Digital sports equipment: six categories, mix and budgets

An English summary of the 2026 selection guide: six equipment families, footprint and price anchors, area based mix, traffic equipment against revenue equipmen…

Equipment choice decides how much floor space earns and how long visitors stay. The full 2026 article compares the main families and gives area based mix rules and budget ranges; this page summarises its figures.

Key points

Six families: competition, immersive cinema, VR and AR large space, motion sports, interactive light and shadow, and digital competition platforms.
Anchors: a shooting unit takes 2 4 sqm at RMB 30,000 120,000; VR large space 30 100 sqm at RMB 80,000 400,000; racing 6 10 sqm at RMB 80,000 250,000; interactive flooring RMB 3,000 9,000 per sqm.
Mix by area: 500 sqm runs 6 9 categories with 8 14 main machines, 1,000 sqm 10 14 categories, and above 2,000 sqm 3 main plus 6 10 auxiliary with 15 20 percent left free.
Traffic equipment such as VR space, interactive floors and flying theatres is advised to take 40 55 percent of the equipment budget, revenue equipment 35 45 percent, with about 10 percent kept for updates.
Equipment is commonly 45 60 percent of total venue investment and recovers in 12 24 months under normal traffic.
Budgets by area: RMB 1.2 2.2 million for 300 500 sqm, 2.2 4.5 million for 500 1,000 sqm, 4.5 9 million for 1,000 2,000 sqm and above 9 million beyond 2,000 sqm.

What one machine really earns

Sales per sqm multiplies three variables: how long a session lasts, how many visitors can be served per hour and what each pays. A shooting unit with a one to five minute session serves dozens of people an hour, while a flying theatre seats a full batch at a higher price but runs fewer sessions, so it depends on timed slots and advance booking rather than walk ins.

Mistakes at selection stage

Five traps are named: comparing unit price without whole life cost, ignoring ceiling height, column spacing and power, adding categories until the circulation breaks, leaving no data interface for member systems, and skipping safety details for younger visitors. Power upgrades, fire and structural works, rigging, film licensing and maintenance at 3 6 percent of equipment value are easy to overlook. The safer order is to settle the customer group, then the categories, then the budget.

The full 2026 guide is published in Chinese; contact SPORTS ANT if you need it explained for your project.