3-4 pages paper

KickShot: Goooooooooal! 1

NA0516

KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!

Michael A. McCollough, University of Idaho

Aziz Makhani leaned back in his office chair and checked the online sales of his soccer board game KickShot! on Amazon.com. As of May 31, 2016, his year-to-date selling was 1,928 units. At this pace, he should easily exceed his 2015 sales of 4,000 units. Further, he was on track to record his highest earnings since he started KickShot in 2013.

The question was simple: what to do next? Before him were buyout offers from two of the top board game companies in the world. TKG offered him a flat $250,000 for the rights to KickShot. HB1 offered him $75,000 up front with a royalty of 6% of sales for the subsequent five years, up to a maximum of 500,000 units with a minimum of 2,000 total units guaranteed. Both companies wanted an answer by September 30, 2016. If he did not accept either offer, he could continue to market the game himself, building on what should be his best year ever.

“What should I do?” he wondered. From the start, Makhani’s goal was to sell or license the game for “six figures.” Contemplating the offers he wondered which he should accept. But in the back of his mind he wondered if he might be selling out too early and just how far he could take KickShot on his own? How, in the words of sportscaster Andrés Cantor, was the best way to score the game winning Gooooooooooooooooal! with KickShot?

AZIZ MAKHANI AND KICKSHOT

As a boy growing up in Myanmar (formerly Burma), Makhani was obsessed with football, what most in the United States called soccer. He learned the sport playing with his friends in the streets of his hometown of Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city. Makhani emigrated to the U.S. in 1971 to attend college, earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas. Following this, Makhani worked as a Quality Engineer. While still working full time he earned his Master’s in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California followed by a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Long Beach State University. After earning his MBA, Makhani worked in a variety of technology companies,

----------------------------- Copyright © 2018 by the Case Research Journal and by Michael A. McCollough. This case study was prepared as the basis for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The author wishes to thank Aziz Makhani, as well as Gina Grandy, and the anonymous CRJ reviewers for their helpful suggestions on how to make this a more effective case. An earlier version of the case was presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the North American Case Research Association in Orlando Florida, United States of America.

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2 Case Research Journal  Volume 38  Issue 1  Winter 2018

gradually gravitating toward startups where he assumed more managerial than engineering duties. Settling down in a small college town in the Pacific Northwest, Makhani became a U.S. citizen, had a family, and worked at a number of area technology companies.

While life had taken Makhani to the other side of the world from his birthplace, he never lost his passion for soccer. Makhani served as a volunteer youth soccer referee, progressing to club and high school matches, and ultimately achieved his certified soccer referee status. The kids he watched lived up to the cliché of U.S. soccer players. As Makhani put it, “They work hard and are physically adept, but they simply do not understand the game – not just the rules and the hand signals of the referee, but the strategy and tactics of the game.” Makhani wondered if a kid’s game might not be the way to teach them a greater understanding of soccer. One night Makhani awoke with a vision for a soccer game that would be no more difficult than Uno2. Almost simultaneously in 2012, the local tech startup where he had served as the director of marketing closed its doors. Makhani felt, at age 59, that the time was right to launch his own venture, one that combined his love of board games with his love of soccer.

KickShot was targeted at very young players (ages 5-12). Makhani hired an artist to illustrate the game with colorful cartoon animal characters (see Figure 1, next page) which focus groups results showed to be very popular with young people. The characters in the cards were illustrations of endangered species as players and referees (allowing a twofold education mission – soccer and endangered animals from around the world). Each player had a name and biography. The intent of the game was to be engaging, entertaining, and educational.

For a time, KickShot was Makhani’s full time job. However, in March 2015 he accepted a position as the Business Development Advisor at a state Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Makhani enjoyed working with other entrepreneurs, but his new career opportunity was demanding and kept him very busy. As Makhani told a friend when discussing the offers, “I am passionate about helping entrepreneurs, sharing my experience in the local community; the job is a perfect fit. If these buyout offers had not come along, things might be different, but early exit allows me to focus on helping local entrepreneurs and teach classes. It’s not always about the money.”

SOCCER IN THE U.S.

