Why SBF never sponsored a conference team?
- Thread starter Spackler
- Start date
louconn
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
90% seems a bit high imo.
i think sbf hasnt sponsored a team because they don't enjoy throwing money away. i dont think sponsoring softball teams is that profitable. or is it?
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
I was hoping a man who makes his living on selling softballs and softball related items would chime in.
When I talk about sponsoring a team I'm not talking about conference... I'm talking a good D team possibly C.
10 tournaments a year at $250 a piece = $2,500
Balls - $250 a season
Uniforms- (depending on what you want) non sub dyed- 3 sets of shirts for 12 players (buy 15 shirts for pick ups) $ 750
Shorts/Pants- $350-500 depending upon your desire for pants or not.
Bats- you can easily supply 10 bats for $1,000... Again that's not really considered a need to me.
$5,000 goes a long way. You can trim a grand off that in bats. $5,000 to have your softball related business In front of the eyes of players who are in the market for equipment is a reasonable cost of marketing
Fixed that for you.
Qoheleth52
Addicted to Softballfans
I'm trying to remember the last time I saw a sponsored team and said "Damn, these guys are good I'm going to run out and buy some ________."
Bobby Buggs
SBF Site Sponsor
^^^^^^^ this:first:
Oh and my business acumen tells me its a horrible investment. Now if feeding your ego is high on the list then it looks good.
Qoheleth52
Addicted to Softballfans
No offense to BB, but if I played against a really good Evil Ballz team and got my ass handed to me, the likelihood is I am NOT going to buy his product in favor of something else... x2 for the douchey prima donna "Big Al's Transmission Repair" teams.
Serious question: WTF is an Albicocco?
Serious question: WTF is an Albicocco?
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Scottishheat
Yep
Tony Albicocco. If you're going to throw $$ away, might as well put your name on it. Guy runs bars/clubs. Also can't spell worth a lick on the Old Scout when people attack him
Look at most Conf. teams, it's basically semi-wealthy guys who just enjoy the sport. If you had millions don't you think you might be at least inclined to blow some of it on a team? Same thing with Red's Astros, OC Swats, etc. Travis Resmondo sells sod. Do you think his business gets any love from his team? Nope. He stills spends upwards of $250K on softball each year though....
Qoheleth52
Addicted to Softballfans
^^^ tax write-off I guess, I do it on a smaller scale.
Spackler
...got that goin for me
you get 50 cents on the dollar
JimmyzArmSleeve
#RockstarOG
Fixed a few things for you.
coldengineer
Star Player
Cold Engineer wants to know, how long is a season that you need $400 worth of balls?
chrometip78
The Hungarian Barbarian
You'd be incredibly lucky to have a local team generate enough sales to profit $5k just to barely cover a team, let alone above & beyond to make a profit.
JimmyzArmSleeve
#RockstarOG
A good D or C team with HR's allowed in tournament play can go through 8 to 10 softballs in a weekend very easily. Especially if the parks played at are located in close proximity to water hazards or heavily wooded areas. Hell I know of teams in that category that go through a dozen balls per tournament. Start in March, finish in October.
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
You didn't fix anything for me bruhhhhhh
First off, I feel sorry for you if you still pay $200 for a bat
Where im from, most tournaments are $200 or cheaper
I get my softballs at cost and even when I didn't I still only paid $55 a dozen.
I buy about 5 dozen a year.
400 a year for balls is an asinine number. If you have a team full of guys not willing to chase their home run balls then they can pay for them.
This is a great part of this equation that always gets left out. People turn into ungrateful bastards when they have their whole way paid. Some people I should say.
This is a great part of this equation that always gets left out. People turn into ungrateful bastards when they have their whole way paid. Some people I should say.
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
I know man... No matter how much money I raise for my team I run I always make guys pay $50-100 for a summer of softball. That includes tournaments, balls, sanctions you name it.
You can tell by some of the numbers that guy put that he doesn't have a clue
sjury
The Old Man
I did business with a guy that got everything paid for by a sponsor for his ball team. Uniforms, tourneys, balls, bats, etc.... His budget was $12K to $15K. The first few years he ran the team he would order everything for his 15 to 20 guys. Then before their first team meeting one or two guys would drop out, for one reason or another. But the real kicker was when it came time to play at Worlds the guys had to pay their way (flight, rent a car, hitchhike) there. He would always have three or four guys that all of a sudden couldn't afford to go, and end up barely fielding a team. After two years of this, he decided to change it up. No names on jerseys, in case you dropped, and $500 to play. Then when you checked into the hotel at World's he would give you your money back. After that he never had an issue.
He is lucky to have a sponsor like that. BUT, what other hobby can you get someone to pay for you to do? The Sponsor can take some money off his taxes for advertising, but not all of it, and there is no way you make that money back. I played against the guys from Joe's Bar and Grill, I think I'm going to go hang out there now... said no one ever. Bars sponsor you play on Tuesday, because it puts asses on his bar stools, and cars in the parking lot, no one wants to go to a place that's empty and drink alone and maybe they'll catch a few people driving by. Everyone else sponsors you because they are nice, have money to blow, and want to see their name on a jersey.
More teams around here are going to the pay your own way deal. Everyone decide what you want to do for league, tourneys and uniforms, and split the cost. No head aches, fundraising, or bar to go to after the games.
