Paintball on TV has always, rightly or wrongly, been the holy grail for a lot of us because not only does it inject some much needed validation, it also broadens our sport's potential on so many levels.
The problem thus far encountered by our sport in terms of getting paintball on TV hasn't really been one of opportunity; in fact, we have done rather well over the years in the number of opportunities we have had. Our problem seems to be something else because self evidently, the networks have yet to seriously invest in paintball.
Now, it seems to me that even though we have had this media exposure with various productions ranging from Jerry Braun’s opening gambit in a Floridian orange grove to the NPPL’s recent ESPN production and latterly onto the Smart Part’s initiative, we still haven’t managed to persuade the networks to support paintball in any meaningful way.
There are two possibilities to explain our failure, either our sport just doesn’t work on TV or the productions we have managed thus far haven’t been good enough.
Originally I believed paintball could be televised in an entertaining and informative way so as to attract the right sort of response from the virgin paintball viewers and ultimately the networks.
After several failed attempts, I have been weaned off that idea and dumped smack into the middle of the cynics along with Baca and co who I think believes Paintball has little chance of making it on TV, no matter what quality of production is presented to the likes of ESPN.
It seems ironic to me, that we may be the architects of our own failure here.
Smart Parts and the WDP guys do not get on, this acrimony had its genesis back in the day when both were developing the electronic marker and the courts then became the theatre of action rather than the marketplace.
10 million dollars in lawyers fees later, the result?
Well, the result is….some fat ass, rich lawyers got fatter and richer, no real surprises there.
The real loss may not be that $10 mill that went down the ****ter, I am drawn to the question of how things would have been if there were no such acrimony between these two parties.
Would a less fractured industry have been successful in getting paintball on TV?
There is a part of me that thinks so….
The NPPL (WDP & Pure Promotions) guys undoubtedly have skills the NXL (PSP) and SP guys do not, and this skill-set is crucial to any successful TV initiative.
It is also just as apparent, the PSP, NXL and SP guys have resources the NPPL doesn’t.
In an ideal world, the combination of these two parties would provide paintball with its best possible chance but I’m afraid we don’t live in an ideal world, far from it in fact.
And even if SP and WDP hadn’t gone for each other’s jugular in the courts, I somehow doubt both parties would have joined forces to conquer the TV problem anyway.
Business is all about looking after yourself and it runs against the grain for most people to combine companies in joint enterprises; ego, greed and self-interest generally determine these unilateral approaches thus maximizing the opportunity to make the most amount of money and claim the most amount of power.
It is glaringly obvious to me that for about the last 3 years or so, had certain parties not split, then paintball, as an industry, would be in a far better situation than it is now.
At the moment, we are just too fragmented, in terms of tournaments, interests and ultimate goals.
Paintball is crying out to be unified on several levels and I think it’s important that any prospective move toward TV must present a unified body.
It makes things so much easier for obvious reasons.
I would ask you guys to ponder the following :-
Think of the type of event that could be possible if the financial clout of Billy and Adam, Dave YB and the rest of the crew were combined with the inspirational and professional promotion philosophies of the NPPL.
I know that marriage would be somewhat difficult to negotiate and manage but it doesn’t take much to fully realize how the standard of tournaments would escalate through the roof when such a combined tournament circuit were to become the only league in town.
The combined clout of that league could then set world agendas, they could almost guarantee with the flick of a pen that all other world paintball federations and leagues would necessarily fall into line behind them.
There are a few things happening right now that could well nudge this whole situation toward what I am advocating here but it’s on a knife-edge of circumstance and that in itself is infuriating because if it is that close, then why on earth don’t we MAKE it happen instead of allowing circumstances and chance to decide.
I have long since commented that paintball as an overall industry has this unerring knack of shooting itself in the foot, but I also added, we would probably even miss that shot
I wonder when commonsense will finally hit town and we can all get on and work in the same direction, sounds a bit of a cliché I know but it would be nice if I woke up one day and we could.
