Moving forward or breaking down?

[Baca Loco]

It just occurred to me that if all the variants of "bigtime" pball are kept isolated this coming year, for whatever reason, it's gonna be that much harder to proclaim paintball's best--at least in the short term. After all, while it might be easy to say NXL champ is obviously it there are gonna be plenty of well known and well regarded "pros" playin' other formats. And when you break it down even further, a NPPL S7 champ, a PSP 10-man champ, a PSP X-Ball champ, a Mil Series champ. . .
Pball might as well be boxing with a half dozen alphabet champs in each weight class.

While I am inclined to regard a fully realized and developed NXL as the Pro future of pball this coming fragmentation can't be a positive for anybody. How do sponsors see the best return from their investment if their teams are restricted from where they can play?
Until the NXL is something other than a traveling road show doesn't it make more sense to let the NXL teams continue to prove their superiority against all comers?

 

[sjt19]

i agree, but also it should be noted that the potential for improvement for the teams out there that are not playing Xball, or are in the lower pro or top am bracket will be disadvantaged as they will not be playing against the best on a regular basis. Does this mean that the likes of Dynasty and Lanche will not be able to improve as much, or as fast, as teams like 'Shock or the Ironmen who will play the best teams regularly? Will certain teams get 'left behind' as the others progress?

It aslo means that there will not be as much importance placed on the winners of Nppl, PSP, Millennium events/series if not all of the best teams in the world compete. Although the flipside of this is that the Euro teams will get a better chance of winning Millennium events due to the lack of USA competition.

 

[TJ Lambini]

I wouldn't be surprised if the top Euro teams head over for Super 7s in order to improve.

Remember, Super 7s have got the single best team on the circuit playing em, and top Euros can still learn a lot from Naughty Dogs, Bad Company, Lockout, Rage and so on.

 

[headrock6]

Once again

we see players have the ability to force the hands of the promoters,yet they let themselves get pulled by the strings every step of the way..Its painfully obvious that the PRO players have the upper hand here as the NXL just wont work without them yet they sign contracts limiting themselves as to where they can play..Now if they were getting paid like athletes i'd see no reason for them to be anywhere else, but at the moment the only thing I see the $150,000 price tag got them is the right to play against other Pro's exclusively and a city name for thier teams which at the moment doesn't mean to much as Atlanta Strange doesn't come from Atlanta,isn't playing in Atlanta,and generally has no connection to Atlanta whatsoever unless NXL takes off bigtime..

All we needed was 3 or 4 of these big name teams to say "hey,were not signing these contracts so have fun with your 4 team X-Ball league" and we could have seen the NXL foundations starting to shake a little...

It really is a shame that once again the teams take a "Follow the Leader" approach to this situation..They had all the chips in thier hands(this time)and they folded..

And with these new contracts,is it time for the Pro players to form a players union to represent them??It seems they are jumping into untested waters and I hope for the players sakes they have the right representation behind them if things get out of control..

 

[Baca Loco]

Hey, 6
The only problem with that is even most of the "pros" can't be sure just what value they have at this time. Some of them would (and will, we hope) get paid to play but there are undoubtedly a fair number of others who would simply be replaced.
The other problem is, of course, that like in the past the promotors are also the owners (mostly) and we are a long way from running NXL franchises like real sports franchises. Right now everyone bandies about these six figure price tags as if this was serious money and the truth is they're really trying to launch this thing on the cheap.
As it stands there is only one NXL team I'm aware of that is making a concerted effort to take care of it's players.

 

[headrock6]

Shazzam...

Originally posted by Baca Loco
Hey, 6
The only problem with that is even most of the "pros" can't be sure just what value they have at this time. Some of them would (and will, we hope) get paid to play but there are undoubtedly a fair number of others who would simply be replaced.

But we can agree that SF Intimdators vs. NY Extreme are gonna draw a hell of alot more people than say Rookie team 1 vs. rookie team 2 or even Amatuer team 1 vs. Amatuer team 2 so they do have a better hand than most at the moment..NXL will rely very heavily on the Pros to make this work and without them,the owners have nothing..

Originally posted by Baca Loco
As it stands there is only one NXL team I'm aware of that is making a concerted effort to take care of it's players.

Glad to see that someone is looking out for the players interest



But heres the real question...Say after 1 NXL event certain players feel X-Ball isnt what they want to do anymore..Where do they stand with those contracts they signed??Does that mean no 7 or 10 man in PSP,NPPL,or Millenium for the length of the contract??I just hope some of these players read the small print before signing thier playing careers over..

And I just saw sumthin interesting in the GZ thread..It says thier hitting the X-Ball series and PSP 5 man...Whats the deal with that??Thought that was a no no

-6

 

[shamu]

Shazzam...

Originally posted by headrock6
But heres the real question...Say after 1 NXL event certain players feel X-Ball isnt what they want to do anymore..Where do they stand with those contracts they signed??Does that mean no 7 or 10 man in PSP,NPPL,or Millenium for the length of the contract??I just hope some of these players read the small print before signing thier playing careers over..

-6

I have to wonder if the exclusivity clause was in the contract the NXL players signed or if it was added as a later stipulation. If there was an exclusivity clause in the original contract, then none of this should come as a surprise as it was part of the hiring criteria. If it was added later, then the exclusivity clause may not be enforcable - i.e. a defacto restriction on the contractees ability to earn a living.

However, it's common practice for many companies to include non-compete clauses in hiring contracts. For example, a senior executive at MacDonald's can't take a similar job with Burger King for a specified amount of time. If there is a similar non-compete clause in the NXL contracts (or the exclusivity clause was in the initial contract), the players could leave but not be able to play for a competing team/league.

or maybe I'm just talking out of me ol' bunghole...

(I'm assuming the NXL players actually signed contracts and hoping they're getting paid well )

PS - OK 'rock6, if you're going to edit your message while I'm replying, I'm doing the same thing

Jerry said in the press conference that a team couldn't play Xball and 10 man. I didn't hear anything about 5 man. Since they run on different days, they'll probably allow it. Not much pro 5 man action outside World Cup anyway.

 

[Baca Loco]

Re: Shazzam...

Originally posted by shamu

(I'm assuming the NXL players actually signed contracts and hoping they're getting paid well )

Don't think so. At this point whatever contracts exist are between the NXL and the franchisees.

 

[headrock6]

Re: Shazzam...

Originally posted by shamu
PS - OK 'rock6, if you're going to edit your message while I'm replying, I'm doing the same thing

Sorry bro,bad habit...

Originally posted by shamu
Jerry said in the press conference that a team couldn't play Xball and 10 man. I didn't hear anything about 5 man. Since they run on different days, they'll probably allow it. Not much pro 5 man action outside World Cup anyway.

Which would make the exclusive contracts then one big pile o **** in my eyes if that were the case...Whether Jerrys intentions are good or not,that doesn't look good if thats the case...

 

[TJ Lambini]

See today's homepage for exactly what NXLers can and can't play Headrock...