When James Naismith invented the game of basketball in 1891, it’s safe to say that he likely had little idea of what it would become. The Springfield, Massachusetts teacher came up with the idea as a way for student athletes to stay active indoors during the cold winter months. The game has evolved from a simple sports ball and peach baskets to be the second most popular sport in the United States. The extreme popularity of basketball has given rise to a growing basketball franchise industry, and Shoot 360 has created a basketball franchise model that’s proving to be a slam dunk.
Players and Fans Put the Basketball Franchise Industry in the Zone
The primary defining factor of basketball’s popularity and the growing basketball franchise industry is the sheer number of people who play. Basketball is one of the most versatile sports that can be played just about anywhere, with minimal equipment, and less risk of energy. This makes it an attractive sport to a lot of people looking for social interaction and overall health and wellbeing, and therefore contributes to the growth of the basketball franchise industry. According to the Sports Business Journal, more than 27 million people ages 6 and over play basketball in the United States. That’s more than any other single team sport!
- 26.1% of core participants are ages 6-12.
- 24.2% of core participants are ages 13-17.
- Over 930,000 high school students play basketball.
- Around 900,000 collegiate basketball players.
Fans are the second factor contributing to the growing popularity of basketball. Globally, basketball is enjoyed by over 2 billion fans, with an estimated 400 million in the United States alone. The NBA draws an annual attendance of over 22 million fans and an average game attendance of around 18,000 fans. With an additional 1.5 million viewers, the NBA is the second highest revenue generator for television at over $24 billion annually.
And then there are the collegiate basketball fans. Each year, the NCAA’s March Madness tournament draws an historical average of 717.9 million fans in paid attendance, and recent tournaments have had viewership of around 10 million for the Women’s bracket and over 14 million for the Men’s bracket.
Youth Sports Spending is Driving the Lane
Youth Sports in the United States is a huge and growing business with parents spending an estimated $30-40 billion annually on participation, travel, equipment, and training. In some cases, parents spend $20,000 or more, and drive countless hours to support their children’s involvement in league, travel, and school sports activities.
- Parents spend an average of $700 per year, per sport, per child.
- Parents spend up to $9,000 per year, per sport, per child.
- Average (across 22 sports) of $238 is spent per child for training and camps.
Nothing But Net: Training For Success
The growing youth sports segment and the seriousness with which many young athletes engage in athletics has naturally given rise to a growing need for training and sports related training, especially within the basketball franchise industry. Coupled with collegiate athletes competing for spots in the professional leagues, the demand for sports training and coaching is surging. Across the board, research indicates that young athletes spend an average of 15-20 hours per week training in various sports.
- Young athletes spend an average of 11.75 total hours training per week.
- Young athletes spend an average of 8 hours in coach-led training per week.
- 70% of young athletes spend 5-15 hours training per week.
- Collegiate athletes spend 20-40 hours training per week.
Bringing Gamers in off the Bench
At first, it may seem like talking about video games is out of place when talking about basketball, youth sports, and the basketball franchise industry, but there is a connection. Much like the sport of basketball, the video gaming industry is growing and doing so at an incredible rate. In fact, the video game industry is bigger than all of the U.S. Sports and Film industries combined, with the global gaming sector being a staggering $180 billion industry. In addition to that is the popularity of NBA themed video games, specifically NBA 2K.
- There are approximately 227 million gamers in the United States.
- 76% of players are under the age of 18.
- NBA 2K averages nearly 2 million daily players.
- Gamers have spent over 675,000 hours playing NBA 2K.
One on One Coverage with Sports and Gaming
Sports and video games are undeniably a big part of the lives of many Americans. Children start playing sports essentially for five reasons (aside from parent urges): they have fun, it’s something they are good at doing; to improve skills, to stay in shape, and to get exercise. Somewhere along the line, adults get in the way and mess everything up: parents yelling from the stands, too much pressure to perform, or unrealistic expectations. This often drives kids to the video gaming culture.
- 70% of children drop out of organized sports before high school.
- Children like video games for many of the same reasons they liked sports (fun, good, skills).
- Video games allow children to experience failure without the pressure from adults.
- Gaming encourages creativity and problem solving.
- Video games are progressively challenging.
- Gamers don’t think of video games as work.
HOOPS… There It Is!
So, how does all of this relate to Shoot 360 and the basketball franchise industry? Simply put, Shoot 360 has created a modern basketball franchise that combines the best techniques of coaching and training with video gaming, implementing a revolutionary technology-based platform to deliver the most advanced shooting, passing, and ball-handling basketball franchise in the world. It’s a system that:
- Provides immersion and immediate feedback.
- Features ball detection, real-time analytics, and virtual environments.
- Combines real ball-handling skills and coaching in a gaming environment.
- Feels like a real video game, including virtual play against other athletes.
If you’re ready to get in the basketball franchise industry, Shoot 360 has the most advanced opportunity in the basketball franchise industry world. Contact us to get started with your own Shoot 360 Basketball Franchise by visiting our website or calling 866-274-0389.
