Building a Business in Sports

By SPORTS JOURNALISM

Students Yanique Burgos, Shannon Friel, Gary Geronimo, Aaron Krein, Josh Heller, Jonas Miller, Lindsay Moran, Logan Ripley and Rachel Salasky made contributions to this article.

Sports journalism students at The College of Saint Rose were treated to a business lesson and ‘follow your dreams’ lecture last week by local entrepreneur Frank Rogers.

Rogers, a New Rochelle native, runs a recreational sports league in the Capital Region called All American Sports. The company, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, offers membership in structured leagues of softball, basketball, flag football and recently introduced floor hockey.

“I was always the kid that knocked on everyone’s door to come out and play,” he remembered. This drive gave him an advantage when recruiting people to play.

Originally, Rogers intended to become a bar owner, and even moved to New York City to gain experience. After struggling with an illness, he returned to Albany in 1994 to study accounting at Siena College.

While finishing his degree, Rogers accepted a job as a staff accountant with a furniture company. He was also offered an opportunity to buy 50% of the Capital District Football League and, with the help of a college math professor, Rogers took the chance and scraped together the $12,000. He then began organizing the Albany Flag Football League at Lincoln Park.

“It was dumb luck that I fell into this sports business,” he said.

After realizing accounting was not the right career for him, Rogers expanded his organization. A year and a half after accepting the position, he left his accounting job to devote all of his time to the All American Sports Recreation. Rogers has said in 1996 the business brought in $20,000 and that revenues have grown each year since then.

“You have to follow your dreams,” he told the students.

Rogers admitted that he faced challenges amidst his success. He previously owned two leagues in Syracuse and in the state of Virginia. But, both were tough to run because he was an out-of-town proprietor. After a sniper paralyzed the D.C. area and resulted in park closures, the league was stalled and he eventually left that market and the one in Syracuse.

Even though Rogers hasn’t been able to expand the organization nationally, he has been able to run tournaments throughout the nation.

The league in the Capital Region features a wide variety of participants, including one softball pitcher who is 75 years old. Players range from recent experience college athletes to backyard weekend warriors. All American Sports Recreation provides various class leagues that would fit different skill levels. The league is also strict when it comes to their rules, including six-month suspensions for any racial or religious slurs.

Rogers said the league also has its own referees and umpires that are trained and examined directly by All American Sports, not by an outside refereeing association.

Teams pay as much as $950 to join an All American league, and the cost covers the field maintenance, officials and insurance.

The next step for Rogers is to not only add more leagues and sports to his organization, but to create a sporting complex rather than rent facilities. In the past, Rogers has attempted to buy land in the Albany area, but the deals have not materialized. This move would save Rogers a lot of money in the long run from not renting city parks, schools and Afrim’s Sports. Currently All American Sports pays around $94,000 to Afrim’s and another $84,000 for outdoor field rental.

He also wants to expand his “ESPN-like” talk show on YouTube, which is produced by Sac TV and filmed at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady.

Before ending his lecture, Rogers offered guidance to the college students about choosing a career path. He said students should be passionate about what they choose to do.

“Try not to pigeonhole yourself into doing something you’re going to regret,” he advised. “Don’t do it for the money. Do something you love, and the money will come.”

All American Sports’ softball league starts in Pine Hills’ Ridgefield Park on April 25.