He is lucky to have a sponsor like that. BUT, what other hobby can you get someone to pay for you to do? The Sponsor can take some money off his taxes for advertising, but not all of it, and there is no way you make that money back. I played against the guys from Joe's Bar and Grill, I think I'm going to go hang out there now... said no one ever. Bars sponsor you play on Tuesday, because it puts asses on his bar stools, and cars in the parking lot, no one wants to go to a place that's empty and drink alone and maybe they'll catch a few people driving by. Everyone else sponsors you because they are nice, have money to blow, and want to see their name on a jersey.
More teams around here are going to the pay your own way deal. Everyone decide what you want to do for league, tourneys and uniforms, and split the cost. No head aches, fundraising, or bar to go to after the games.
JimmyzArmSleeve
#RockstarOG
Been in the game a long time and don't have big money connections like you is what it sounds like. If you pay $200 or less for tournaments and don't pay $200 for a bat then you must be hooked up on bats and in the right place to play tournaments. Every sanctioned tournament I've ever played has costed more than $200 for entry. Whether its ASA, USSSA, GSL, WSL, or NSA. Balls I have never gotten for cheaper than $55 per dozen plus shipping which comes out to a total of $63.20 after its all said and done. Forgive me, I rounded up to $65 in my earlier post. You're right players these days are lazy and don't want to chase HR balls regardless of who pays for them. So in a season, going through 6 dozen is very easy to do. Especially in parks where the tree line, wooded areas, and ponds are close to the fields. Not to mention there are players who want to start every game with a new ball. Stupid.
Some people can make $5K go pretty far, some can't. Where you live, what you play (association), and how connected you are with equipment/apparel/tournament directors all make a difference. You can't just make a general statement saying $5K is the number. It may be the number for you, but may not be for someone else.
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
I play in about 4-5 $250 or more tournaments a year. The rest are generally $150-175.
A good bat can be found on this site for less than $200 everyday.
Will your directors not sell you softballs for $55 a dozen? What kind of balls do you use?
I am well connected in my area with directors, team coaches and our local softball site owner. I was fortunate enough to have my team jerseys paid for. I got a donation of $500... Held a Wiffleball tournament at my facility which made about $900... Won a tournement worth $500 and had my players pay me $100 each. That was 1,200. I made 3,100 dollars last all summer and actually gave players $30 a piece back at the end of season
kgarrison3
Manager
5,000 a year isn't very much for some teams. Every team is different in level of commitment. I run a team in Oregon. We play a ton. We have played 21 tournaments already this year, and plan to play one more this month, and one in both November and December. If your only playing 10 times a year, sure 5k lasts a long time. We spent more than 5k in just tourney fees this year already... you add in balls, and uniforms and the number gets much bigger.
BigPhatJam
Star Player
Ok so let me throw a little bit of love and knowledge on you all:
Uniforms alone for a 15 man roster which includes two sets of pants, shirts, hats, shorts full sub dyed and pacific hats runs around $5,000
Balls for a season runs: $1000
Tournaments Costs: $4500
This is just the basics if you are playing 2 tournaments a month and your season lasts 6 months which it usually does starting in April going to September this was the average for our sponsor for the past 3 years. This is not including all your undre lying costs which is travel, hotels, food and Beer after the tournment to celebrate your victory by drinking out of the trophy, lol. I can say personally I go thru about $1500 dollars worth of bats every year from them cracking or breaking, **** in one game last year I lost 3 bats on 3 swings. That's the cost of playing softball but if you love the game and your good at it what's money but some paper that is green.
Uniforms alone for a 15 man roster which includes two sets of pants, shirts, hats, shorts full sub dyed and pacific hats runs around $5,000
Balls for a season runs: $1000
Tournaments Costs: $4500
This is just the basics if you are playing 2 tournaments a month and your season lasts 6 months which it usually does starting in April going to September this was the average for our sponsor for the past 3 years. This is not including all your undre lying costs which is travel, hotels, food and Beer after the tournment to celebrate your victory by drinking out of the trophy, lol. I can say personally I go thru about $1500 dollars worth of bats every year from them cracking or breaking, **** in one game last year I lost 3 bats on 3 swings. That's the cost of playing softball but if you love the game and your good at it what's money but some paper that is green.
Wow!!! $150 to $250 for tourneys??? The local organization playing at a local park charges $350 to $425 on average here in So Cal. I have played on both sides of the argument. I must say when you are paying your own way it is much different.....much better. You really see who wants to play then. I have played on tournament teams that were sponsored by very generous people and the guys that played on those teams usually were cry baby pre madonnas! If we lost our first game we knew it was gonna be a short day while the "pay your own way" team usually played a lot harder to extend there day after loosing. This is my opinion after 20+ years of doing this. BTW, like I said the tourneys in SoCal run from $350 to $450 but in Central or Northern California (mainly Fresno area because that is were I first played softball and continue to do so when I can) tourney fees are from $110 to $150!!!!
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
Sponsorship is advertisement and a 100% tax deductible business expense.
Not exactly tax deductible.
It is tax exempt. For example if my business makes $10,000,000 a year and i sponsor someone for $1,000. I will owe $500 less in taxes.
frontagerdmaui
White Samoan
But he is in the middle east. He is sponsored by some Sheikh with Golden toilets and his own Stadium. Apparently D level softballers in Dubai are hard to come by and are revered for their .575 batting average.