Get 'yer grill on.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS biz

WE DID NOT KNOW THIS AND YOU DID NOT know this, but apparently tailgating is now a sport.

We know; It seems curious. An activity in which people festoon themselves with face paint and smear hot wing sauce over a good share of their jaws does not seem to meet the basic requirements of sport, which generally demands eye-hand coordination and occasional deep breaths of oxygen. Skeptics sniff that even golf or auto racing aren't sports.

But to them, and to all disbelievers, we point to the triumphant headline on a recent edition of Tailgater Monthly (swear to God), which proclaims not only that tailgating is a sport, but that it is "America's Fastest Growing Sport."

So with the facts firmly established, it is now appropriate to examine the dynamics of this athletic category from a business standpoint, which is the reader service this column promises.

Our investigation reveals that tailgating proponents are dead serious about doing what sports-business entrepreneurs do best, which is to take an organically conceived diversion and turn it into serious money. Like they did with street hockey and fantasy football. And so it is that what you thought of as a few hours of socializing in the parking lot before a game is now in fact A Large Market with Impressive Demographics.

The American Tailgating Association - and please don't scoff at the idea of an American Tailgating Association, because really, who else is going to give the tailgater a voice at the national level? - estimates 50 million people tailgate at football games and events in the U.S. annually.

This participant pool supports an estimated S20 billion in annual spending, or about S400 per person, on food, beverages, outdoor gear, customized motor homes and those little team-logo decals women glue to their cheekbones.;We know: S400 seems like a stretch, although il you figure each tailgater hits the parking lot several times a year, the math could work.;

More to the point, the tailgate crowd is what marketers think of as a highly desirable cohort, with a majority of participants having college degrees, owning homes and falling into the 24-54 age range. Retailers like the tailgate market because it fits between the back-to-school and holiday buying seasons, so they're devoting more floor space to tailgate products.

These facts arc rattled off staccato style bv Mark Heineken. the chief brand officer...