New business wants young talent to meet greet, compete
Play NOLA wins 504ward competition, plans to launch sports leagues in the fall
by Greg LaRose
A pair of entrepreneurs has one major endorsement for their business plan and hopes thousands of young professionals in New Orleans will back them.
Play NOLA, the winning entry in the 504ward Business Competition to retain the city’s 23- to 35-year-old talent base, will offer recreational sports leagues at public parks and other venues and related social activities starting this fall.
Co-founders Lavonzell Nicholson and Ishaneka Williams won $100,000 in cash and another $100,000 in services donated by area businesses. Their idea was among the 142 entries submitted to 504ward and chosen from five finalists April 18 following their presentations to a panel of judges and an audience of 20- and 30-somethings at the Port of New Orleans.
Other finalists were a similar social sports league, a flexible office space provider, a professional dance studio and a video production studio.
Nicholson, 31, said she and Williams, 26, first considered an online social network specific to New Orleans but decided to incorporate sports into the idea, remembering how she enjoyed intramural activities while attending Nicholls State University.
“It gives young professionals another option for meeting people other than bars,” Nicholson said.
Play NOLA’s concept is similar to clubs in cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, where online social networking is combined with team sports.
Chicago Sport and Social Club is the nation’s largest active lifestyle network with 5,000 teams and 75,000 members, said president Jason Erkes. CSSC faces competition in Chicago, but Erkes said his business enjoys the advantage of playing at the city’s preferred parks and recreation areas. The club features 20 sports that use 60 playing sites.
“The thing that drives this is location, who has the rights to the good fields,” Erkes said.
City Park officials have expressed an interest in hosting Play NOLA events, Nicholson said, providing they do not conflict with their existing schedule. The Carrollton Soccer Association, which maintains the riverside playing fields at Audubon Park, is also interested in sharing space, she said.
The intent of Play NOLA is not to compete with existing recreational leagues, Nicholson said. Coconut Beach, for example, offers outdoor volleyball leagues, and Play NOLA would host indoor leagues outside of beach season.
Nicholson will also reach out to existing kickball leagues in the city.
The World Adult Kickball Association, a for-profit entity, sponsors two divisions in New Orleans with a combined 30 teams. WAKA spokeswoman Courtney Silvagni said in an e-mail the association is “working hard to fulfill the increasing demand for its unique social-athletic experience not only in the New Orleans area but nationwide.”
Kickball of the Crescent City, an independent league, has 16 teams. Team rosters in both leagues top out at 25 players, meaning the city has roughly 1,150 kickball players involved in weekly games.
Play NOLA revenues will come from $10 Web site memberships, which Nicholson said she will waive in the first year, league participation fees and corporate sponsorships. League fees in other cities range between $50 and $75 and vary according to sport.
Erkes said 70 percent of his club’s annual gross comes from league registrations, 20 percent from sponsorships and 10 percent from social events. He does not charge a membership fee.
Sponsors linked with social sports clubs are often bars that provide a venue for post-game gatherings. The Chicago group has “an official beer, an official shoe and an official health club,” Erkes said.
“Once you reach a critical mass of participants, you can then market that to corporate sponsors,” he said.
Other coed sports Play NOLA intends to offer include volleyball, flag football, basketball and beer bash golf, in which beverages are available at each hole. Socially geared events will include scavenger hunts and team-building corporate events.
The 504ward Business Competition was part of the initiative’s effort to retain young professionals in New Orleans. Education reformer Leslie Jacobs provided the financial backing for 504ward, and the Idea Village has administered the competition since the fall.
Jacobs was on the judging panel and said the contest has reaped benefits beyond the prizes awarded.
“It made people think about what we will need to do to keep this demographic in town,” she said. “It is exciting to have the talent we have in this city right now. If we can engage them, this city has a dynamic future.”•