Our Story:
We are two sports loving sisters that have spent a lifetime playing games and staying active. Growing up on a farm, we spent endless hours rebounding any kind of ball against any wall we could find. It’s how we became multi-sport athletes and enjoyed successful sporting careers in high school, college and recreational leagues. We played against one another, sometimes solo, sometimes with friends but most often with family. If you had a wall, then fun was always available. The idea of offering a mobile and affordable sports wall to everyone, whether in a city, a suburb, or the country was born. Playing games and sports has brought joy to our lives; health to our minds and bodies, and a sense of well-being.
Why it exists?
Several reasons, but the main one being I was inspired to take a risk. I had been doing a lot of personal work and renewal and a question posed by an author was, “What if? Are you going to ask yourself at the end of your life and wonder, what if?” I wanted to have the ability to enjoy my children and grandchildren more, work for myself, find financial freedom, and follow a passion that has always existed, sports! Pam later joined me and we formed the company together.
Why it exists?
Today’s kids grow up in a pressure driven world of organized youth sports. Some children even burn out at an early age due to boredom.
For some, the high cost of travel leagues prevents participation and quality skill development altogether. And for the serious-minded athlete, the ability to get instant feedback and measurement for routine skill training is simply not available. We realized that we could make practice and play more fun and interactive.
PlayOff solves the problem of practicing without a teammate anytime. This interactive sports wall allows one to practice solo any of a number of sports including handball, racquetball, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, table tennis, softball, baseball, hockey, and double as a outdoor movie screen or backboard to your basketball backboard and all in the customer’s own yard.
We believe our product will be
- utilized to bring health, wellness, and joy to athletes and their families because they can practice solo or play against one another in healthy competition privately.
- valued because the wall works well (rebounds well) and is attractive and fun to play with including interaction, lights, and targets.
- valued for its size because never before has an affordable sports wall that is 8’ x 6’ been done.
- valued because it is of manageable weight and portability..
- valued because it is durable and stands up well to weather and the elements.
Who is it for?
We believe that amateur and professional athletes alike will enjoy playing with this one of a kind piece of equipment and their children can also join in on the fun!
PlayOff is for the athlete of any age that wants to play and/or improve their game. Wall play has long been used by athletes and is still today. Articles abound and youtube videos about the use of the wall for drills, endorsed by persons i.e. Roger Federer,
I have many examples and testimonials by professional athletes that use a wall to practice with their own wall drills i.e. Roger Federer, Sofia Kenin, even Joe DeMaggio as written by author James Clear in Deliberate Practice. Some of the excerpts I included below. But another good place to watch how walls are used is a group called e tennis on FB:
Secondly,
- today’s parents want to give their children something fun to do that is healthy and constructive with their time and the Sportswall is a great option, especially for the parent who is also an athlete and likes to play.
- PlayOff Sports Wall eliminates the need to play with someone else. This is handy also for parents as it alleviates some guilt for not having the time to play and practice with their son or daughter.
- Men or fathers seem to be more likely to buy more expensive sports equipment for their children than women are, but if they are suburbanites, it may be both.
Practice Better, Play Better
We're revolutionizing sports performance by changing how athletes practice.
The following is a questionnaire that we filled out for Russell Marketing, NJ, who we have contracted as our Marketing experts. It includes financial data.
What is your total marketing budget for this campaign?
$20K-60,000K
What is your advertising budget for this campaign?
$50,000.
What is your advertising budget for the validation phase?
$2000 - 5K.
What is your goal with the validation phase?
Validate the concept of a fairly expensive piece of practice equipment for home use. Figure out which target market is most eager. Are people looking at it for its versatility or do they look at it and think of the specific sport they like to play. Which sport’s fans find it most appealing.
Pricing.
Find out how much the addition of interactive targets adds to the appeal of the wall.. And if so, how to price them into the wall package.
Given the above budget, what are your expectations for the success of this campaign?
$60,000 at 500% ROI yield $300,000 raise or 6-10 X ROAS.
We would like to test a deposit of some sort and they’ll receive two additional targets or we give one target away free, with any order that comes in early? Or …etc.
Which countries will you be shipping product to in this campaign?
For now however, I think we should assume US only.
I think this product would do very well in Europe and internationally. But, shipping is an issue. We will be having a meeting sometime in the next few weeks with exact pricing and shipping.
Please consider investing with me to bring the most innovative sports product to hit the market in years!