According to the U.S. Youth Soccer organization, there were only 103,432 registered youth soccer players in 1974. In the mid 1990’s, the number of players increased significantly, and by 2014 the number was 3,055,148, with an almost even split between boys and girls3. Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of the sport, reported that soccer was the most popular sport in the world with 265 million players. The U.S. trailed only China with 24,473,000 players registered with the U.S. Soccer Federation.4

Viewership of soccer in the U.S. had also increased. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup attracted an estimated 17 million total viewers, higher than the 15.8 million estimated to have viewed the 2006 World Series.5 In 2010, World Cup viewership increased 22% over 2006, while in 2014, the USA-Portugal match attracted 18.2 million viewers.6

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KickShot: Goooooooooal! 3

Figure 1: KickShot and Aziz Makhani

Source. Makhani, A. (2016).

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THE BOARD GAME INDUSTRY

Perhaps somewhat paradoxically in an era of electronic gaming, the board game industry experienced excellent growth. From 2010 to 2014, annual board game purchases increased between 25% and 40% each year.7 This success was driven by independent game designers and publishers who were producing games that millennial consumers found fun to play. Examples of fun and innovative board games launched by independent entrepreneurs included Ugg-Tect (gamers build 3D structures while communicating only in grunts and hitting opponents with inflatable clubs), Pandemic (in which players try to rid the planet of deadly infectious diseases), Dead of Winter (players attempt to avoid being eaten by Zombies), and Freedom – The Underground Railroad (players sheltered runaway slaves in pre-Civil War America.). Hasbro was the largest seller of board games with such well-known brands as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Clue, yet it only held a 20% market share. Therefore, the industry was not highly concentrated and smaller and independent board game developers drove sales.8 In 2013, board game developers raised $52.1 million via Kickstarter while video game developers raised $45.3 million during the same period.9 Significantly, many of these board game developers choose to remain independent, rejecting lucrative buyout offers while growing their business in terms of sales and profitability. As Peter Blenkharn, cofounder of Inside the Box Games (maker of independent/indie games Statecraft, Sub Terra, and Molecular) stated, “Publishing your own games is definitely profitable, the profit margins are enormous on medium runs and there’s a huge amount of room for more indie publishers.” 10

Internet and smartphone gaming stimulated sales of board games, as consumers downloaded cheap or free versions of games to try out before they bought the more expensive board games. Compared to PC, Xbox, and PlayStation games, board games were generally seen as less expensive and more fun for the entire family than video games. Online retailers aggregated and provided a large number of board games with customer reviews, reviving a category largely ignored or downplayed by large “big-box” retailers. Even as the mobile gaming industry struggled to come up with the next Candy Crush, Farmville, or Angry Birds, sales of board games on Amazon increased by double digits from 2012 to 2013 and sales at U.S. game and hobby stores increased 15% to 20% per year from 2011 - 201311. Even the summer of 2016 hit, augmented reality game Pokémon, could be traced to a simple collectable card game.

DEVELOPING AND LAUNCHING KICKSHOT

After his 2012 epiphany, Makhani performed a preliminary assessment that focused on the current competition in the marketplace, discovering that while there were soccer board games and electronic soccer games, none were targeted at young players. He gave his KickShot prototype to gamers, watched them play, and solicited feedback. Over several iterations, the game evolved from a simple card game to a board game with multiple levels allowing KickShot to appeal to very young players as well as the entire family.

Makhani developed a business plan that outlined how he would market the game, his estimated required resources, how long it would take to reach the market, and his exit strategy of selling or licensing the game. He also established a network of advisors, friends, and potential investors who were excited about KickShot and highly engaged, which he could turn to, not just for financial help if needed, but advice and guidance. Makhani avoided angel investors, venture capitalists, crowdfunding, and any

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KickShot: Goooooooooal! 5

individuals he did not know personally. This was primarily because he did not want to lose control of his venture but also because he realized that raising funds from those he did not know personally would be time-consuming. Indeed, Makhani feared he would end up spending all his time raising money and not developing and marketing the game. He shared with a colleague, “Based on my prior experience working for start-ups, I realized that once I had outside investors I would be spending a significant amount of time simply interacting with these individuals, providing financial, marketing, and other updates.”

Makhani also felt it was important to develop his credibility and demonstrate demand via sales, before seeking out investments from others. As KickShot progressed, he could go back to his network of advisors, show that he was making headway, and seek financial support if needed. In 2013, one of his advisors offered Makhani a $50,000, 3% interest loan. While Makhani did not need the funds at that time, the offer was still on the table if needed. Makhani sought and received in-kind investments. Others offered furniture, services, and advice.

