Sky Zone

Sky Zone is a chain of indoor trampoline parks in the United States, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Guam, Guatemala, India, Kuwait, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and UAE that features numerous connected trampolines. Some locations now provide rock climbing walls and miniature American Ninja Warrior courses as well as a small, medium or high warped wall. Visitors of all ages that take a visit to Sky Zone can bounce from one trampoline to another, jump into pits filled with foam blocks and play a trampoline-based version of dodgeball. Since its launch in 2004 in the Las Vegas Valley, Sky Zone has expanded to 17 states and 3 provinces, with plans for locations in additional states and provinces. In 2013, Sky Zone announced a master franchise license with Strike Bowling Bar to build 10 parks in Australia as well as future parks in New Zealand.[1] There are plans to open in Bahrain, Guatemala, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.[2]

Sky Zone Franchise Group
TypePrivate company
IndustryIndoor Trampoline Park and Active Entertainment
Founded2004
HeadquartersLos Angeles
Number of locations
210
Key people
Jeff Platt
(President)
Julie Petritsch
(CFO)
Josh Cole
(CMO)
Glenn Lord
(COO)
OwnerPalladium Equity Partners
Websitewww.skyzone.com

In February 2018, CircusTrix announced that it has acquired Sky Zone.[3][4]

Attractions

A typical Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park consists of several trampoline courts, which are arrays of trampolines placed horizontally and surrounded by trampolines placed at angles that serve as the court's walls.[5] The springs for each trampoline are covered by mats to prevent visitors from falling into these holes. Larger courts allow for many visitors to bounce and jump simultaneously, while smaller courts are used for games of baseball and basketball, where players can bounce around to avoid being hit by other players' throws. Some courts allow visitors to bounce into a pit filled with foam blocks, and others feature basketball goals placed above trampolines, permitting visitors to bounce and slam dunk shots into the goals.[5] Some centers have started exercise classes using the trampoline courts.[6] Additional space in the facility is set aside for birthday parties and similar events, a refreshment stand.[7] Some locations don't let you access their internet for parents and chaperones, as well as access to monitors to observe the various courts.[5]

Sky Zone parks are also known to include non-trampolining activities such as rock climbing, ninja warrior courses, foam pits and laser tag.

History

Sky Zone is the creation of entrepreneur Jeff Platt, who originally intended for the trampoline courts to be used as part of a new sport with professional athletes.[8] In 2004, Platt spent US$2 million to build a 17,000 square foot (1,600 m2) trampoline arena in Las Vegas and to hire athletes for the sport, which would have included rotating hoops and mid-air acrobatics.[6] The sport failed to generate interest, but local skateboarders learned of the facility and wanted to bounce on the court, which prompted Platt to open the facility to the general public at the cost of $8 per person.[8] Within six months, the facility had hosted 10,000 visitors,[8] and total revenue for the first year was $412,000.[6]

In 2006, Platt's son Jeff, who was a student at Washington University in St. Louis, opened a similar park in Missouri, which became profitable within six weeks of opening.[8] Jeff Platt is currently the CEO of the company that operates the company-owned parks and arranges franchises for other locations around the United States and Canada.[8] In 2011, revenues from the facilities reached $16 million.[6] When Sky Zone appeared on the CBS series Undercover Boss, Platt was the youngest CEO to have been featured.[9]

Sky Zone was one of the founding members of the International Association of Trampoline Parks which was formed in 2012. The member funded group was started to provide information and support for park owners. The IATP focuses on safety from design, construction and operational point of view.[10]

Sky Zone Australia

Sky Zone Australia opened its first location in Alexandria, Sydney in May 2014 covers 3000m2 with 180 connected trampolines. Soon after in July 2014, Sky Zone Macgregor opens up a 3287m2 making it the largest Sky Zone in Australia followed by Sky Zone Belconnen in Canberra which opened in December 2014 and houses 117 connected trampolines over 1800m2. In 2016, Sky Zone opened another park in Sydney at Westfield Miranda. The all-ages park offers multiple activities - jumping, climbing and laser tag and runs specialized trampoline fitness sessions known as Skyfit.

In 2016, it was reported that the owner of Sky Zone Australia, Funlab, was putting up the Australian operation for sale. Funlab was also selling its Strike Bowling business.[11]

Sky Zone India

Sky Zone Hyderabad

Sky Zone Hyderabad,[12] is the first ever Trampoline park in India[13] opened in August 2017 at Gandipet[14] and is spread across 30,000 sq ft. Recently another branch was opened in

Sarath City Capital Mall, Kondapur, Hyderabad, that is spread across 9600 Sq ft. It is known as Hyderabad's largest trampoline park.[15]

Sky Zone Bangalore

Sky Zone expanded to Bangaluru,[16] Karnataka and opened its new branch after its first outing in Hyderabad,with area of 9300 Sq.ft in November 2017, located at Forum[17] Shantiniketan,Whitefield Main Road,Hoodi,Thigalarapalya.Krishnarajapur,Bangalore.[18]

Ultimate Dodgeball Championship

Ultimate Dodgeball is a dynamic new sport created by and played inside Sky Zone Trampoline Parks.[19] Started in 2011, Sky Zone has created and organized this extreme dodgeball competition where teams all from different Sky Zone locations scattered around the world come together and compete for the $65,000 shared cash prize. Prior to the championship, UDC Regional Qualifiers are held in North America, the U.K, and Australia to determine eligibility. The winning team or qualified teams from each of these are then invited to participate in UDC. In the case that the team declines the invitation, the following team is then offered to compete.

