Because thats what he does every single time. We really should stop being so suprised.
I respond to the things I disagree with and generally leave the things I agree with alone. And I don't agree that players pay to 'promote the sport'. They pay to have a good event.
Chicago thinks that its better to have a well run event in butt-fxck-nowhere than to have a well run event in Stadium City, simply because it would cost less.
Not quite. Chicago thinks that if it costs less to have the event in BFN than in Stadium City, you should have the event in BFN.
Now, keep in mind that when I say "costs less" I'm not talking about the entry fee. I'm talking about what the league can charge players and vendors vs. what it costs to be there. If the sponsors and players are willing to pay more fees to be in the city over bumblescrew, then by all means, have the event in the city. But I just don't see that as the case.
As it makes no difference where the event is to him, he can see no reason why anyone else would care either. Players could all say (as the people ultimately paying for it) that they would rather have the events in a great location, but if he was making the decision he would just ignore them and tell us he was right all along.
I think there is a big difference between what players SAY they want and what they are willing to actually haul their wallets out and pay for, and I think there is a big difference between the romantic idea of what having events in Stadium City does for the sport as compared to the reality of it.
Of course, there are some people who will pay just to be in Stadium City at the expense of all else, and some people who won't pay a cent to be anywhere other than BFN, but the majority of the players are in the middle. And the sponsors are in the same boat. When you get down to it, outside of I think Huntington Beach, nobody sees ANY benefit from being in Stadium City as opposed to BFN. You get exactly the same people there (paintball players), because...
NOBODY GOES TO PAINTBALL EVENTS WHO DOES NOT PLAY PAINTBALL, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO PLAYS PAINTBALL!
It doesn't happen. Period. You can scream "not reaching the public" until you're blue in the face, but the public ain't looking anyway, unless they are LITERALLY walking right by the field (ala Huntington Beach).
There are really only two options. You can have an event in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nobody going to the paintball tournament, or you can have it in the middle of a city, surrounded by lots of people who are not going to the tournament. The effect is the same - nobody going to the tournament.
If you have two leagues, one with great fields and reffing, in BFN, and the other with shoddy fields and reffing in Stadium City, I think the league in BFN would be more successful. If you have two leagues, both with great reffing and fields and organization, one in BFN for $2,000 and one in Stadium City for $2500, I still think the BFN league would be more successful. The only time I see the Stadium City league winning is if both leagues have shoddy reffing and organization and fields and charge nearly the same price.
And if you don't believe me, compare PSP attendance to NPPL attendance. NPPL charges a bit more and has more 'Stadium City' locations, and PSP charges a bit less and has more 'BFN' locations. The 'BFN' events still outsell the 'Stadium City' events. And even within each league, the BFN events don't do any worse than the Stadium City events.