Makhani was unable to find a domestic producer of the game that would provide timely and affordable quotes for his low initial production runs. Therefore he manufactured the game in Taiwan. His neighbor who had offered the $50,000 loan was a successful entrepreneur and offered to warehouse product and volunteered his company’s expertise in shipping and importing, cutting 2/3 of the cost of shipping KickShot from Taiwan where it was produced.

EXTENDED PRODUCT MIX

Simultaneous with the 2013 launch of the KickShot board game Makhani also released a line of accessories, including washable placemats (set of four for $12.00), inspirational/motivational posters ($5.00 each), and water bottles ($1.50) that featured the colorful cartoon characters. While accessories had very high margins, they accounted for only about 5% of sales in 2016.

Makhani’s mobile strategy involved sponsoring students at a local university to develop the initial app as their senior class project. Version 1 was a free app, which allowed users to roll virtual dice and was launched in May of 2014 as a free download on Android platforms. Through September 2014, the game was downloaded 1,300 times with feedback suggesting changes to make the game better. Version 1 was, as Makhani put it “Not a very good game.” Version 2, which was still in development as of May 2016 would employ virtual cards, some AI (artificial intelligence), and would remain a free download. Version 3, which was not yet in development was envisioned to have significant AI and was planned to retail at 99 cents. All of the apps were/would be in java script and operating system independent so they could be “ported” to Apple products. Using senior class projects kept his costs low, but the speed to market was poor. Having version 3 professionally developed would likely cost approximately $5,000.

KickShot had full copyright and trademark protection which covered the game rules and cartoon characters. While Makhani worried that someone might “knock off his game” requiring costly litigation, his primary concern was that someone might introduce a soccer game that while similar was distinct enough that it would not infringe on his intellectual property (IP). Makhani felt that he had a ten years remaining of strong IP protection.

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PRICE

KickShot was initially priced to retail at $24.95. The manufacturing cost of the game was $9.50 with shipping bringing the final cost to $13.00. The more games Makhani ordered at a time, the better the cost. At the $9.50 cost, Makhani had to purchase in lots of 1,000 to 5,000. However, if he ordered 5,000 units or more, his costs would drop by 24%.

RETAILING KICKSHOT

KickShot was sold in 32 physical “brick and mortar” stores at the close of 2014, his second year in business. Makhani approached Costco in 2014 and was told that “board games don’t sell.” He had not met with Wal-Mart or Toys R Us. Simply attending a trade show where he might catch the attention of one of these chains would cost $5,000. Makhani knew that only about 2% of new suppliers that applied to Wal-Mart were accepted and of that number very few were successful enough to remain on the shelves over the long run. Against his low probability of success were the significant demands involving cost, packaging, shipping, and inventory management that a large chain would demand.

Makhani realized early the potential of the Internet to achieve national distribution without the challenges of establishing a brick and mortar presence through small independents or large chains. For online sales, he initially focused on offering the game via his own website, kickshot.org. He also offered the game on eBay which yielded no sales. Amazon accounted for the majority of his sales. KickShot started selling on Amazon in the fall of 2013 at a retail price of $24.95. For every sale, Amazon took a cut of $9.35, leaving a net gross margin of $2.60 after his cost for the game of $13.00. Further, in order to gain exposure, Makhani began to sell via an Amazon agent, The Escape Place, in early 2014. Agents enhanced search results given their power rating and because they sold a large line up of products. In addition, the agent helped Makhani learn how to maximize sales on Amazon. Since using the agent, sales of KickShot on Amazon increased significantly. However, this agent also took a commission. As a result, Makhani increased the retail price of KickShot to $28.95. He found that unit sales seemed unaffected by the price increase, leading him to believe that his target was relatively price insensitive. With this new retail of $28.95, and after deducting the cost of manufacturing and shipping KickShot, paying Amazon fees, and his agent fees Makhani realized a net gross margin of $1.95 per game.

Makhani was required to keep a stock of games in the Amazon warehouse which was used to fulfill games sold under his own storefront (Sports Cards and Games). Makhani shipped games to his agent (adding an additional shipping cost), who was also required to keep an inventory at Amazon. Makhani was charged by Amazon a nominal inventory/storage fee for this required service which totaled less than $50 since 2013. Further, Amazon charged their total fee in part based on the weight ($1.59 for the first two pounds plus 39 cents a pound for each additional pound) and the physical size of the game. For instance, KickShot weighed 2.3 lbs. Amazon charged him for 3 lbs. This shipping charge was included in the total of $9.35 that Amazon charged per unit sale. (See Table 1 for a full detail of Amazon per unit fees.) On Amazon, sales were about 35% from Makhani and 65% via The Escape Place. However, all the games sold through Amazon, whether via Makhani or his agent, were warehoused and Fulfilled by Amazon.com (FBA) with free two-day prime shipping.

