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These game court buyers already have an outdoor kitchen, living room or both \u2014 so adding a basketball or bocce court just seems natural. Other people will have the game court or play area built at the same time, folding it into an overall outdoor kitchen or living room project.<\/p>\n
On the commercial side, outdoor and indoor game courts are increasingly being added as employee perks to corporate office campuses and complexes. They\u2019re also found in residence hotels and condominium developments.<\/p>\n
Haddonfield, New Jersey-based landscape architect Joe DeShayes owns DeShayes Dream Courts<\/a>, DeShayes Dream Greens and DeShayes Residential Resort Design. He can testify as to how good the game court business is \u2014 the Dream Court division is responsible for 50% of his overall revenue.<\/p>\n DeShayes began his business after graduating college with a degree in landscape architecture. He started building game courts when the high-end residential clients he was creating landscape master plans for began requesting them.<\/p>\n He started with a franchise operation, but after a while, decided he wanted to do things differently. \u201cWith a franchise, you\u2019re contractually obligated to use and sell their products exclusively,\u201d DeShayes says. \u201cBut there are many different solutions for every client, and this way, I can offer what\u2019s exactly right for them. We deal directly with all the manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n TIMEOUT:\u00a0Find out about the permitting and stormwater issues you might encounter while installing game courts by going online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Most court surface products consist of polyurethane tiles that contain antioxidants and ultraviolet stabilizers to prevent fading. The tiles snap together tightly so that the seams won\u2019t affect ball bounce. They\u2019re typically installed over a poured concrete base.<\/p>\n Among the many manufacturers of play area equipment and playing surfaces is Salt Lake City-based Sport Court LLC<\/a>. Its primary business is manufacturing and marketing sports surfaces as well as other components like hoops, lights, nets, ball containment systems and other related equipment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe original owners were big sports fans and created the concept of the backyard game court, and the Sport Court brand evolved from that,\u201d says Ryan Day, national sales director. \u201cThat\u2019s where we remain focused today, but we also do a lot of commercial applications.\u201d<\/p>\n Sport Court isn\u2019t a franchising operation, rather, it\u2019s an exclusive distribution network. The company works through court builders who own the marketing rights to the product within a certain geographic area. \u201cThe way our model works is, a landscape contractor would work with one of our local court builders. They\u2019ll typically work out a subcontractor arrangement or a finder\u2019s fee, but our core builders will work it any number of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Another game court manufacturer is Scottsdale, Arizona-based Rhino Sports<\/a>. Founder and CEO John Shaffer started the company in 2001 after spending over a decade working for another game court maker. It\u2019s also not a franchising operation, and its products can be bought by any contractor. \u201cWe manufacture all the components that go into our courts and ship them globally, to Europe, U.S. military installations, U.S. embassies and resorts as well as to private homeowners,\u201d says Shaffer.<\/p>\n Outdoor sound systems have come a long way from the old boombox-on-the-patio or the little Bluetooth speaker playing music from a phone. Property owners with fully featured outdoor entertainment spaces want something much better than that.<\/p>\n Sonance<\/a>, San Clemente, California, is one of the companies they can get it from \u2014 rather, where you can get it for them. The company doesn\u2019t sell directly to the public, but through channels that include landscape contractors.<\/p>\n With a Sonance system, music plays through small speakers that can be completely hidden by vegetation or hide in plain sight in housings that mimic the size and shape of outdoor lighting fixtures, rocks and even mushrooms.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hide all the technology that makes them sound fantastic,\u201d says Mike Cleary, director of marketing. \u201cWe say that people don\u2019t buy our speakers just to listen to music \u2014 they buy them to set the mood of a space, to provide the proper soundtrack for the barbecue or the glass of wine at sunset. The idea is to use the perimeter of the space. It allows you to turn the volume down to where it\u2019s comfortable everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleary says it\u2019s analogous to the difference between sitting in front of a big box fan blowing right in your face or turning on a central air conditioning system. \u201cWith the fan, you know exactly where the cool air is coming from, and it\u2019s a bit distracting \u2014 but the central air just feels like it\u2019s the right temperature. When the music comes from two or three different directions, your brain starts to forget about where it\u2019s coming from and just enjoys it. You\u2019re able to hear conversations and you don\u2019t have to turn that Bluetooth speaker up so loud that no one\u2019s hanging out on the patio.