Adobe Lightroom - new raw processor?

I've decided to take the plunge and try to adopt my photo work flow to Adobe LR. The reasoning is based on two specific goals. First to speed up the raw photo processing from sports events where I may typically shoot 200 to 500 photos at one event. Second to improve the overall cataloging and archiving of my photographs.

Right now I'm kind of taking a shotgun approach learning a little about the overall capabilities of LR. So far I like what I see my only concern is resources that will be required as the catalog grows.