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Sports Facilities Advisory: Sports Facility Management Overview
Dev Pathik is the founder and CEO of the Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA). Jason Clement is the CEO and co-founder of the Sports Facilities Management (SFM) which was founded in 2005. The companies' target audience includes institutions, government entities, private developers, faith-based organizations, and financial institutions. A detailed report is presented below.
History and Vision
- The Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA) was founded in 2003 by Dev Pathik and its initial focus was on clients interested in opening new facilities. In the early stages, the company was "committed to producing the industry’s most accurate and detailed financial forecasts". Based on studies conducted on similar facilities, SFA advised clients on ways of improving revenues.
- In 2005, SFA won a management contract that led to numerous facility management projects. This led to the creation of Sports Facilities Management (SFM) which handles the management of sports facilities. Dev Pathik and Jason Clement are the co-founders.
- The vision of SFA & SFM is "To make life better for hundreds of millions of people around the world." and the mission is "to dramatically improve the health and economic vitality of the communities" served. The SFM CEO is preparing for the IoT economy by investing in partnerships and solutions that will help the company take its service offerings to a higher level in the future.
- Dev Pathik is the founder and CEO of SFA and Jason Clement is the co-founder and CEO of SFM.
- SFA and SFM are private and independent companies funded by the founders.
Business Model
- SFA provides feasibility, financial forecasting, and financing strategy services while SFM offers pre-opening, procurement, and professional management services.
- To clients who want to develop sports and events facilities, SFA provides planning, feasibility analysis, and financial forecasting. The company leverages its industry experience and market research to conduct feasibility studies, create market-ready business plans, financial forecasts, and economic impact forecasts. The team also presents the findings during investor and council meetings to ensure the projects are approved.
- SFA also provides funding support services by facilitating introductions to investors and other funding sources. It achieves this by helping clients prepare funding presentations, developing financing strategies, and nurturing key partnerships. When working with public clients, the services may include drafting public-private-partnerships, bond issuance, and tax referendums.
- SFM provides sports facility development services including procurement and pre-opening timeline. The company helps clients hire critical personnel, acquire necessary equipment, develop maintenance schedules, structure marketing budgets, and book events.
- SFM offers management and optimization services to recreational and sports facility clients. The outsourced management and daily operations services are available to both public and private clients. With these services, SFM works with clients to realize the economic and social goals for the facility.
Recent Projects
- In August 2019, the Florida Recreation and Park Association (FRPA) launched a tool designed to revolutionize the funding decisions for recreational facilities and parks. The FRPA funded SFA to develop the tool aimed at providing park advocates and officials with insightful data highlighting tourism, economic, real estate, and social impacts of parks.
- The FRPA calculator is the first tool of its kind in the industry and SFA took 18 months to complete the project.
- In August 2019, the Ohio County Development Authority selected SFM to manage "The Highlands" sports complex. SFM responsibilities include daily operations and overall management of the facility. In addition, the company will be in charge of organizing and scheduling tournaments held at The Highlands.
- While Ohio County will still be the owner of the complex, SFM will hire employees and the county government will reimburse the expenses.
Target Audience
- SFA's target audience includes private developers, government entities, institutional clients, financial institutions, and faith-based organizations.
- SFA & SFM targets both national and local governments seeking to develop or outsource management services for recreational and sports facilities.
- The companies target institutional clients like real estate developers, medical groups, sports organizations, hoteliers, and retailers. SFA and SFM engage various sponsors including equipment, apparel, and beverage vendors to connect with players and families at the sports facilities. The companies also engage communication and technology providers to enhance customer experience at the venues.
- SFA engages financial institutions seeking to invest in the sports and recreation facilities sector. SFA leverages its market knowledge and expertise to offer projections to financial institutions before funding a project.
- SFA targets private developers like entrepreneurs, rehabilitation organizations, athletes, and sports club owners seeking to develop or manage sports facilities.
Locations in the U.S.
- The SFM has several locations in the U.S. including the Community First Champion Center, Hoover Complex, Panama Beach Sports Complex, Rocky Mount Event Centre, Horizons Edge, Apex Sports, Myrtle Beach, Sand Mountain Park, Ceder Sports Center, Rocky Top, and Elizabethtown Sports Center.
- SFM also manages other sports and recreational facilities including the Midway Central Station, Bo Jackson’s Elite Sports, Bridgeport Sports Complex, Pelican Bay Aquatic Center, Upward Star Center, and Empower Adventures Tampa Bay.
- SFM network facilities enjoy daily operations, marketing, booking, and staff development from the experienced SFM team.
Research Strategy
In order to provide an overview of SFA and SFM, we consulted the web for publications, reports, press releases, and articles with information about the companies. We also scanned their websites and social media profiles for additional insights into the companies. Our research yielded satisfactory results and we were able to provide an overview of the companies.