Team Insight

movies and seeing what happened to Junior Seau, are thinking twice about allowing their children to play football. In addition, registration fees to play football are at least $125-$150 in his area, not to men- tion the additional costs for equipment. "It's cheaper to play other sports and many young athletes are playing one sport year-round," and increasingly that sport is not football." The issue of team and school consolida- tion has also had an impact on McCormack's football revenue. Still, he does sell footballs, integrated pads, some helmets, some uniforms and some shoulder pads to leagues, teams and organizations. Families and individual players are purchasing mouthguards, receiver gloves, cleats and accessories. Thanksgiving Leads to Next Season In Indiana, the football business cycle for the next football season starts in late November. "Every year, we start processing uniform orders immediately after Thanksgiving," says Jim Brown, a salesman at Kratz Sporting Goods, Clarksville, IN. "But, it's never too early to place an order." While football is still number one for Kratz Sporting Goods, the volume of sales is not as strong as it used to be. While Kratz does sell football helmets and shoulder pads, sales are hurt because so many helmet and equipment companies are selling direct. "We only sell two helmet brands," Brown says. He makes up for the softness in equipment sales with a strong uniform business, for both practice and games. "We are seeing strong sales of more protective clothing worn underneath jerseys and uniforms," he says. In order to stay current with the retail and team dealer competition, Kratz has a strong presence on the Internet, with an expanded online sales effort bolstering its traditional business. In Michigan, Jack Pearl's Sports Center in Battle Creek is busy catering to a strong football culture in his area. "We are a full-line football retailer that sells from rocket leagues (youth football) to small colleges, but high schools represent the core of our football sales," according to owner Joe Pearl. "We sell everything football, with the exception of footwear." Pearl said that improvements in technology, with the infusion of sublimation, have reduced the turnaround times on the delivery of new jerseys. "As long as I get orders placed by June 1, I can deliver the finished product before the beginning of the season," he promises. The Participation Challenge While football remains strong in Michigan, Pearl believes that the concussion and injury issues have negatively impacted participation in freshman and junior varsity football. But the biggest threat to his football business is the growing interest of travel baseball. "We are losing some football players to the existence of travel baseball in the fall," Pearl explains. An antidote to that is the growth of summer 7-on-7 football and, for younger play- ers, flag football. "I'm always promoting flag football in our area," Pearl says. "It's a fun way to introduce kids to football." In the Deep South, it's often said that there are two big sports played by young athletes — football and spring football. Yet that passion for the pigskin seems to be waning a bit in the Bayou state. "I have been selling football to local youth football leagues for 47 years, but the numbers have come down in recent years. It's clear that participation is headed in the wrong direction," reports Charlie Mathews, owner of Cenla Sports, Alexandria, LA. "The declines in participation are due to concerns about concussions and the increased popularity of travel baseball in the fall." Mathews says the drop in youth football participation impacts his bottom line because all local youth football players buy their hel- mets, shoulder pads, pants and accessories from his store. Mathews also sells infrequently purchased items such as goal posts, first-down chains, blocking sleds and tackling dummies. But those declines in youth football leagues have an immediate effect on high school foot- ball in the area. "The numbers are down for freshman and junior varsity football, too," added Mathews. But in the neighboring states of Arkansas and Texas, football, especially high school football, is as popular now as it ever has been. "Football is still a priority, there are no budget cuts," reports Scott Speights, a salesman at Southwest Sporting Goods, Arkadelphia, AR. "Football is our largest revenue generator," echoes Jim Davis, CEO/sales at Williams Sporting Goods, Paris, TX. "Texas is a place where there's a budgetary priority on athletics, especially football." "Football is alive and well in Texas," agrees Don Carey, owner of Carey's Sporting Goods, Fort Worth, TX. "Football is my largest volume category." Speights explains that because high school football coaches are busy with conditioning and weight training throughout the summer, they like to reward their players with high-end uniforms and equipment. "The players in Arkansas want nice, high- end uniforms and they get them because it's their reward for putting in the work over the summer," he says, adding that Riddell is king in helmets in Arkansas and it's no big deal for schools to pay as much as $400 for a helmet. His footwear business remains strong, with players buying multiple pairs for practice and games. "Cleats are where players show their individuality," he says. One part of the football business that Southwest Sporting Goods doesn't cater to very much is youth football. "While the business is good, many of the leagues don't have their rosters set until two or three weeks before the start of the season and they still want to order customized uni- forms, which is too late in the buying season," Speights says. In Arkansas, tackle football at the scholastic level starts in the seventh grade, with freshman football played by eighth and ninth graders. Athletes below seventh grade are often playing more flag football than tackle. "At the youth level, for every 10 flag football teams, there are two tackle football teams," Speights says. In Texas, Davis and Carey are busy catering to their gridiron clients throughout the year. "In football, we sell the whole nine yards," teaminsightmag.com May/June 2019 ~ Team Insight 17 According to a recent study, 63 percent of parents support age restrictions for tackle football, while the majority of mothers (63 percent) and fathers (58 percent) are in favor of setting a starting age for their children to begin playing tackle football.

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