Could it be that the best team in tha world will be playing Super 7s and PSP 10-man, but not the big X?
Rumor mill sez it could...
Rumor mill sez it could...
Dynasty say no to X-Ball but yes to PSP?
- Thread starter TJ Lambini
- Start date
good the 7 man and the 10 man are the root and the best thing in paintball x-ball might grow the sport but its to commerical
Too commercial, too blatantly staged, and too far beyond the means of 99.9% of ballers. Xball is a good idea for once in a while, but to hype it up as THE event maker and major crowd drawing is a gigantic investment towards a highly uncertain end. I find it like buying flowers: it looks nice, tis a great thought to have done it, it might accomplish something but even if it does in a few days you have nothing.
Too much of such ideas keep coming from the same people thinking the same way over and over again. Just like any corporate boardroom, ideas that any one person could immediately see as stupid become brilliant when put in front of a committee.
Too much of such ideas keep coming from the same people thinking the same way over and over again. Just like any corporate boardroom, ideas that any one person could immediately see as stupid become brilliant when put in front of a committee.
Hey KO,
Not saying I agree or disagree with what you say, but could you be more specific and explain why you think it ain't all that and a bag of chips?
Not saying I agree or disagree with what you say, but could you be more specific and explain why you think it ain't all that and a bag of chips?
A very good question indeed, deserving of a worthy answer. In my opinion, it's a case of putting too many eggs in one basket (in itself a bad idea) going towards the cause of publicity which has been a losing war for quite some time. It doesn't seem to be much of a gift to the paintball community as the vast majority cannot participate in it nor should be asked to travel around to see it take place in person. Video is good but is no substitute for first hand, in person viewing. Hence it doesn't serve us, and unless some MAJOR overhauls are made it won't work for its greater mission either.
Its whole point for existing is to get the public to watch paintball, and thus far efforts to get the public to watch paintball have met with very, VERY little success in the US at all. The paintball industry does not attract, hire, and pay marketing people that are of competitive caliber alongside other sports or just about any other industry for that matter. Where do you think business, advertising, and marketing majors about to graduate from universities aspire to work? They want a well paying, established job with someone they recognize. What is needed to grab public attention through advertising has to be on par with the advertising caliber and clout of say Nike, Taco Bell, Dell, Budweiser, American Express, Lexus, Nokia, etc. Granted, the marketing and advertising efforts of Diablo/Draxxus have been nothing short of miraculous by paintball industry standards, but name one ad you've ever seen on TV with someone being splatted by Hellfire, one person you've seen on the subway humming a Matrix advertising jingle, or someone just causally walking down the street in a paintball related shirt that isn't playing at your field or an event you happen to be attending at the time? You have to have that kind of ingraining in the public mind for them to go out of their way to drive to a site or even tune their TV to watch a game. Other businesses, TV channels, and sports franchises realize this and pursue the market full blast, as they must to maintain and grow. When saying "no" is as simple as flicking a switch on the channel changer or going out to eat instead of heading to the field, making the incentive as strong as possible to say "Yes" is not just a concern, but a vital question of survival.
Unless substantial sums of money are put forth towards advertising in the cities where PSP events take place in the form of billboards, TV, radio, and newspaper ads of sufficient quality and flair to get the non-playing public to come and watch (Meanwhile competing with established sports which are more conveniently located and have an established fan base), the whole effort is almost entirely wasted. More disturbingly, the continued pattern of dumping money and hoping it splashes back at them is poor business strategy that if not yielding at least a short term loss will over the long run potentially wipe out paintball forever.
Why, you might ask? The recent economic situations of the last 3 years suggests such. What paintball companies do not at all take into account is the take it or leave it nature of the consumer recreation market which by comparison they hold a very delicate rooting. Take for example what typical eBay paintgun listings say at the bottom: "My wife's having our first baby" "Hate to part with it but I'm going off to school and don't have time" "Need the money for car payment" and so forth. The attrition rate on those who pick up a paintgun once or own their own for a time is staggering. But would they sell their baseball glove, soccer ball, computer, car, or television? Likely not. People can do other things in a weekend. They don't live in a vacuum. Hundreds of millions of other consumers out there could just as easily go play golf, throw a frisbee, watch a basketball game, wash my car, go catch some fish, or grill a steak and drink some beers on a Saturday as go to the field and drop $50--100+ on paintball. The non paintball playing public DOES do that EVERY WEEKEND and spends billions of dollars doing non-paintball things. They can do without it and should they have some new demand on their attention and/or their wallet they can and do drop it without even the slightest hesitation. It should be the constant obsession of the paintball industry as it is with the rest of the business world to change its perspective towards how to make paintballing a better idea than watching a basketball game, less easy to refuse than clicking on a Playstation 2, more commonly spoken about than the new BMW, and more likely to get you laid than wearing Calvin Klein cologne and boxers. But none of those objectives are pursued at all...a dozen businesses go broke every day because they don't pursue them as hard as their competitors. Should another economic downturn occur, or a massive legislative crusade against paintball be brought by political maniacs, a Middle Eastern conflict that might spark world war break out, or another pickup in the video gaming or similar entertainment sector pick up, nearly all of the minor and a chunk of the major paintball companies might very well be wiped out without even the slightest hint of it coming.
They would be wise to heed this warning.
