Rainouts. No matter the sport, they are inevitable.
The Indianapolis 500, the largest spectator sporting event in the world, has been either postponed or shortened by rain 12 times. Wimbledon typically loses at least one day to rain every year. And baseball games are frequently rained out during the season.
But large sporting events like the Indy 500, Wimbledon, and Major League Baseball games often have much deeper pockets than the average owner or manager of an outdoor pickleball facility. Plus, those events can be rescheduled for a later time, meaning that revenue is never really, completely lost.
Owners and managers of outdoor pickleball courts often don’t have the same luxury. Full schedules can mean that a cancelled event is lost revenue – and not just the revenue from the courts. A lost tournament also affects concession and merchandise sales, as well.
Why not just play in the rain?
Some sports play through the rain. Just look at soccer and football. If there’s no lightning in the area, those teams play on. But pickleball is different.
The average age of a pickleball player in 2023 in the United States was 34 years old, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals. And nearly 30% of all pickleball players are over the age of 55, which means safety has to be a priority for those who run pickleball facilities.
In addition, the pickleball courts can get slick when they are wet, adding to the risk of falls and injuries. While play might be able to continue through a slight mist, once the court is wet, play should cease for the safety of the players.
How can you protect your revenue?
So, what’s the answer? How can pickleball club owners and managers protect their businesses from losing money to rain?
You probably can’t protect every day’s revenue from loss to rain, but you can identify high-profile, high-revenue events (the Indy 500s of your year) that could put a dent in your profitability if rainfall causes issues – and protect those.
You can choose to do this in a couple of ways. First, you can always buy event insurance to protect your event against cancellation and to provide liability protection. However, event insurance won’t cover losses if you lose, say, half a day to rain but the rest of the event continues. You still lost revenue, but with event insurance, you have no way to recoup those losses.
The other option, which can be combined with event insurance, is one with which many people are unfamiliar: parametric weather insurance, which helps to provide protection regardless of whether your event is canceled.
Why would I need parametric weather insurance if I have event insurance?
Unlike event insurance, parametric weather insurance isn’t tied to cancellation or lost revenue to pay out. Parametric weather insurance pays out if a few data-based parameters are met.
For example, say you have a large pickleball tournament planned for the weekend at your indoor-outdoor facility and it rains a half an inch. Clearly, your outdoor games are canceled, but you might be able to rework the schedule to create a shorter tournament on your indoor courts. However, you’re still losing money for the games that were canceled and the concessions you might have sold during those games. Your event insurance won’t kick in because you didn’t have to cancel the whole tournament.
But if you had a parametric weather insurance policy where the rain limit was set at a half inch (or less) and the recorded rainfall fell within your policy’s hours of coverage, you would quickly receive a payment. You don’t even have to file a claim. Once the metrics to trigger the policy are hit, you automatically receive payment – even if you don’t suffer any financial loss from the rain.
What can I use my payout for?
Unlike traditional insurance policies, there are no limits on how you can spend the money from your parametric weather insurance policy. If the recorded rainfall reaches the threshold during the time covered by the policy, you receive the payout to spend however you wish. You can use it to pay lost wages, to issue refunds, to fix damage to your courts, or any other way you want.
Is it really that easy?
It really is that easy. Set the parameters of your policy and receive a payment if those thresholds are met or exceeded during the time covered. Discover how Vortex parametric weather insurance can help protect your business with a free quote. Eric and Andy are ready to help. We even love working with local agents! If you have one, ask them to give us a call.
Forget your worries about the weather and have more time to focus on the things that make your pickleball business successful.
