Scorecard

According to Forbes, the appeal to investors lies in the economics of time and space. A squash court takes up a tenth of the room of an indoor tennis court and costs about one-third as much to build. Because half an hour of squash is a good, hard workout, more players can be accommodated and the court rentals are therefore lower—$5 to $8 for a half hour of squash compared to $15 and up—and up—for an hour of tennis.

New York, where there never seems to be enough of anything to go around, may soon have enough squash courts. Already there are nine commercial clubs in operation, in addition to clubs, such as Racquet & Tennis, where the game has been played all along. A single Manhattan investment group, Town Squash, Inc., has built three clubs in the last three years. Its major facility is a $1.5 million club that advertises, in addition to 14 courts, a bar, a restaurant, a sauna and a day-care center.

Someday, somewhere, some businessman is going to figure out a way to make 12-meter yacht racing a pastime for the masses, and an era will have ended for sure.