Major League Paintball - a discussion

[Tony Harrison]

Let's start off with the MS.

As things stand, the CPL has lost 5 teams out of 16, 2 due to relegation.

That's pretty much a third of the teams that compete in the CPL, and leaves 11 teams in the CPL.

Now, as I understand it, the top 2 teams in the SPL don't have to be promoted. They are asked if they want to make the move, and if the answer is no, then the MS simply ask the 3rd & 4th placed teams if they want the CPL spots, then they keep moving down the list until someone says yes.

Added to this - and please correct me if I am wrong - if you want in to the CPL or SPL, and a spot is available, you can simply buy the spot. So you don't have to win the spot by competing and being promoted.

Now, the MS website has just announced that Paris Camp Carnage is moving up to the CPL from the SPL. Looking at the SPL league table, they were in 4th position.

So, does this mean that the three teams above them all refused promotion? Or did Carnage simply buy a spot?

This means that CPL is now down to 12 teams, from last year's 16.

If not, are the losses from the CPL just teams coming to the end of their career or is it a sign that it is getting far too expensive to compete in the MS?

And would the MS we willing to take steps to address the situation if the latter is true?

 

[Dave284]

Carnage bought a spot, as far as i'm aware they've taken over joys old spot.

 

[Bolter]

Well part of the reason we left the MS was because they wanted the full seasons money paid before the first event. Do they still ask for this? Its so hard to find the money, we even got a bank loan as a team to pay it one year.

 

[Buddha 3]

That's ridiculous! I can't see how that is helping the game...

 

[dextrus]

MS is goiing down and also is PSP aprently.

Hows the USPL nowdays? Not much heard about it...

 

[Tony Harrison]

As I understand it - and please correct me if I am wrong - the MS asks for prepayment of the full year's entry fee for CPL, SPL and D1 teams. So, the teams commit to a full season by paying for a full year up front.

The rest of the divisions can simply "pay as they play" at whatever events they choose to attend.

The date that reigistration opens for Paris hasn't been posted yet.

Now, this approach makes financial sense for the league, as you have some degree of certainty about which teams are attending and how much money you can expect to get from them in entry fees.

You can then work out how much money you need from your other sources of income - such as the league's sponsors - to run the year's events.

So essentially, it's a balancing exercise.

This is a far cry from when attending the Mayhem Masters cost £600 per team - but then, as soon as you hold a tournament away from an existing paintball site, costs go through the roof.

As far as the NPPL/USPL goes, I believe they are still strong - registration opens on Wendesday 26 January for HB.

They charge teams $3500 per event to play in the pro league, with a $800 discount if you pay upfront for the entire season.

That works out at $13,200 if you pay for the 4 events up front, or £14,000 if you don't.

I believe the PSP operates a similar system to the NPPL - you can pay per event, or get a discount if you pay up front for the whole season.

Now, the PSP is in the unenviable position of being the first Major League event of the season - so that means they have to get their finances in order before everyone else does.

They do a similar calculation of how much they can expect from the teams, and this tells them how much they need from their other sources of income, such as the league's sponsors.

The problem both the NPPL and the PSP face is, if enough teams don't prepay, they have a lack of start-up capital and so have look to the league's sponsors to provide the shortfall.

We have all read Lane Wright's statement about the PSP, and so we know the problem he faces.

Looking at it from a team's point of view, to play in one of the Major Leagues requires very deep pockets. A team needs money for entry fees, paint, gear, car hire, air fares, hotel accommodation, food, and practice between events. On top of that, you need cash for incidentals like batteries, spare lenses and gun spares.

So ideally, every team needs a "money man" behind them, like, say, Doc's Raiders, Impact, TBD and Legion, so that everything is taken care of and the players can just concentrate on playing.

Unfortunately, "money men" are in short supply at the moment.

Getting back to the MS, Robbo has an interview coming up with Stephen Baldwin shortly, so that should be very interesting.

Stephen is the Accounting Officer for the MS, and has a long history of being involved with MLP, as he was one of the organisers of the Mayhem Masters.

 

[Fish]

The date that reigistration opens for Paris hasn't been posted yet.

As of 21/1/11, when they released the location details, registration is open for Paris.


Also, I think you'll find your hugely jumping the gun regarding how many teams will be in the CPL this year. Albeit, last season, they'd made an announcement the following December about the teams gaining promotion, then any that followed that were spot changes/purchases, but I expect the same round-up announcement to be on the way shortly. I don't think you can speculate as to how many teams will be in any of the locked divisions until they are infact locked. I would also be highly surprised if they left CPL spots unfilled, that is after all their showcase division, and if they can't physically sell the spots to people, how could they expect people to want to strive to achieve them?!

 

[Tony Harrison]

Apologies for my error - registration for Paris opened yesterday, and 2 teams have been registered - one in D2, and one in D3, the "pay as you play" divisions.

 

[Bolter]

As I understand it - and please correct me if I am wrong - the MS asks for prepayment of the full year's entry fee for CPL, SPL and D1 teams. So, the teams commit to a full season by paying for a full year up front.

The rest of the divisions can simply "pay as they play" at whatever events they choose to attend.

Now, this approach makes financial sense for the league, as you have some degree of certainty about which teams are attending and how much money you can expect to get from them in entry fees.

You can then work out how much money you need from your other sources of income - such as the league's sponsors - to run the year's events.

So essentially, it's a balancing exercise.

Yes we understood what they were trying to do, but it was still VERY hard to come up with that sort of money, roster lock your team so its unworkably small, and have enough youth on the team to be able to compete and keep your spot, which involves the older guys (whom there are less of) forking out more money because the young-uns are just that. Young, with hardly any disposable income. Its a balancing act for both sides of the fence, something that we felt was overlooked/not cared about.

 

[Tony Harrison]

As of 21/1/11, when they released the location details, registration is open for Paris.


Also, I think you'll find your hugely jumping the gun regarding how many teams will be in the CPL this year. Albeit, last season, they'd made an announcement the following December about the teams gaining promotion, then any that followed that were spot changes/purchases, but I expect the same round-up announcement to be on the way shortly. I don't think you can speculate as to how many teams will be in any of the locked divisions until they are infact locked. I would also be highly surprised if they left CPL spots unfilled, that is after all their showcase division, and if they can't physically sell the spots to people, how could they expect people to want to strive to achieve them?!

In reply to your edited post, I am not jumping the gun - I am merely reporting on the situation as it stands at the moment.

I don't think the MS has faced losing a third of its CPL teams in any previous year, so I too am looking forward to "round-up" annoucement you refer to.

However, given the ecomomic situation, I think teams would be hard pressed to come up with the licence fee to fit all the empty CPL spots, so I think the CPL may be looking at a reduced number of teams this year.