[skatetokil]

Hey all, been looking at places like ray's and wondering to myself why there arent more of them in the cold ass parts of this country. It seems like there are riders all over the place and not enough for them to do in the wintertime. So the question is, is it actually possible to make money owning and operating one of these indoor bike parks? Anybody actually worked for one? Anybody on here secretly the owner of one? I'm graduating from school and I've been thinking about how to generate funds.

I've had some experience working with indoor climbing gyms, and it seems like a similar setup. What kind of insurance do you need to cover your ass? Are most of them built by contracted professionals or does the staff put the stunts together?

 

[Mordax]

i doubt they make all that much
cool idea tho

 

[Brian HCM#1]

I doubt it too, I'm sure once you factor in the cost of the building & insurance you'd be in the serious negative. And if there was a slight profit it would be enough to survive.

 

[OGRipper]

I doubt it too, I'm sure once you factor in the cost of the building & insurance you'd be in the serious negative. And if there was a slight profit it would be enough to survive.

I think you meant "not" be enough to surive but maybe not.

I think you could do ok if you had a shop and food concession, cuz those are good money makers. It depends on location but I don't think the money from just a place to ride would be enough.

 

[crapacity]

Ray's park in Cleveland is definately in the black. I was up there early in the first season, and Ray was saying that all profits from the park go into further development. Seeing how they have not stopped expanding, there must be a reasonable profit margin.

 

[Changleen]

I actually looked into this pretty seriously at one point. In the end it comes down to customer base vs. rent and other overheads. If you can have easy access to a large population of riders (most people want to be within 1 easy hour of your park, prefferably less) and still have a low enough rent and overheads then you'll be OK. Obviously in many big cities these days, the sort of space you need is gonna be costing a LOT.

I know of a really nice big park that I used to go to in Hayes (West London, UK) that got a lot of people visiting everyday, but it was costing 3000 pounds a week in rent and lighting, heating, staff and insurance. They lasted a couple of years.

On the other hand if you have a facility that is big and cool enough to regularly attract people from further afield then you might be onto something. Where you'd get he money to initially invest in creating such a set-up is another question.

Ideally you want a rich, land owning uncle to die and leave you a large plot of land in the city centre. Then you don't need to worry about rent, and you have a great customer base. However I think most people in that situation would probably do something more profitable instead.

 

[skatetokil]

yeah, the only thing is that dc is having its ghetto gentrified right now, so there might be some locations that were unthinkable 5 years ago that would be really sweet right now.

 

[dirtyamerican]

I agree. You need a large investment up front and continued money dumped in for insurance, utilities, etc. AND this all has to happen near a large population of freeriders. Somebody with enough money and interest to make a bicycle park, living near a big biker population is pretty rare hence the lack of bike parks.

 

[luelling]

I've always thought it would be fun to own/run an indoor skate or freeride park. I've been to a few indoor skateparks and paid the day fee. Anyone know what Ray charges for a year membership? Also, I wonder how hard it would be to get a loan to bankroll it (its a pretty risky business venture). Wasn't Ray a pretty wealthy contractor?

 

[OGDMFG]

man i wish someone would build something like that around here in northern utah.

 

[RHARPER]

I've always thought it would be fun to own/run an indoor skate or freeride park. I've been to a few indoor skateparks and paid the day fee. Anyone know what Ray charges for a year membership? Also, I wonder how hard it would be to get a loan to bankroll it (its a pretty risky business venture). Wasn't Ray a pretty wealthy contractor?

I believe the story was that Ray put 40G, a large chunk of his life savings, into geting the park going.

Some buddies and I have been out there for the Opening weekend and the 3ride contest and he puts on some great events.

 

[dexter]

have had vans and x games in co, both shut down due to no money. and most sessions were packed