How to get new players in to the sport?

[Barsteward]

There are a number of barriers and challenges that you encounter with Paintball and this basically comes down to two key issues:

Cost
Equipment / information overload

Cost is an obvious one, it costs money to paintball and buy equipment. Sites are there to make a profit and they no doubt make the majority of their money from public groups who come once or twice a year. Paying £40 to £60 is fine as a one off expense and will provide the site with a far better ROI than having lots of people coming on a regular basis where the profit margin is purely on paint. You could encourage a lot of people to start playing by running loyalty schemes or membership schemes. Although it could be made cheaper through various schemes, is there really longevity in only attracting people who can only play during discount times?

Equipment variation is something that proved a challenge to me very recently. Decided to get back into the sport and did some research and found the sheer variation of markers / hoppers / air systems / masks a real difficulty. Asking for advice doesn't necessary help as what is right can be hugely subjective and people will generally have loyalty to their existing kit / sponsors kit.

One thing that might help is to get a small group of experienced players and create a simple grid with three options for each of the main pieces of kit: Marker / Mask / Air System / Hopper / Battle Pack. This could be enhanced be enhanced by doing three grids for beginner / intermediate / top end. This would certainly simplify what someone needs to get into the sport from an equipment side.

Ultimately paintball / airsoft have both been around for a very long time. All sports have a plateau and paintball's has possibly already happened. I think making it more visible and increasing advertising / promotion is really the only other area that is likely to increase numbers. However that generally requires quite substantial investment and may only provide limited returns.

 

[Rat]

Drive around a local town, jump out and put pillow case over heads of people in the right age range, bundle them into a van and take them to nearest site.

bingo!

 

[a2ruedas]

Drive around a local town, jump out and put pillow case over heads of people in the right age range, bundle them into a van and take them to nearest site.

bingo!

Or just drive around a local town shooting people and have them chase you to your local site :-p

 

[semtexuk]

Simply put guys no disrespect intended, if our industry didnt penalize those at there initial introduction to the sport ie £80 for a 1000 paintballs plus a £10 rental fee ect then people wouldn't have that conversation ending in the inevitable "had the best day,cost an arm and a leg though" I appreciate that people need to make a living but if as an industry paintball was made more financialy viable wouldn't it benifit as a whole....just a thought.:...

 

[F3Z]

I don't agree semtex.. a day of paintball is worth £60-£80. As a new rental player if that means you only get 1000 paintballs well then so be it but the likely hood is and a rental player you'll think you shot loads of bullets.

When you play a walk-on / tournament by the time you factor transport food etc you'll probably still spending £60-£80 so the introductory cost is quite a good representation of the game in general.

The paintball industry needs to make money where it can because everyone wants something for nothing. If that means a few extra quid on the price of a stag do's weekend then I'm all for it.

 

[semtexuk]

Isnt the ethos of the thread "getting more into the sport"? My point is if the paintball industry was operating at that lower introductory price then as a result you get more return custom= more people playing more frequently more cash flowing in overall production costs as demand rises paintball starts to dominate the sporting world....ok thats wishful thinking but I stand by my initial statement in this financial climate in my mind it stands to reason.. But hey its just an opinion and there like noses everyone has one and everyone else's smells,...;-)

 

[Iron Lions - Ed]

Let me come at it from another angle. Some contect first. When I started playing I went straight into sup air having googled for London based teams and made contact. I stopped playing reguarly 6-7 years ago as I just couldn't afford the amount we were playing and the international trips and i wanted to focus other things. I've come back and been looking at this forum the last couple of days as I've been volunteered to help organise a works rec ball trip.

With my knowledge and looking at this thread I ask myself what would increase the odds of someone I take along thinking it might be something they want to look into further. So, I'm going to try and use a site that does use walkons and ideally also has sup air fields and teams practising. I'm going to try and organise for a lunchtime presentation on the options for walkon and tournies and show and tell on some of the non rec ball gear. If possible I'll use a bit of the time for anyone interested to spectate a some sup air training going on by a team. If not or in addition maybe a chance to fire a string from a tournie marker to see the difference.

Should disrupt their day as it will be mostly during lunch but should give a bit of education.I believe show is much more powerful than tell!!

Now those things I'm going to organise because i know they are out there but I can't go with every punter group every weekend so if some of this could be done as standard by sites that offer the other formats it might help them create new regular players and customers. Their reviews will stand out from the punter only sites as people start mentioning the extras they got to see/do. Makes a nice differentiatior from the other sites so plenty of commercial reasons to do this as well.

 

[Southern goodness]

I say just bring em to a Walton that's how I got 2 of my friends started, let them use one of my guns and they went and bought a full scenario and tourney kit

 

[Tom]

Isnt the ethos of the thread "getting more into the sport"? My point is if the paintball industry was operating at that lower introductory price then as a result you get more return custom= more people playing more frequently more cash flowing in overall production costs as demand rises paintball starts to dominate the sporting world....ok thats wishful thinking but I stand by my initial statement in this financial climate in my mind it stands to reason.. But hey its just an opinion and there like noses everyone has one and everyone else's smells,...;-)

This thread is about getting new players in
With regard to the financial climate it is not always correct to drop prices, this can be the beginning of the end

The current financial climate is not the same as crashes such as 'the great depression'
We do have the unemployed and soaring numbers, but do have benefits for that, at soaring costs
People do still have disposable income (not everyone) and they spend it more wisely
Punter paintball caters for that market. People have some money to spend and want more fun and excitement for their money
Paintball sites provide that
Cutting prices may bring more customers, but when they are coming anyway you are just eating into your profits
What is needed is to retain the payers to return. In the longer term that is where walkons, tournaments and events come in. The pricing model changes with walkon to encourage players to keep coming back, but also reflects potentially cheaper costs for the site to run walkons. A walkon game potentially needs less Marshall's then looking after punters and keeping them safe

 

[semtexuk]

Good point, maybe how I should put it is that sites could mabye more actively. promote walkon days maybe as someone else suggested as a membership privilege were paint prices are reduced you get a whole introduction to decent markers that shot straight and the benifits of investing in your own equipment ect as before I wholeheartedly appreciate that bills need to be paid and wages made but lets actively encourage the return custom so more new blood has a route in to the sport and a viable way to stay..longterm.