A Wind of Change

[Gee Tee]

Recent?

Hmmm... I get your point

I guess the cheating issue has got more press of late - hence my comment

 

[HPUKer]

Prices aint gunna rise, generally corporations are managed by smart people, and smart people will realise the price and demad are linked, surely it is better to make the sport more affordable to people to play, increasing the size of the market as a whole by introducing more "regular players" who will want to purchase kit, instead of dwelling on the exsisting small market and selling products at a premium.....

Prices may rise if a corporation takes control of a unified league and also of gear production companies, and can create a world where you have to use their gear to compete in their league.

Also regarding "but big corporations means that there will only be a few major players so prices will go up" - no, they wont, competition stops that.

I think the focus will be on what is easy to sell, currently to your average joe public, woodsball is easier to sell, as it requires the least change of their perception of what the sport is, to change peoples perception requires a lot of work and resources. Making joe public think that paintball is tourny ball, is a dream far off...

 

[Dskize]

Maybe, but surely any company with half a brain is going to see that if paintball is seen as a cool sport (IE. skateboarding),then the chances of getting the kids into is far higher than if kids think it's as gay as joining the cadets..Thusly more kids = more Ion's sold = more paint fired.

then again I get the feeling other people have said this many times before and apparently the Industry is shifting the other way so maybe they are giving up and cashing in until they can all afford snowboard factories...

 

[Rider]

then again I get the feeling other people have said this many times before and apparently the Industry is shifting the other way so maybe they are giving up and cashing in until they can all afford snowboard factories...

that was kind of where i was coming from. look at the direciton face full have headed with their "supplement", with talk of this becoming a stand alone magazine. and also robbo's hints for the future of PGi magazine too.....

 

[HPUKer]

Maybe, but surely any company with half a brain is going to see that if paintball is seen as a cool sport (IE. skateboarding),then the chances of getting the kids into is far higher than if kids think it's as gay as joining the cadets..Thusly more kids = more Ion's sold = more paint fired.

I hear you, but that image change is the problem, it will take so so much effort, or time, or a combination of both for the image to change, it just wont be seen by joe public as a comparable "sport", or recreational activity.

Capturing peoples interest at grass routes i think, is easier, in the current way sites and leagues are publiciesd and operate in the UK (sorry, im limiting this to only the UK, as I understand image and perception are different accross the globe), when compared with changing the whole publics perception of something, and then introducing players to it.

Personally at the age of 12, i was drawn to playing paintball due to that whole point, because you got to creep around in the woods, and "snipe" people with your "machine gun" that shot bullets as fast as you could blink. Then the progression to tournaments followed naturally.

If I am a large corporation, I own many many paintball sites accross the UK, and, say I would like 5% of people a day, who play at my sites to purchase their own kit, from my manufacturers, by then end of the day, then attend my walkons and tournaments held at my sites, shooting my brand of paint, could i not make a few quid?

Grass roots is open to exploitation

 

[john251282]

I hear you, but that image change is the problem, it will take so so much effort, or time, or a combination of both for the image to change, it just wont be seen by joe public as a comparable "sport", or recreational activity.

Capturing peoples interest at grass routes i think, is easier, in the current way sites and leagues are publiciesd and operate in the UK (sorry, im limiting this to only the UK, as I understand image and perception are different accross the globe), when compared with changing the whole publics perception of something, and then introducing players to it.

Personally at the age of 12, i was drawn to playing paintball due to that whole point, because you got to creep around in the woods, and "snipe" people with your "machine gun" that shot bullets as fast as you could blink. Then the progression to tournaments followed naturally.

If I am a large corporation, I own many many paintball sites accross the UK, and, say I would like 5% of people a day, who play at my sites to purchase their own kit, from my manufacturers, by then end of the day, then attend my walkons and tournaments held at my sites, shooting my brand of paint, could i not make a few quid?

Grass roots is open to exploitation

Unfortunately it is not as simple as that, things like the huge differences in paint prices £100+ a box for a recballer as opposed to less that £40, sometimes much less for tourny baller.

My view would be to market tham both as totally different sports, perhaps paintball and Speedball or something similar.

There needs to be clear lines between the two, fact of the matter is site owners make much more money off recballers than people doing walkons, team training and tournys at their site. So why should they try and make their customer base smaller.

