W

hen Dudin Zaenuddin started a futsal courts renting, he did not expect that he would get rich quick.

However, just four months after opening, the profits of his futsal (indoor soccer) court rental business have exceeded those of the computer store that the 46-year-old entrepreneur has operated for several years.

 “If you have enough capital, I suggest that you get into this business right away,” Dudin told The Jakarta Post at his court at Bintaro, South Jakarta.

“The business is very easy to manage – basically you do nothing, and money will come to you.”

In futsal – which resembles soccer, save that it is typically played inside – two teams of five spars on hard-surface pitches that are a maximum of 42 meters long and 20 meters wide.

The compressed pitch – smaller than the 120 meter by 90 meter maximum soccer pitch – makes an average futsal match faster and more intense than soccer, with more passes, more shooting, more dribbling and more tackling.

Futsal has been gaining popularity among Jakarta’s fervent soccer fans, with businesses renting futsal courts appearing almost every corner in the capital.

A court can be rented for as little as Rp 120,000 (US$ 13.08) an hour, which is not very much when divided among 20 players (including substitutes).

“For me, spending around Rp 20,000 a week to play futsal for one or two hours is worth it,” one regular futsal player Aulia Ali, a University of Indonesia graduate, said.

These days, most of Jakarta’s middle-class people rarely have time for exercise.

“By playing futsal, they can have fun and do some exercise at the same time,” he added.

Jakarta’s futsal courts are typically packed on the weekends, full of chair-bound office workers keeping in good shape or just having fun with friends.

Some strategically-located futsal courts are even overbooked.

Dudin, who targets university and high school students as his main customers, said that he was making around Rp 20 million a month in revenue, although his initial investment was much higher.

One medium-quality futsal court that uses a field of synthetic grass, for example, may cost around Rp 100 million to build, Dudin said.

“It takes around two weeks to build the right structure [for a pitch], including flattening and smoothening the cement below the synthetic grass,” Dudin added.

Nevertheless, after a futsal court has been built, the business would require relatively little supervision and maintenance.

The owners of those futsal courts, Dudin said, can just “sit back and relax and just wait for the money to pour into your pocket.”

Feri Kurnianto, the owner of four futsal courts in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, agreed with Dudin.

Renting futsal courts, Feri said, was an uncomplicated and lucrative business, pointing to the fact that his six-month-old business was already making around Rp 30 million in net profit every month.

“I don’t think that this is a seasonal business only,” Feri said when asked about the long-term prospects of the futsal business in Jakarta.

“This is about sport. It will continue to prosper as long as soccer fans still exist in Jakarta,” he said. (sat)