away matches. Official supporters clubs organize their own travel to matches, although there is no reason why you can’t offer a separate service, or even start your own official travel club.
By offering discount bulk-buy tickets for a number of matches you can guarantee repeat business and generate loyal customers.
- Sporting tuition and coaching
We have already covered sporting weekends although you don’t necessarily have to provide accommodation and celebrities. If you have a particular sporting knowledge or aptitude why not organize sporting tuition days, weekends or summer schools, either doing the tuition yourself or hiring in experienced coaches?
An alternative is to offer coaching by mail order Manuals, audio cassettes and videos can all be advertised in sporting magazines and programmes and sold by post.
- Rental service
Buying and renting out sporting equipment is a good business opportunity. Equipment can either be rented out for short periods, such as a night or weekend, or hired out on a semi-permanent basis in the same way as TVs and videos.
Snooker, table tennis and pool tables, trampolines, multi-gym equipment, fishing equipment, climbing equipment, plus clothing and footwear, are all ideal for rental service.
- Supporter gear
Supporters of a particular team whatever the sport, are usually fanatical about them and will buy practically anything related to their team, Or instead of a team someone might be interested in a particular sport or sportsperson.
There are large number of different items you could make and /or sell that are personalized for a particular team / person / sport. Some of the more popular items are: t-shirts, knitted, tie clips, wall hangings.
If possible, produce a brochure containing all the available items. To market them, advertise in team programmes, supporters’ magazines, social clubs and supporters’ meetings.
- Pictures
Sport-related pictures are a good source of income, and you don’t necessarily have to be a good photographer or artist. If you have photographic equipment you could take and sell pictures of sports grounds-and certain sportspersons and players. You could also approach sportspersons and players. You could also approach sports team and clubs and take /sell team pictures, personal pictures and action shots.
If you have artistic talents then you could do the same thing with pictures drawn or painted by you. Alternatively, you could collect pictures relating to particular teams and people and sell them as they are, or have them mounted.
Posters, postcards and slides are the type of things you should collect. Advertise your service as above.
- Mail order memorabilia
Again, supporters of a particular team or sportsperson will buy and collect anything related to their favorite team or sporting hero. Mail-order football programme sales had become successful and you can sell programmes for all sports, or practically anything else, in the same way.
Tickets, match reports, special editions of newspapers, cups, medals, strips, international caps, boxing title belts, title fight posters, cigarette cards and books are all items that sports fans collect. You can even import them, as sports like American Football grow in popularity.
It is good idea to produce a brochure, and advertise your service in team programmes, specialist magazines and supporters’ magazines, as well as at social clubs and supporters’ meetings. You may even be able to set up sporting memorabilia swap-and-sale club.
- Videos
Buying and selling or renting sporting videos is a relatively untried business idea.
It is possible to obtain videos of all sorts of big sporting events all around the world which people are likely to want to see again. Videos covering virtually any sport are now available, including personal sporting histories, histories of certain clubs, histories of certain sporting competitions, particular sporting occasions, as well as sporting gaffes. It may even be possible to duplicate old sports films and programmers onto video.
Again, produce a brochure so that they can sell by mail order that advertise as above.
- Indoor sports
As people often do not have the time, inclination or fitness to go out and play sports you could make or sell indoor versions of outdoor sports – indoor gold and croquet sets are ideal. They will probably need to be scaled down and lightweight versions of the outdoor equivalent.
You could market them to businesses as ‘executive’ golf and croquet sets, sell them to sports and toy shops, or sell them by mail order.
- Sporting snacks
Prepare and package snacks, sandwiches and drinks to sell to spectators before and after (and if the authorities allow it, during) big sporting matches and occasions. You will probably attract many customers, particularly when much of the food available at the bigger sports stadiums remains overpriced.
- Fishing gear
Fishing, although rather more sedate than most sports, is a sport nevertheless, and there are various fishing-related goods that you could make and /or sell.
Fishing files and lures can be made very easily and sold at fishing tackle shops or by mail order. Wallets and cases for carrying fishing tackle, bait such as maggots, and even fishing rods, can all be made and sold in the same way.
- Fishing services
On popular stretches of river or sea front a mobile fishing tackle service would be likely to do well, saving the ill-prepared angler a trip and enabling them to carry on fishing.
Another fishing related service you could offer is having fish stuffed and mounted. By charging a price covering the taxidermist’s fee plus a little extra you could make money by immortalizing a fisherman’s prize catch, or simply selling them as ornaments to pubs and restaurants for example. Produce a catalogue and advertise in fishing magazines, gift shops and fishing tackle shops.
- Player matching service
A sport player matching service would offer a good way of bringing together players of particular sports with similar abilities and interests.
This service would, for instance, be particularly useful to someone who plays squash once a week but can’t find anyone to play who is of a similar standard. You could produce special application forms, leaving them at sports centres and shops, and charge people a signing of fee.
A related idea is to offer a fishing companion service. You could take details of things like availability, transport, interests and skill and match people up for fishing trips and matches. Produce and application form and advertise your service in fishing shops and publications.
- Caddy service
A service providing golfers with caddies for the day could be a good earner. You could train up teenagers and retired people as caddies, with you fees covering their wages plus a certain mark up. You could market your service to local golf clubs and also allow golfers to make direct bookings.
- Sporting biographies
If you have collected information or have particular specialist knowledge of a sporting personality then why not write an unauthorized biography of them? Chances are that if you are interested in them then other people will be too.
Alternatively, if you have writing experience you could personally approach the sportsperson and offer to ghostwrite their autobiography. Another idea is to produce biographical cassettes and videos, perhaps combining commentary on their lives with shots and sound bites of them in action.
- Column writing
Another way to make use of writing experience is to write a sports column for a local newspaper, or write reports on sporting events for newspapers, magazines and even radio stations.
- Sports fact service
One way to put any research experience or in-depth sporting knowledge to good use is to provide a sports fact-finding service.
Programmes such as Grandstand and Match of the Day pay well for particular sporting facts, which might be along the lines of the last time a player scored a certain amount of runs in a cricket match, the last time a particular club reached the third round of the FA Cup, or the last time a runner attained a particular record-breaking time.
- Supporter cards
A popular item or gift might be to sell special supporter ID cards, showing that someone is a dedicated supporter for a particular football team, for example.
You can print these up yourself if you have a computer with desktop publishing software, or else arrange for them to be printed. You could sell these in packs of 20 outside matches, advertise them in programmes, or get them stocked at supporters’ shops.
- Sporting songs
Supporters of football teams often have their own favorite songs and chants that they sing at matches. Research the current   and past favorites and produce cassettes for different teams, perhaps mixing in bits of match commentary and goal celebrations. Advertise your service at matches, in programmes and in sports shops.
It is not just football supporters that have their own songs – rugby, cricket, ice hockey and American Football all have their own distinctive songs and chants. You could put together a tape of rugby drinking songs for example.
- Classified sporting ad-mag
Producing a national magazine of classified sporting advertisements, mixed with advertisements by retailers and manufacturers of sporting goods, could make a very profitable business. You should include sections for different sports, plus general items such as sports and leisure clothing and footwear.