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KickShot: Goooooooooal! 7

Table 1 – Amazon.com Fees $28.95 Retail Price

Fee Type Amount

Amazon referral fee $4.34/15% retail selling price

Per Item Listing fee $.99

FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) Fees

Order Handling $1.00

Pick and Pack $1.04

Weight Handling $1.98

FBA Total Fee $4.02

Total Amazon Fees $9.35

Source. Company documents (2015).

Purchases via KickShot.org were more profitable, yielding the best margin. The retail price on KickShot.org was $24.95 bringing the total price to the consumer with shipping in-line with Amazon. His website received good traffic, with 5,000 unique visitors a month with 60% visiting multiple pages. However, sales via KickShot.org had become negligible since he listed on Amazon.com, averaging only one or two games a quarter. Indeed, the conversion rate of visitors visiting his website that actually purchased the game via KickShot.org was below 1%.

At the start of 2016 he decided to eliminate all brick and mortar sales and focus exclusively on online sales. At the same time, feeling he had learned enough, Makhani ended his relationship with The Escape Place and began selling exclusively through his Amazon store front.

PROMOTION

With a limited amount of funds available, Makhani focused on inexpensive, cost effective promotional efforts. Starting in May of 2013 he visited gaming tournaments to promote his game and generate word-of-mouth. He also visited many physical retail outlets to gain shelf space and often visited stores to sell the game personally. Makhani believed his single most effective promotional tool was the Internet. If a consumer Googled soccer board games, KickShot was one of the top results. Further, his placement on Amazon helped drive consumers to his game. In addition to his webpage, Kickshot.org, Makhani also had a youtube.com channel with 122 videos, as well as a Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter page. Makhani said, “I really used reviews, and I created videos that were fun to watch. I engaged with a World Cup coach and referee who also became my mentor. This individual wrote a widely followed blog; he posted about KickShot, and I reposted those blog comments to my own various social media platforms.”

THE CUSTOMER

Sales on Amazon yielded interesting information about the customer and consumer. Games bought as gifts would often include a short message. From this, and by looking to see if the ship to address differed from the billing address, Makhani estimated that 60% of his sales were gifts, most from grandparents (the customer) to their grandkids (the consumer). In reflecting on the other 40% of his game sales, Makhani believed it was driven by millennials. These consumers were not just driving the resurgence of indie board games, but they turned to KickShot to enhance their kid’s soccer skills.

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INTERNATIONAL

Board gaming enjoyed an international audience. The Settlers of Catan, a game designed by a German dental technician sold 18 million copies since its release in 1995.12 Soccer, as the world’s most popular game, provided an opportunity for KickShot to expand internationally. A handful of customers in international markets sought out the game on Amazon and purchased it. However, there were specifically targeted online stores for international markets, including Amazon’s international division. While Amazon had ten international marketplaces including China, Makhani felt that it would make the most sense to move into Europe first. There were some costs associated with going into Europe via Amazon. Some modification of the game (translated instructions) would be necessary, but Makhani lived in a community with two large universities with many foreign language instructors and international students. Therefore, obtaining translation services would be straightforward and relatively inexpensive. Makhani estimated these costs as approximately $6,000. Europe had a Value Added Tax (VAT) which was about 20% and would be added to the retail price. On the whole, Amazon fees for selling in Europe would be similar to those he already incurred in the U.S. Given how popular soccer was in Europe, Makhani believe that he should be able to at least double his total sales every year from 2017 to 2020, with European sales equaling U.S. sales by 2020.

PROFITABILITY AND FINANCIAL CONDITION

The Balance Sheet and Income Statement for Sports Cards and Games are provided in Tables 2 and 3 on the following page. For fiscal year ended 2013, 2014, and 2015, revenues were $8,775, $23,956, and $23,696 respectively. For fiscal year 2016, estimated sales through June 30 were approximately $46,304 (Table 3). Sales were seasonal for KickShot, with approximately 40% of all revenue in the fourth quarter and the remaining sales generally spread more or less equally over the other three quarters. Domestic shipping costs covered the shipping from the port to Makhani and from Makhani to Amazon, and he expected it to continue to average around 4% of sales (international shipping costs of $3.50 were included in cost of goods sold and Amazon fees included their shipping costs.) Web hosting and marketing, office supplies/help, and travel were about 0.1% of sales, but it was anticipated that these costs would rise to around 1% per category going forward. Current inventory was $2,200. KickShot had total cash on hand of $6,450 with liabilities of $2,200. Makhani retained 100 percent of the equity of the company. As Makhani contemplated his future in mid-2016, he felt confident that if he needed additional financial backing, it could be obtained. Further, KickShot was itself generating significant positive cash flow.