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As you might expect, the primary market for outdoor sports and play areas is families with children. \u201cThese parents want to make their homes \u2018the hang house,\u2019\u201d says John Campbell, owner of Sport Court of Massachusetts in Andover. \u201cI\u2019ve been in the business for 22 years, and I\u2019ve been told repeatedly by customers that building a home court was the best thing that they ever did for their families.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese things are a kid magnet,\u201d he continues. \u201cYou know where your kids are and who their friends are and can observe who you may \u2014 or may not \u2014 want them playing with. And it gets them outdoors, away from the phones and computers.\u201d<\/p>\n All the contractors and manufacturers in this story said the same thing: Being able to keep watch on the kids and shoo them away from Snapchat seems to be the main motivator for homeowners who want to add sports play areas to their homes.<\/p>\n Ferrell Eckert, owner of Bay Area Rhino Court in Novato, California, has seen for himself how this works, having had a basketball court in his backyard since his son was five. \u201cHe played baseball and football in high school, but when he wasn\u2019t, he was plugged into video games. But when we were out on the court playing horse, his guard would come down and we\u2019d have real talks because the only thing in his hand was a basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n Ball bounce is critical in professional sports, particularly basketball. So how do outdoor game court surfaces perform compared to a traditional hardwood court? \u201cWe measure ball bounce,\u201d says Ryan Day, national sales director, Sport Court LLC, Salt Lake City. \u201cOur Power Game Plus product has 100% ball rebound, which means the ball is going to perform the same as it would on an indoor basketball court.\u201d<\/p>\n John Shaffer, founder and CEO of Rhino Sports, Scottsdale, Arizona, says, \u201cWe mirror that hardwood-floor experience because that\u2019s what people are used to.\u201d<\/p>\n As it so happens, the same technology that makes the ball bounce just as it would on wood also safeguards a player\u2019s body. \u201cA good surface is one that gives you a proper ball response as well as absorbing energy so that the participants are protected,\u201d says Shaffer. \u201cWe use a resilient copolymer surface that has an energy return factor. If you fall, it will absorb and dissipate that energy, which is obviously good for your knees and other joints. You can fall and hit your head on one of our surfaces from a 33-inch height and not get a concussion.\u201d That\u2019s a selling point for concerned parents and much better than having Junior bang his noggin on the hard concrete at the local park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cStaycationing\u201d is a term that was heard a lot during the recession of 2008. It fueled the idea of making one\u2019s backyard a private resort, even if people didn\u2019t have the funds to do it with at that time. With the recovery, it\u2019s been full speed ahead for those projects.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s happening here on Long Island and across the country,\u201d says Dan Steigerwald, owner of Designscapes Long Island<\/a>, Patchogue, New York. \u201cWe\u2019ve been building outdoor living rooms and entertainment centers since 1985. The trend now is, these folks, instead of going away on vacations are staying home more and investing in their properties. Then they seek out companies like ours to make those dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese folks, instead of going away on vacations, are staying home more and investing in their properties. Then they seek out companies like ours to make those dreams come true.\u201d \u2014 Dan Steigerwald, Designscapes Long Island<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe have two types of customers,\u201d Steigerwald continues, \u201cfamilies with children who want bocce and basketball courts and batting cages and older folks who don\u2019t have children in the house anymore who want putting greens and tennis courts.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaffer says multicourts that accommodate more than one activity are extremely popular. \u201cWhile basketball courts are the driving force for our company, we want to make it so when the kids get tired of that they can play tennis, volleyball, shuffleboard or foursquare \u2014 give them more fun things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Eckert does a lot of tennis court conversions. \u201cA family will move into a house with a tennis court but they\u2019ve got two young kids and they don\u2019t really play the sport,\u201d he says. \u201cSo we\u2019ll convert it into more of a multi-use facility by switching out the shorter tennis poles in exchange for 8-foot-tall posts. They can still play tennis, or they can raise the net for badminton and volleyball. We\u2019ll also incorporate one or two basketball goals.\u201d<\/p>\n While game courts may sound like upper-crust amenities, they certainly don\u2019t have to be. \u201cWe get a mix of every income level,\u201d says Steigerwald.<\/p>\n The Houzz page for Eckert\u2019s Bay Area Rhino Court states that a typical job costs from $2,000 to $100,000. \u201cI don\u2019t ask my clients what they make, but they\u2019re kind of all over the board,\u201d says Eckert. \u201cOf course there are the ultra-rich Silicon Valley people who can write a big check like they\u2019re buying a baseball glove, but I also get quite a lot of business from middle-class to upper-middle-class people. They consider it an investment in their kids and in their property, to make it more usable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLots of people can afford to have a basketball half-court put in their driveway,\u201d says DeShayes. \u201cI can give someone a nice court for only $5,600.