Its whole point for existing is to get the public to watch paintball, and thus far efforts to get the public to watch paintball have met with very, VERY little success in the US at all. The paintball industry does not attract, hire, and pay marketing people that are of competitive caliber alongside other sports or just about any other industry for that matter. Where do you think business, advertising, and marketing majors about to graduate from universities aspire to work? They want a well paying, established job with someone they recognize. What is needed to grab public attention through advertising has to be on par with the advertising caliber and clout of say Nike, Taco Bell, Dell, Budweiser, American Express, Lexus, Nokia, etc. Granted, the marketing and advertising efforts of Diablo/Draxxus have been nothing short of miraculous by paintball industry standards, but name one ad you've ever seen on TV with someone being splatted by Hellfire, one person you've seen on the subway humming a Matrix advertising jingle, or someone just causally walking down the street in a paintball related shirt that isn't playing at your field or an event you happen to be attending at the time? You have to have that kind of ingraining in the public mind for them to go out of their way to drive to a site or even tune their TV to watch a game. Other businesses, TV channels, and sports franchises realize this and pursue the market full blast, as they must to maintain and grow. When saying "no" is as simple as flicking a switch on the channel changer or going out to eat instead of heading to the field, making the incentive as strong as possible to say "Yes" is not just a concern, but a vital question of survival.
Unless substantial sums of money are put forth towards advertising in the cities where PSP events take place in the form of billboards, TV, radio, and newspaper ads of sufficient quality and flair to get the non-playing public to come and watch (Meanwhile competing with established sports which are more conveniently located and have an established fan base), the whole effort is almost entirely wasted. More disturbingly, the continued pattern of dumping money and hoping it splashes back at them is poor business strategy that if not yielding at least a short term loss will over the long run potentially wipe out paintball forever.
Why, you might ask? The recent economic situations of the last 3 years suggests such. What paintball companies do not at all take into account is the take it or leave it nature of the consumer recreation market which by comparison they hold a very delicate rooting. Take for example what typical eBay paintgun listings say at the bottom: "My wife's having our first baby" "Hate to part with it but I'm going off to school and don't have time" "Need the money for car payment" and so forth. The attrition rate on those who pick up a paintgun once or own their own for a time is staggering. But would they sell their baseball glove, soccer ball, computer, car, or television? Likely not. People can do other things in a weekend. They don't live in a vacuum. Hundreds of millions of other consumers out there could just as easily go play golf, throw a frisbee, watch a basketball game, wash my car, go catch some fish, or grill a steak and drink some beers on a Saturday as go to the field and drop $50--100+ on paintball. The non paintball playing public DOES do that EVERY WEEKEND and spends billions of dollars doing non-paintball things. They can do without it and should they have some new demand on their attention and/or their wallet they can and do drop it without even the slightest hesitation. It should be the constant obsession of the paintball industry as it is with the rest of the business world to change its perspective towards how to make paintballing a better idea than watching a basketball game, less easy to refuse than clicking on a Playstation 2, more commonly spoken about than the new BMW, and more likely to get you laid than wearing Calvin Klein cologne and boxers. But none of those objectives are pursued at all...a dozen businesses go broke every day because they don't pursue them as hard as their competitors. Should another economic downturn occur, or a massive legislative crusade against paintball be brought by political maniacs, a Middle Eastern conflict that might spark world war break out, or another pickup in the video gaming or similar entertainment sector pick up, nearly all of the minor and a chunk of the major paintball companies might very well be wiped out without even the slightest hint of it coming.
They would be wise to heed this warning.
On the other hand, 7 and 10 man can be played by normal tournament players and thus is more relevent to watch for entertainment and learning purposes, and is truer to the sport that most of us play. It also doesn't put so much of a rift between Xball players who become the superstars and the other divisions where you can walk up to an Am A or pro person and ask them what you did wrong on your last game cause they were around watching it and had played on the same field you did.
OK, KO, here ya go.
1--two different issues here. The lesser one first. Don't you already "travel around" to participate in tourneys? And "travel around" to go to football games, etc? That's a non starter. The larger point however is a false argument because there are two divergent objects as the goal and all your arguments treat them as one single goal. What future franchise owners are aiming to do and what paintball industry is geared toward (or ought to be) are spearate if complimentary goals. For example, BE might be in favor of X-Ball for the same reason Chevy builds the Corvette--because they think the promotional value will help sell more product--whereas the X-Ball team owner is working to make the team and his league profitable.
2--because sports enthusiasm is built on pride and identification and with 100 teams from all over with mostly anonymous players you can't create any passion in non-players. It's not the pball per se, it's the presentation.
3--you're never gonna "brainwash" people into going to pball events. You've got to offer an event that people who find competition appealing worth their while and that's what X is all about. Not saying quality marketing efforts are a waste of time but like the old saying goes, nobody ever made a fortune selling ice to Eskimos.
4--with the current format it won't work regardless. IMO
5--Yep, unless you're offering a competitive product.
6--Again, you're mixing goals. What the big companies should be doing is pumping money into building the top tier of pball--which is sorta what's starting to happen with X and now S7--in order to give pball a "Sports" face and a marketable identity. The franchises want to build a fan base to support their teams while the pball companies are looking to expand the customer/player base. At this time I think they would have their best success in the long run laying the foundations now for a bona fide sport. Again, MHO. Additionally, the big paintball companies should be falling all over themselves to support the NCPA and their high school outreach efforts, too.
7--spoken like a "normal tournament player." Sorry, KO but current tourney style events won't ever attract significant numbers of spectators.
Yeah anyway. Dynasty cut a bunch of dudes a couple weekends ago so don't expect them to play anything where they have to field more than 7 guys.