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KickShot: Goooooooooal! 9

Table 2: Sports Cards and Games Balance Sheet as of July 31, 2016

Assets Current Assets Cash $6,450 Inventory 2,200 Total Current Assets $8,650 Fixed Long-Term Assets Intangible Assets 0 Total Fixed Assets 0 Total Assets $8,650

Liabilities and Owner's Equity Current Liabilities Income taxes payable $2,200 Total Current Liabilities $2,200 Long-Term Liabilities Long-Term debt 0 Total Long Term Liabilities 0 Owner's Equity: Retained Earnings $6,450 Total Liabilities & Owner's Equity $8,650

Source: Company documents (2016). Table 3: Sports Cards and Games Income Statement For the Years Ending December 31, 2013, 2014, 2015 and partial year 2016 and estimated half-year (June 30) 2016

Revenue 2013 2014 2015 2016 Revenues from Brick & Mortar 1,316 1,450 0 0 Revenues from Amazon 7,459 9,275 11,138 46,304 Revenues from The Escape Place 0 13,231 12,558 0 Total Revenues 8,775 23,956 23,696 46,304 Expenses Cost of Goods Sold 5,175 17,653 17,423 30,173 Domestic Shipping 675 2,302 2,272 1,870 Web hosting and Marketing 52 78 78 40 Office Supplies/Help 48 65 54 40 Travel 64 88 76 50 Total Expenses 6,014 20,186 19,903 32,173 Net Income Before Taxes 2,761 3,770 3,793 14,131 Income Tax Expense 828 1,131 1,138 2,107 Net Income 1,933 2,639 2,655 12,024

Note: All fees associated with selling on Amazon and The Escape Place is reflected in lower revenues.

Source. Company documents (2016)

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THE WAY FORWARD

Makhani’s exit strategy from the very start was to sell or license KickShot to a partner that would be able to move much more aggressively than Makhani, landing shelf space at large chain stores. Further, the buyer could use its significant size to gain economies of scale in production to bring down production costs and the retail price. There was ample evidence of board games being developed by inventors which were subsequently bought by large companies and Makhani always hoped to get enough sales to demonstrate KickShot’s viability to a large company and justify a “six-figure deal.” While Makhani developed KickShot to educate young people about soccer (and endangered animals), he did not feel that “selling out” would negate this goal. To the contrary, a large game company could leverage its resources to put the game into the hands of more players than he ever could. Therefore, licensing was a win-win in his eyes. Now, with the two offers before him, he found that his initial exit strategy could be realized. But he wondered if he was being hasty, if he could do better on his own, or if he worked to improve sales and profitability he might be able to get a better offer in a couple of years.

The offers came shortly after Makhani had attended a gaming show in Seattle, Washington in early 2016. Makhani was visited by representatives of TKG and HB. After some back and forth, Makhani was able to significantly increase the proposals to the point that he felt he had the best offers he was going to receive. But were the offers strong enough or should he continue to market the game on his own? He took out a pad of paper and began to organize his thoughts.

The first offer from TKG for $250,000 ($150,000 in year one, and $100,000 in year two) was the most straightforward. The offer would allow him to turn a nice profit on the game. Makhani, in discussing the offers with a friend, said “It would allow me to clear a bit over my investment, if you add up all the costs, manufacturing tooling, my time and effort; I should clear $70,000, maybe a bit more.” KickShot, after consuming five years of his life, would simply no longer be his concern. Further, Makhani like most entrepreneurs already had several new ventures that he was mulling over. He felt he could turn his experience gained from KickShot to develop new board games. TKG (or HB) might buy the rights to any new game(s). Alternatively, he was considering a smartphone app that would allow anyone to find a bathroom anyplace. Other ideas included an app to help customers find their seats in arenas, and a navigator to help college students find their classrooms on large campuses. The $250,000 would provide the capital to pursue these or other new venture he could dream up.

