London Tigers CPL Info

[frobinson]

I dunno if this is something you'd be willing to expand on, but when you talk about buying players in (I suppose usually American PSP players who aren't over with their own teams) ROUGHLY how much does it actually cost you as a team per event? Just curious

 

[Ash - GI Sportz]

In my experience it really depends who you get.

The very least you are looking at is that the paintball doesnt cost them anything, and 99% of the time you will need to cover all expenses (travel, hotel, food etc), although I have heard of some players covering their own flights because they just want to come to Europe.

Beyond that it's whether the player is of high enough caliber to warrant any kind of re-imbursement for their time/skill/input. With some of the serious money being thrown around by the Russian / rich was-european teams its not uncommon for players to command €1,000+ /event.

It also depends on what exactly the team is getting with them too - is it just a player for each Millennium event, or someone who is also coming in before events to help train the players and actually help the team like a coach. Guys like Kirill Prihidni on Frankfurt Syndicate and also back when Pete 'Mr U' Utschig & Ollie Lang were on Budapest Bullets are/were doing this.

 

[frobinson]

Thanks @Ash - DYE Europe that does actually answer the question quite well I'm supposing the majority of them probably have a price in mind prior to arranging their attendance. I don't think I could even put a number to it if I was in the position to try and hire someone in!

 

[onasilverbike]

In my experience it really depends who you get.

The very least you are looking at is that the paintball doesnt cost them anything, and 99% of the time you will need to cover all expenses (travel, hotel, food etc), although I have heard of some players covering their own flights because they just want to come to Europe.

Beyond that it's whether the player is of high enough caliber to warrant any kind of re-imbursement for their time/skill/input. With some of the serious money being thrown around by the Russian / rich was-european teams its not uncommon for players to command €1,000+ /event.

It also depends on what exactly the team is getting with them too - is it just a player for each Millennium event, or someone who is also coming in before events to help train the players and actually help the team like a coach. Guys like Kirill Prihidni on Frankfurt Syndicate and also back when Pete 'Mr U' Utschig & Ollie Lang were on Budapest Bullets are/were doing this.

Ash, think you should have added Dogs and Dynasty to that list

Hiring guns can become a liability, we have seen examples players come in to the pits before the game, and leave at the end, spending little to no time with the team they are playing with, preferring to hang out and drink with their cool buddies on their trade stand. Not all US players are like this, but some have been and some of those may have a tendency to pick up penalties and cause controversy for the team they play for.

Those that get involved with the team can be a real asset, but to get them involved in the training programme per-event is not only an extra expense but can be fraught with difficulties due to schedules. Can you imagine if the PSP and the MS rounds were a week apart? Would the player be an asset then as he would probably not be able to fly out of the US until at least the Monday be fore the MS if the PSP event was the weekend before, OK, they could train on site on the Thursday for an hour, if the team can stretch to booking a training spot too, though this may or may not be the most productive scenario. And if the PSP were the weekend after, it is unlikely that a player would be excused to go play in Europe the weekend before, while the rest of his team were practising! That said, a few players can just drop in to a team and make a difference, but when you add entry fees, paint, kits, possibly air fares, travel, accommodation, meals and even remuneration in to the equation, that adds up to a ton of cash that the team could possibly better afford to pay on supporting their own players and/or developing upcoming talent.

 

[Ash - GI Sportz]

Ash, think you should have added Dogs and Dynasty to that list

Hiring guns can become a liability, we have seen examples players come in to the pits before the game, and leave at the end, spending little to no time with the team they are playing with, preferring to hang out and drink with their cool buddies on their trade stand. Not all US players are like this, but some have been and some of those may have a tendency to pick up penalties and cause controversy for the team they play for.

Those that get involved with the team can be a real asset, but to get them involved in the training programme per-event is not only an extra expense but can be fraught with difficulties due to schedules. Can you imagine if the PSP and the MS rounds were a week apart? Would the player be an asset then as he would probably not be able to fly out of the US until at least the Monday be fore the MS if the PSP event was the weekend before, OK, they could train on site on the Thursday for an hour, if the team can stretch to booking a training spot too, though this may or may not be the most productive scenario. And if the PSP were the weekend after, it is unlikely that a player would be excused to go play in Europe the weekend before, while the rest of his team were practising! That said, a few players can just drop in to a team and make a difference, but when you add entry fees, paint, kits, possibly air fares, travel, accommodation, meals and even remuneration in to the equation, that adds up to a ton of cash that the team could possibly better afford to pay on supporting their own players and/or developing upcoming talent.

You're right Pete, as a team you have to be in a situation where that expense is not detrimental to the general running of the team, otherwise its a heavy downward spiral from there.

I've definitely seen some examples of the players who are literally just appearing to play the matches, then can only be found hanging out with the other US teams (usually drinking it has to be said) which, while you can't begrudge them seeing their mates and enjoying the event, for the money you are stumping up you would rather they weren't doing.

I have to say though that having Marcello Margott on our team last year was quite the opposite, he was a near perfect fit for the team both on and off the field and we benefited greatly from that.

 

[PortoX]

The thing I've always wanted to see is a "day in the life of ... " for a professional/team complete from the wake up alarm through till after event/day. Even if some of the general stuff (the wake up) being slightly staged. Just so you can see how much stuff goes into their event from the off. Nothing cheesy mind you cause sometimes people (including myself) can be right bellends.