Hopefully at some point soon we will see more dedicated tourny style sites popping up which just do supair and reball. This will lead to a clear line of progression. Rental Ions or similar, force fed loaders, rental playing jerseys NOT CAMO. I suggest reball as opposed to paint as it is alot cheaper, lower initial costs mean it is easier to get more customers through the door, more customers means higher volume moving up to playing for a team and onwards.

 

[axess]

paintball is never going to shift its emphasis on to the 12-17 age group unless prices drop dramatically, paintball is simply to expensive for people of this age group to afford. i know there are players on this forum who fit in to this age group, so there are exceptions, but many of these seem to have been brought in to paintball through their parents, who support them because they want their children to love the sport they love.

Just because kids see a sport as cool doesn't mean they do it, take snow boarding for example.

the target market for serious paintball seems to be 20+ where people have enough money to invest in the sport, they are then able to bring their children through, but starting with "the kids" just wont work.

 

[Jonny 03]

What if we saw these guys going into site operation as well as equipment manufacture? Building and operating the sites to use and sell their equipment. Its not difficult to setup a site if you find the right location, staff etc... and with solid financial backing they would blow over competition.

 

[Jonny 03]

paintball is never going to shift its emphasis on to the 12-17 age group unless prices drop dramatically, paintball is simply to expensive for people of this age group to afford. i know there are players on this forum who fit in to this age group, so there are exceptions, but many of these seem to have been brought in to paintball through their parents, who support them because they want their children to love the sport they love.

Just because kids see a sport as cool doesn't mean they do it, take snow boarding for example.

the target market for serious paintball seems to be 20+ where people have enough money to invest in the sport, they are then able to bring their children through, but starting with "the kids" just wont work.

Youre kidding me right? If you look at this very forum theres more 12-17 year olds than ever before. These are kids with disposable income. At our site we used to run, 90% of our market was recurring customers aged 12-17. 18+ generally come down once every now and then, primarily due to commitments elsewhere it really isnt realistic, these kids however will come down every birthday party, will do it for fun as an alternative to video games. They dont have commitments, they arent paying a morgage, they are school kids with money to burn. Personally I think these young people are where the money is to be made, The paintball market is getting younger as the sport grows bigger.

 

[HPUKer]

Unfortunately it is not as simple as that, things like the huge differences in paint prices £100+ a box for a recballer as opposed to less that £40, sometimes much less for tourny baller.

I didnt say how much they should charge for paint.

My point is, currently, people enter the market, and then leave it, they will play paintball once or twice a year, but, if you can make more people into repeat customers, who, yes, may pay a little less for paint, but will regularly attend walk on days, and stay in the market, meaning one person, instead of being a two hitter, will be an entity that is consistently spending money for a long period of time, a better long term investment.

My view would be to market tham both as totally different sports, perhaps paintball and Speedball or something similar.

Interesting, but, like you said dude, its unfortunately not as simple as that To market them as seperate things, again, goes back to my point about perception, its gunna take a hella-lot-o-cash to create a new perception.

There needs to be clear lines between the two, fact of the matter is site owners make much more money off recballers than people doing walkons, team training and tournys at their site. So why should they try and make their customer base smaller.

I disagree, im not so sure about the facts, but my opinion is that site owners may make more money in one "hit" off a punter in the short term, but getting a person to invest in kit, then regularly play walk ons, actually would appear to make them MORE money.

Also, you may have missed the point i made about a corporation being in control of sites, and maufacturing goods, so not only do they could potentially get, with one person:

Initial "hit" of them paying punter prices + possible second punter "hit" + possible investment on kit, purchased from a company that the corporation owns, that is heavly marketed through their site + continued profit on paint sales and green fees from customer coming back, as owning kit binds an interest to play more + any upgrades or reinvesment the customer wishes to make in kit in the future.

I would say that is a lot more profitable, and also would help increase the size of the market, by capturing people in it. Rather than sticking to their guns, and relying on one customer coming back 3 times a year, tops.

The main challenge is converting a % of punters into a % of what i would describe as "recballers".

Tournament ball I would consider is a seperate issue, I do like in principle the idea of seperation, but i think the reality is, its just too much effort.

EDIT:

What if we saw these guys going into site operation as well as equipment manufacture?

Nail, head. Bang.