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From the July-August 2010 ISSUE of The RINKSIDER Magazine:

Want to build revenue and skaters? Bring in the derby teams!

By Jim Morris

Rink owners always on the lookout for something new, something different and, of course, a new source of revenue should begin thinking about two words: roller derby.

Roller derby is springing up at roller rinks and family entertainment centers all across the country. It is bringing more and more people into the rinks each time two teams get together for a �bout.� It is attracting not only skaters � some old and some new � but is also bringing in spectators. One rink, Roller Towne of Visalia, Calif., has attracted more than 1,000 fans for a bout featuring its V Town Derby Dames.

Almost every rink, no matter what kind of floor surface it has, can host roller derby. Most of the teams play in what they call flat track leagues.

The sport is growing so fast that it is also spreading to younger skaters. Some teams and leagues have started junior roller derby, which, in a few places, is in the process of going from exhibition status to regular competition between cities.

Following is a look at roller derby from the rink owner�s point of view and from some skaters, coaches and league organizers.

Joe Latona, owner of Gold Coast Roller Rink in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., said there is �no question,� roller derby is a good idea to boost revenue. �We have beenvery successful with it,� said Latona. �But the key is you have to get into it 100 percent. You can�t go half way.� For bouts involving the Gold Coast Derby Girls, the rink has had as many as 300 spectators and crowds are growing.

�But you have to be prepared for a lot less, too. Sometimes you might get only 40 or 50 people, so you have to promote it as much as possible,� Latona said.

One thing that helps Gold Coast is it has a liquor license, so customers can come in, have a few drinks and watch the bouts just as if they were at a big league baseball game.

Because the sport is just catching on, the nearest team that plays the Gold Coast Derby Girls is in Jacksonville, about a five-hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale. Some of the teams come from other states.

Not only does Gold Coast make money ($10 per person) from spectators, but also from the team members, from 20 to 30 of them. They buy their skates and other gear from the rink and practice there twice each week. They play four or five home bouts per year.

Latona said setting up the rink for roller derby is not difficult. He has a 63-year-old rink with a wooden floor.

�We put the stripes on the floor and we rent chairs for the bouts. Other than that, we don�t do much,� he said.

At Roller Towne of Visalia, Calif., the most popular bouts are in the winter.

�The smallest crowd we have had was about 300, but that was in the summer time when people were out doing other things,� said Alice Mendoza, office administrator at the rink. �Our biggest crowds are always in January and February.�

Roller Towne helped get the team, the V Town Derby Dames, going about three years ago. The owners first saw a bout in San Diego and decided it was something to try at their rink. It took about a year of planning, recruiting and practice before the team was ready for competition.

Since then it has become so popular and successful that the rink actually has very little to do with the team operation these days.

�We pretty much turned it all over to them (team members),� Mendoza said. �They use our facility and we help them where we can � such as in promotion and advertising. But they really handle just about everything involving their team.�

Mendoza said the rink also profits from equipment sales to team members.

�But from our standpoint the biggest thing is we are bringing people into the rink who have never been here before. They come in to see a bout ($12 per ticket, $10 pre-sale) and then they come back to skate,� she said.