Pickleball Tournament Profit
Now, on the flip side of tournament expenses, let’s talk about the tournament profits and where tournaments can be profitable. I will say that nearly 100% of the tournament directors that I know who host and put on tournaments do so for the pure for the love of the game. These TD’s want to create a fun experience for all who attend while making a profit.
Let’s dive right into it. In this analysis, I’m referring to medium sized tournaments (maybe around 400 players) to larger sized tournaments (all the way up to 1200) or so. I’m certain there are ideas and revenue streams that I’m missing, but these are the major ones that make tournaments profitable.
These aren’t in any specific order.
Participants - The more people you have competing in your tournament, the more revenue you will have. Tournaments have become more expensive for a variety of reasons. Since there are many events one could play in, let’s use a round number and say it is $100 per person (generally it is quite a bit more per person). An average tournament of 500 players with $100 per player (very low estimate) would generate $50,000 in entry fees alone! Side note, many of the biggest tournaments, the pro’s and other players are paying $400-$500 for the tournament…
Sponsors - Depending on the scale of the tournament, this could be a small or large piece of revenue. Generally, tournaments will have different “tiers” of sponsorships. For small tournaments, the lowest tiers are as low as $200 per company all the way to $2000. At the larger tournaments, you might see the lower tiers come out at $500 per company all the way to $10,000+. This might not seem like much, but if a tournament can get 8-10 sponsors or more, thats an additional $10,000-$50,000+.
Vendors - Vendors are similar to “sponsors but they differ in that they normally have a physical booth/table they are selling product. Pricing is similar.
Parking - Many venues parking is limited so they need to charge for parking. If the tournament does charge, it is normally $5per car or maybe $10. This adds up very quick. I know one of the biggest tournaments of the year makes around $200k+ in parking fees alone! (For a one week tournament!)
Social Media / Ad space - With the rise of social media, this has opened up new opportunities that were never there before. Being able to partner with companies, product placement, and getting paid per views, also adds another revenue stream to the tournament. Many tournaments now Live Stream their event and within those livestreams, you will see ads for that specific company. That space and time is not donated, those companies are paying to have their product advertised. Pricing for this varies greatly.
With tournaments, the sky is the limit. There are many new ways to monetize tournaments and to make them extremely profitable if done right, these just some of the main ways tournaments do just that.