The second offer from HB called for an upfront payment of $75,000 with a royalty of 6% on unit sales of up to 500,000 (within five years) with 2,000 units guaranteed. At current retail, it would take board game sales of just over 100,000 or 20,000 a year over the five years to equal the TKG offer. While well above his current annual sales, Makhani felt the number was clearly realistic given HB’s marketing power. They could achieve placement of the game in large chain retailers’ brick and mortar stores and on their online marketplaces and they could move into multiple international marketplaces. Wal-Mart alone had 3,946 Supercenters and discount stores in the U.S., with a total of 6,369 international stores.13 Target and Toys R Us would add thousands more potential retail outlets. Therefore, if HB marketed the game, the 500,000 unit sales over five years was realistic. With volume production, HB might lower the game production cost and the unit retail, probably to $19.99, further increasing the likely unit sales but reducing his overall dollar royalty per game. Further, there was a clause in the contract that said all derivative products developed by HB would not be covered

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KickShot: Goooooooooal! 11

under the royalty agreement. Most obviously, this meant any future apps or online games. But what if HB significantly modified the game, perhaps changing the rules or the characters and then argued that this was a new and different game? While Makhani did not think this would happen, he could not rule it out. Of greater concern was that they might just “shelve” the game and not actively pursue commercialization. Makhani had seen this happen before, where an inventor licensed a product and ultimately received little to no royalty revenue from sales. The reasons why this happened were varied. Sometimes, the company had a competing product in the works and wanted to clear the way by eliminating competition with a buyout offer. Sometimes, it proved more difficult to commercialize the opportunity than envisioned. Or it could simply turn out that other new products in HB’s pipeline would turn out to be more promising. Makhani would have little leverage to see that the game was actively marketed. Still, what if HB really did ramp up selling and ran with the game? When his friend asked him over coffee what he thought the likelihood of HB aggressively marketing the game and not just sitting on it was he replied “50/50, I think.”

Makhani could also turn down both offers and keep marketing the game himself. His friend and neighbor still had the $50,000 loan offer on the table. This would provide the resources for Makhani to take KickShot to the next level. He could order in larger volume to get a lower unit price. With a lower price and more margin per unit, he could aggressively pursue online international sales. Having eliminated the agent, Makhani was now earning more per game, and he was not seeing a reduction in sales. The most straightforward way to evaluate going it alone would be to assume lower costs by buying in bulk, not using an agent, and opening a European Amazon storefront. How many unit sales would he need to turn down the TKG and HB offers, and was that level of sales realistic he wondered? However, if he did decide to stay the course and turn down the offers, what would TKG and HB do then? They clearly saw the opportunity of a soccer board game. It seemed unlikely that they would abandon the field, or rather in this case, the pitch, if Makhani did not sell.

He wondered “what should I do?” What was the best way to score the decisive GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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NOTES

1 Due to confidentiality concerns, TKG and HB are pseudonyms to disguise the names of the real companies.

2 Uno is a best-selling Mattel card game for ages seven and up.

3 Key Statistics/Membership Statistics. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/media_kit/keystatistics/

4 Kunz, M. (2007, July). 265 million playing football. Retrieved December 11, 2017, from http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/bcoffsurv/emaga_9384_10704.pdf

5Sandomir, R. (2006, July 11). Cup ratings are up, but fans deserve better. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/11/sports/soccer/11sandomir.html?_r=0In 2010 112

6 Murray, C. (2014, July 2). U.S. Soccer world cup viewing party – USMNT vs Belgium. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://www.sbisoccer.com/2014/07/americans-digital-experience.html

7 Owen D. (2014, November 25). Board games’ golden age: sociable, brilliant and driven by the internet. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/25/board-games-internet- playstation-xbox

8 Hudak, M. (2016, March 31). Board games are gaining momentum in 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://www.globaltoynews.com/2016/03/board-games-are-gaining-momentum- in-2016.html

9 Wingfield, N. (2014, May 5). High-tech push has board games rolling again. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/technology/high-tech-push-has-board- games-rolling-again.html

10 Martin, T. (2017, January 23). How board games became a billion-dollar business. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/games/2017/01/how-board-games- became-billion-dollar-business

11 Board game statistics. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from https://infogram.com/board_game_statistics

12 Teuber, K. Information about Klaus Teuber. Retrieved Decebmer 11, 2017 from http://www.catan.com/about-us/klaus-teuber

13 Our locations. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/locations/united-states#/

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