And so my point is, for as long as our industry is more interested in fighting itself, then getting paintball on TV is about as likely as Alex Fraige winning the ‘Hottest male in Paintball’ award ……..and anyway, that title I have yet to give up
The problem thus far encountered by our sport in terms of getting paintball on TV hasn't really been one of opportunity; in fact, we have done rather well over the years in the number of opportunities we have had. Our problem seems to be something else because self evidently, the networks have yet to seriously invest in paintball.
Now, it seems to me that even though we have had this media exposure with various productions ranging from Jerry Braun’s opening gambit in a Floridian orange grove to the NPPL’s recent ESPN production and latterly onto the Smart Part’s initiative, we still haven’t managed to persuade the networks to support paintball in any meaningful way.
There are two possibilities to explain our failure, either our sport just doesn’t work on TV or the productions we have managed thus far haven’t been good enough.
Originally I believed paintball could be televised in an entertaining and informative way so as to attract the right sort of response from the virgin paintball viewers and ultimately the networks.
After several failed attempts, I have been weaned off that idea and dumped smack into the middle of the cynics along with Baca and co who I think believes Paintball has little chance of making it on TV, no matter what quality of production is presented to the likes of ESPN.
It seems ironic to me, that we may be the architects of our own failure here.
Smart Parts and the WDP guys do not get on, this acrimony had its genesis back in the day when both were developing the electronic marker and the courts then became the theatre of action rather than the marketplace.
10 million dollars in lawyers fees later, the result?
Well, the result is….some fat ass, rich lawyers got fatter and richer, no real surprises there.
The real loss may not be that $10 mill that went down the ****ter, I am drawn to the question of how things would have been if there were no such acrimony between these two parties.
Would a less fractured industry have been successful in getting paintball on TV?
There is a part of me that thinks so….
The NPPL (WDP & Pure Promotions) guys undoubtedly have skills the NXL (PSP) and SP guys do not, and this skill-set is crucial to any successful TV initiative.
It is also just as apparent, the PSP, NXL and SP guys have resources the NPPL doesn’t.
In an ideal world, the combination of these two parties would provide paintball with its best possible chance but I’m afraid we don’t live in an ideal world, far from it in fact.
And even if SP and WDP hadn’t gone for each other’s jugular in the courts, I somehow doubt both parties would have joined forces to conquer the TV problem anyway.
Business is all about looking after yourself and it runs against the grain for most people to combine companies in joint enterprises; ego, greed and self-interest generally determine these unilateral approaches thus maximizing the opportunity to make the most amount of money and claim the most amount of power.
It is glaringly obvious to me that for about the last 3 years or so, had certain parties not split, then paintball, as an industry, would be in a far better situation than it is now.
At the moment, we are just too fragmented, in terms of tournaments, interests and ultimate goals.
Paintball is crying out to be unified on several levels and I think it’s important that any prospective move toward TV must present a unified body.
It makes things so much easier for obvious reasons.
I would ask you guys to ponder the following :-
Think of the type of event that could be possible if the financial clout of Billy and Adam, Dave YB and the rest of the crew were combined with the inspirational and professional promotion philosophies of the NPPL.
I know that marriage would be somewhat difficult to negotiate and manage but it doesn’t take much to fully realize how the standard of tournaments would escalate through the roof when such a combined tournament circuit were to become the only league in town.
The combined clout of that league could then set world agendas, they could almost guarantee with the flick of a pen that all other world paintball federations and leagues would necessarily fall into line behind them.
There are a few things happening right now that could well nudge this whole situation toward what I am advocating here but it’s on a knife-edge of circumstance and that in itself is infuriating because if it is that close, then why on earth don’t we MAKE it happen instead of allowing circumstances and chance to decide.
I have long since commented that paintball as an overall industry has this unerring knack of shooting itself in the foot, but I also added, we would probably even miss that shot
I wonder when commonsense will finally hit town and we can all get on and work in the same direction, sounds a bit of a cliché I know but it would be nice if I woke up one day and we could.
And so my point is, for as long as our industry is more interested in fighting itself, then getting paintball on TV is about as likely as Alex Fraige winning the ‘Hottest male in Paintball’ award ……..and anyway, that title I have yet to give up
