/Sports marketing guide / Budget
A sports club should set its marketing budget by working back from what a registration is worth and how many it needs, not by copying a percentage. Once you have the number, spend most of it in your registration windows, and split it 70/20/10: 70% on what already fills spots, 20% on improving it, 10% on new tests.
I think a club should set its marketing budget from what a registration is worth, not from a percentage of revenue.
There's no reliable benchmark for clubs. The best-known figure comes from big companies: Gartner's 2026 survey found marketing budgets at 7.8% of company revenue, but most of those companies make over $1 billion a year. A youth club or academy is a different business, so use a method, not someone else's percentage.
That's why I'd start with the registration, not the revenue. Here's the method.
/Sources: 7.8% ... over $1 billion
Work backwards from your registrations. Decide how many new players you need, estimate how many inquiries it takes to get one, and multiply by what an inquiry costs you today. That gives you a budget tied to real spots, which you can check every season.
The four numbers:
A worked example with round numbers (not a benchmark): a club needs 60 new players. 1 in 4 inquiries registers, so it needs 240 inquiries. If an inquiry costs $10, the ad budget for that window is about $2,400. If each new family is worth far more than $40 in fees over the years, the budget makes sense.
For a real reference point, our work with BC Prep produced 400 leads in 6 months at under $7 a lead. Your cost will depend on your sport, market and offer.
Use 70/20/10 as a guide. Put 70% into what already fills spots, like ads that convert, follow-up and footage of your programs. Put 20% into making those better, like a sharper registration page or new ad angles. Keep 10% for real tests, like a new channel or a new program.
What that looks like for a club:
| Share | What it pays for | Club examples |
|---|---|---|
| 70% | What already works | Ads in the registration window, the follow-up system, filming games and training |
| 20% | Improving it | A better registration page, new ad creative, a referral push |
| 10% | Testing | A new channel, a new program's first ads, a partnership with a local business |
The rule was built for steady businesses. A club isn't steady. Its demand comes in windows. So split each window 70/20/10, rather than the year.
In the weeks before and during each registration window. Most of a club's year is quiet, then families decide in a few weeks. Spending evenly across 12 months wastes money in the quiet months and runs out when it matters. Plan the budget by window: spring, summer camp, fall and any winter program.
I keep coming back to this: don't sell leads one season at a time. Own the intake calendar. Plan your windows a year ahead and put a budget next to each one.
A simple way to plan it:
| Window | Typical timing | Share of yearly ad budget |
|---|---|---|
| Spring season | December to March | Set by your spot count |
| Summer camps | January to May | Set by your spot count |
| Fall season or tryouts | May to August | Set by your spot count |
| Winter or holiday camps | October to December | Set by your spot count |
The shares come from the four numbers above, window by window. That's the point: the budget follows the spots.
A lot, and more every year. The Aspen Institute's Project Play survey found US families spent $1,016 on a child's main sport in 2024, up 46% from 2019. In Canada, the 2026 Jumpstart report put the median at $1,938 a year for hockey and $450 for soccer. A family spending that much is worth a proper marketing budget to win and keep.
/Sources: $1,016 ... 46% · $1,938 ... $450
That depends on what's missing. If nobody at the club has time to post footage, run ads and follow up, ad money alone won't fix it. I think the marketing unicorn doesn't exist: one hire rarely does strategy, filming, editing, ads and follow-up all well. You're choosing between one person and a team, not between in-house and agency.
A quick way to decide:
| If this is true | Spend first on |
|---|---|
| You have footage and someone to post, but no ads | Ads in the registration window |
| You get inquiries but registrations are low | Follow-up and the registration page |
| Nobody has time for any of it | Help, from a hire or an agency |
Whichever you choose, judge it by registrations per window, not by followers or views.
Spending on ads and nothing on follow-up. Leads come in and nobody answers them for days. That, not the ad budget, is usually where clubs lose families. Before you raise your ad spend, make sure every inquiry gets a reply the same day. Otherwise you're paying for leads you'll never convert.
Other common mistakes:
/Keep reading
More guides for club, academy and facility owners.