Team Doom, composed of California natives, have won five of the seven UDC titles and are ranked the #1 dodgeball team.[20]

Team Awesome, originally known as BAMF, took the UDC title in 2015 making them one of the only teams besides Doom to win.

Team ToThe, composed of California natives were announced as the winners of 2018 Ultimate Dodgeball Championship. They eliminated the 5 time champions, Doom, in a best of 5 series of matches.

Past championships have been featured on ESPN as well as Snapchat's global stories where they gained more than 200 million Snapchat impressions.

2018 was also the first year UDC introduced a women's division won by Team Vendetta.

Sky Zone announced that The Ultimate Dodgeball Championship[21] will be indefinitely suspended due to funding issues.

Reception

An average Sky Zone park hosts 1,000 guests per day.[5] Visitors are encouraged to purchase tickets online in order to guarantee admittance at a specific time.[7] Along with birthday parties, Sky Zone parks have hosted after-prom parties and leagues for its trampoline dodgeball games.[7]

Sky Zone ranked #453 on the Entrepreneur 2013 Franchise 500 list.[22] In 2015, Sky Zone had 100 locations spread over 4 countries.

The company relies heavily on word-of-mouth and social media to promote the parks.[6]

Celebrity visits

In August 2015, Ricky Martin with his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino visited at Sky Zone Alexandria.[23]

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban had a family day out with their daughters at Sky Zone Alexandria in June 2014.[24]

Controversy

In January 2019, Sky Zone in Surrey, British Columbia permanently shut down without notifying guests who had booked events there. Customers who had paid in advance for events and annual passes were unable to recover their money from the venue or the corporate office.[25][26]

References
  1. "Sky Zone Becomes First US Trampoline Park to go Global"
  2. "Sky Zone Trampoline Park | Location Finder". www.skyzone.com. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  3. "CircusTrix Pounces on Operator of Indoor Trampoline Parks". Wall Street Journal. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  4. "Provo's CircusTrix expands 'extreme recreation' empire". Deseret News. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  5. Meghan Kotowski (January 5, 2012). "Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park opens in Suwanee". GwinnettDailyPost.com. Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  6. Drew Guarini (April 12, 2012). "For Sky Zone Trampoline Parks, The Sky's The Limit". HuffingtonPost.com. AOL Money & Finance. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  7. Michael Morain (April 2, 2012). "Sky Zone's the Limit at trampoline park". DesMoinesRegister.com. Gannett Newspapers. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  8. Karen E. Klein (March 21, 2012). "Sky Zone Failed as a Sport, Won With Trampoline Parks". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, L.P. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  9. Jane Wells (June 8, 2016). "This 31-year-old CEO is making millions from trampolines". CNBC.
  10. Trampoline Parks: A Complete History, Action Park Source
  11. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/strike-bowling-and-sky-zone-owner--funlab-up-for-sale/news-story/20a712085c4171e9aa4ecf0052654b43
  12. "Hyderabad to house India's first trampoline park". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  13. "Get Set, JUMP At India's First Trampoline Park – Sky Zone In Hyderabad". Momspresso. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  14. "Sky Zone Trampoline Park comes to India". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  15. "The World's biggest Trampoline Park, Sky Zone comes to Hyderabad". APN News. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  16. "World's Biggest Indoor Trampoline Park, Sky Zone, Opens Its Second Branch in Bengaluru, India". Business Wire India. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  17. "Sky Zone opens its second branch in Bengaluru". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  18. "Sky Zone opens its second branch in Bengaluru". ANI. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
  19. "Ultimate Dodgeball Championship 2018 | Sky Zone Trampoline Park". www.skyzone.com. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
  20. Greer, Tyler (2018-05-08). "The Best Ultimate Dodgeball Championship Teams — Ranked". Medium. Retrieved 2018-10-19.
  21. "Ultimate Dodgeball". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  22. "Entrepreneur 2013 Franchise 500 list"
  23. "Ricky Martin at Sky Zone Sydney". Socialite Life. 30 July 2015.
  24. Sharp, Annette (20 June 2014). "Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban spend time at a trampoline centre in Sydney". The Daily Telegraph.
  25. https://www.surreynowleader.com/news/sudden-closure-of-surrey-trampoline-park-causes-party-planners-to-flip-out/
  26. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/surrey-skyzone-trampoline-park-closed-1.4994656
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