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLots of people can afford to have a half court put in their driveway. I can give someone a nice court for only $5,600.\u201d \u2014 Joe DeShayes, DeShayes Dream Courts<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A newbie to the game court business can run up against some unexpected hassles. Joe DeShayes, owner of DeShayes Dream Courts, Haddonfield, New Jersey, says some contractors fail to consider all of the setback requirements, zoning laws and ordinances involved. In his state, there can be as many as 50 different zones in a single locale, each with their own sets of rules.<\/p>\n \u201cHere, most of the time, when you\u2019re going to put it in a surface that\u2019s over 500 square feet, you\u2019re going to have to deal with zoning and stormwater management issues. So, a $22,000 court might end up costing you another five thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe tile systems the courts are made of, with the exception of urethane ones, are 100% pervious, so water goes right through,\u201d adds DeShayes. \u201cThe problem is you put them down over a hard concrete base, unless you put pervious concrete or pervious pavers under there. Also, some ordinances say you\u2019re only allowed to cover a certain amount of your property with concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n DeShayes says this is where being a landscape architect gives him a competitive advantage. \u201cI know what people are and aren\u2019t allowed to do. I can look at a property and let the owner know where the best location for a court is, especially if they\u2019re considering installing other things in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The demand for outdoor play areas and game courts is growing. Shaffer says there\u2019s been a spike in business in the last 24 months that equals that of the mid-2000s. \u201cThere have been a number of spikes in the business through the late 80s and 90s, but there was a huge growth spurt from 2000 to 2007 as people were beginning to understand what the product was.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a high margin business by all accounts. Even so, should you get into it? Tim Lindgren, founder and president of Lindgren Landscape<\/a>, Fort Collins, Colorado, says, \u201cYes \u2014 if your market can support it. It is a high-end service that not a lot of markets can support. If you\u2019ve got the clientele that can afford to install them, by all means go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n But Lindgren adds a caveat, saying that his degree in construction management \u201cfits really well into this business. A contractor who doesn\u2019t have hardscaping experience will need to hire someone who knows construction in order to bring this into their portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n DeShayes, who has taught an accredited course through the American Society of Landscape Architects on the proper design and construction of playing courts, adds another caution. \u201cThe sports facility field is very technical, so you\u2019re going to have a learning curve. People make so many mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n He recently worked with a contractor on a $350,000 landscape, where the client wanted to add a golf green. \u201cThe landscaper thought, \u2018How hard can a golf green be?\u2019 so he only charged $20,000. It was a very small part of that job, but it was the most important thing to the client.\u201d<\/p>\n It ended up being pitched at the wrong elevation. \u201cWe went in and did it the right way, which cost the contractor $40,000. If he\u2019d hired us from the beginning, charged the client $40,000 and marked it up 10%, he\u2019d have made $4,000 instead of losing $40,000 \u2014 and he would have had a happy client.\u201d<\/p>\n DeShayes advice is \u201cdo what you do well and hire an expert to work as a subcontractor, and build the courts so you don\u2019t lose money or disappoint a client.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re determined to add game court installation to your menu of services, a good way to start might be to find a contractor who\u2019s already experienced in this arena and find a way to work together. Whatever strategy you employ in this game, we wish you nothing but net \u2014 profits, that is.<\/p>\n Outdoor living spaces are gaining a whole new dimension with the addition of game courts where family and friends can slam-dunk together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":5264,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[28],"class_list":["post-4178","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-landscape"],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nCourt manufacturers<\/h2>\n
The soundtrack for the shindig<\/h3>\n
Remove phone, insert basketball<\/h2>\n
Getting a good bounce for both ball and body<\/h3>\n
![\"outdoor](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/home-court-advantage-5-300x225.jpg\")
Other types of buyers<\/h2>\n
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\nRegulatory complications<\/h3>\n
Is this business for you?<\/h2>\n
This article originally appeared in Irrigation & Green Industry magazine.<\/em><\/h6>\n
Mary Williams-Villano<\/strong><\/a> is a contributing editor to Irrigation & Green Industry and can be reached at pouncerspy@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"