INSIDE EDITION Investigates Trampoline Parks – Trampoline Franchises – Orlando Florida News

Trampoline jump parks are the hot new thing. They’re springing up everywhere. However, one month ago, a man in Phoenix died when he landed on his head and broke his neck. How safe are these places? Lisa Guerrero and the I-Squad investigate.

It’s the latest craze sweeping the nation: trampoline parks. They look like trampolines on steroids!

Adults and kids fly across rooms covered in wall-to-wall trampolines. You can flip, bounce—even catapult into giant foam pits.

But, are these facilities safe? Or, are they just a recipe for disaster?

Brett Kromeich was having a great time at a trampoline park in Chicago, until he snapped his leg in two places.

One of Kromeich’s friends caught the accident on camera, and you can actually hear the sound of Brett’s bone breaking on the video.

“It just completely snapped my leg in half,” said Kromeich.

He had to have emergency surgery just to save his leg.

The accident took place at Xtreme Trampolines near Chicago.

Trampoline park centers have been popping up all over the country. It looks like fun, but experts say many trampoline centers aren’t doing enough to make them safe.

Veteran gymnastics coach Don McPherson said trampoline parks violate a cardinal rule of trampoline safety.

“No more than one person on the trampoline—ever,” McPherson said.

Unlike in gymnastics, he said there are no state or government safety regulations for jump centers.

He showed us what can happen when two people bounce on a trampoline at the same time.

“It makes one person jump really high and out of control,” he said.

He says jumpers run the risk of crashing into each other.

McPherson said an inexperienced jumper catapulting head first into the foam pit is potentially lethal.

“They can break their necks, their back and their collar bones, or all three at once – in a fowl swoop,” said McPherson.

INSIDE EDITION found top athletes have faced serious trampoline park injuries.

Last month, New York Yankee’s star relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain suffered a potentially career-ending ankle injury while jumping at a Florida trampoline park.

In February, at a Phoenix trampoline park, 30-year-old Ty Thomasson lost his life after he broke his neck jumping head first into the foam pit.

“The only way to enter a foam pit from a trampoline is feet first,” McPherson told INSIDE EDITION.

But, that’s not what our hidden cameras found at trampoline parks across the USA.

At a jump center in Scottsdale, Arizona, we saw children flipping into foam pits. We even saw smaller kids, buried in foam struggling to climb out.

There was zero supervision at other trampoline parks INSIDE EDITION’s Lisa Guerrero and the I-Squad checked out.

We saw a young boy jumping on a trampoline with no employees monitoring the area.

Back at Xtreme Trampolines in Chicago, where Brett Kromeich broke his leg in half, the I-Squad found a two-and-a half year old boy jumping in a section designated for ages 14 and up.

He was also playing dodge ball with grown men. Our hidden cameras caught one guy almost stepping on him by accident.

Everything was apparently ignored by the people in charge of supervising the trampoline park, the safety monitors.

They seemed to be too busy tossing a ball, dancing, even chatting it up with other patrons.

Xtreme Trampolines Owner Eric Beck acknowledged to INSIDE EDITION that at least 25 emergency calls have been made since 2011 at the two trampoline park locations that he owns.

INSIDE EDITION’s Guerrero showed Beck the undercover video.

“Where are your employees?” Guerrero asked Beck. “Why aren’t they saying, ‘Sir you have to get the child off the trampoline?’ ”

“They should be. They should be.” Beck responded. “I see some things in there that they absolutely should be doing. If they miss something, it’s going to be on their shoulders.”

Beck said his trampoline parks are safe when people follow the rules, but asked for a copy of the I-Squad’s report to help train his employees. And, the Arizona park where Ty Thomasson died said they are committed to safety and are investigating the incident.

History of the trampoline arena franchise business:

Historically these trampoline franchises were primarily used by jumpers in an indoor walled facility, as long as the ceiling height was high enough. These indoor trampoline facilities were used as a place for kids and adults to jump and play.

In 1959 it became very popular to have an outdoor commercial “jump center” or “trampoline park” in many places in the US where people could enjoy recreational trampoline jumping as a family activity. However, these trampoline parks tended to have a high trampoline accident rate and the jumper’s interest quickly diminished.

In recent years, franchised indoor commercial trampoline parks have made a come back with an expanding number of new trampoline franchises set up across the United States. These franchise trampoline parks are now indoor trampoline sports arcade facilities. They are built as wall to wall trampoline parks and/or centers with an arena style look and feel. These arena style trampoline parks have trampoline safety padding, and rebounding walls to protect people from falling off the massive trampoline on to hard surfaces.

Only one person should be allowed to jump on a trampoline at a time to avoid collisions and people being catapulted in an unexpected direction or higher than they expect (double bounce effect). In fact, one of the most common sources of injury is when there are multiple users jumping on the same trampoline bed at one time. More often than not, this situation leads to users bouncing into one another and thus losing control an becoming injured. This is a difficult situation even for skilled and trained staff to manage. Kids will be kids and more often than not they need very close supervision at all times.

Never attempt somersaults, back somersaults and multiple somersaults on the trampoline. Also, make sure that there is a safe fall area encircling the trampoline which should be free of all people and other risks. Safety trampoline padding doesn’t protect you from direct contact with it if you land wrong. You will be injured regardless of the amount of padding if you land wrong from any height based on your weight and the amount of unintended force exerted.

The trampoline and its associated exercises are useful tools to develop better balance and proprioception (muscle memory). As the athlete is both rising and falling in a bounding movement, they are weightless. In this state the athlete can practice different body positions and thus condition the body to move instinctively through the course of a rehearsed routine. Skilled athletes who participate in gymnastics vaulting, aerial skiing, ski jumping, and snow boarding all use the trampoline as a part of their training programs for this reason.

Trampoline Franchise Opportunity
Modern trampoline arenas feature a combination of fun activities, events and even trampoline-based dodgeball leagues. In a startup trampoline arena franchise, the majority of your expenses will be fixed — you’ll pay the same amount for your trampoline facility lease, equipment loan payment, salaries, utilities and other expenses whether your trampolines are being used or not. In some cases the start up cost is $800,000 or more. With average trampoline arena jump time running in the neighborhood of $10 per hour, it’s easy to see how important scheduling can directly impact the bottom line for your trampoline franchise business. To have a decent return on investment it would take a substantial amount of efficiency and visitor capacity to manage that facility profitably.

If you want to open a trampoline franchise business or trampoline center be sure to talk to somebody who is already in the trampoline franchise business. There are many comparisons to make about hidden overall costs that usually surface much later into the project buildout. Ask someone that has already been through the complete process about the hurdles involved.

Many trampoline arena franchises have all their guests sign a liability waiver that protects the business from legal court lawsuits should an injury occur on the premises. These waivers have to hold up in court even in case of an injury. There have been multiple severe injuries and even deaths at these trampoline facilities as of late. Recently there have been many news reports about this growing trend.

Before you consider starting a trampoline arena franchise, it would be wise to assess whether there are other good franchise opportunities available that might make your life much easier. Some have similar return on investment with less initial costs, management requirements and liability.