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MM:
What are the top three reasons that you think
racquetball is declining in interest since Hogan, Dave Peck and Yellen
retired?
ML:
Great
question! Over the past 10+ years, clubs have been eliminating their
courts to expand with physical work-out equipment such as spinning, free
weights etc. Club owners were able to generate more dollars per square
foot versus a racquetball court so it was and is a no brainer for a club
owner. My top three reasons would be:
1. Due to new and innovative work-out methods for membership that
generates more value thus increasing member revenues & retention.
2. The game has become too fast to even think about any major television
contract which is needed to land a major sponsor or two for the IRT. Not
that the game is based off of professional racquetball but the sport
needs to have a level of achievement for a young star to want to
continue to play. The IRT pro’s work hard to try to help promote and
develop grass roots programs for juniors in hopes of increasing
excitement. When I was playing juniors, there were over 700 entrants in
the Junior Nationals. I have heard that Junior Nationals is luck to get
300 participants…it’s sad to see the decline!
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