Empress in the News

[duffistuta]

Originally posted by manike
How do you define their value to their sponsors?

Let's pick on another team for a moment... I dunno... how about the Evil Sharks?

A hugely sponsored team no doubt about it.

We are????

Great thread, and I don't want to digress it, but just to set the record straight, back in 97 when there was just the plain old Sharks and we were a very good Amateur team with more sportmanship awards than anyone bar The Turks, we got much more sponsorship than we do now - even with the current PGI connection and Pipes running Evil Europe.

And is it the case that Empress, by virtue of being all over this and other websites and doubtless about to be in magazines, are already proving their sponsorship value in ways which many top US Amateur teams, and some Pro teams, aren't?

What do you want as a sponsor, ability or visibility? Do they go hand in hand necessarily? Should they?

 

[duffistuta]

Someone's feeling rightfully defensive

Originally posted by Baca Loco
1--the crux of the matter. I would suggest even the sponsors themselves have little idea what works and how much benefit is derived. I would also suggest this state of affairs is changing as companies get bigger and more professional and--shameless plug--one of these days Ant will get around to using a 'VIEW' written awhile ago now about the future of sponsorship as we know it today.
2

See issue 181, which also holds another related article by a rather interesting new writer on why XBall is not financially viable, which touches on some similar ground to the View.

 

[Raxxman]

doesn't the majority of sales still come from the rec balling side of the game?

at which point aren't people fighting over small fry?

anyhow personally I don't think people should be sponsered just for who they are, but they are.

At the end of the day lets see how well they do, at which point we can then cast judgement. So in a years time if Empress haven't lived up to expectations are they still gonna be around?

Please note that was an IF not a WHEN

 

[duffistuta]

Question is, whose expectations? If their sponsorship is based upon the team members spending power (through stores and fields) then how they do on the field is immaterial - how much 'they' spend is the real deciding factor.

At least that's what (or part of what) Manike is suggesting is the root of their 'sponsorship'.

 

[Furby]

Just my observations here, nothing more:

1: I've played with and against all female teams in the past. Based on that experience, I find myself intimidated going up against an all female team. As a group they're more focused and just flat vicious.

2: Not to pick on Empress, but if you look at the picture you'll note that none of those girls are large people. Clare in particular is tiny...5'2", 5'3" maybe? Smaller, harder to hit target.

3: The "Oh, they're just a girl team" factor...very easy to underestimate an all girl team because they're "Just girls". Next thing you know they have their foot in your ass.

4: The mother instinct. A friend of mine on the International Iron Maidens (Anne Kempa for those of you who care) is a very sweet lady...until you get on the field and you shoot at her friend. Then she turns into this unholy monster belching out paint and hate at whoever dares to shoot at her or her teammates. At Skyball 2002, she used my Uprising equipped autococker. During the course of a game (while I had Dennis Ashley with me observing) we saw continuous ropes of paint coming from back center suppressing EVERYTHING. The people she was playing with were all friends, and the resulting instincts resulted in a solid win for that team during that particular game, and helped alleviate some concerns Dennis had about the Uprising.

*shrug* Perhaps I'm a bit biased because I have a bit more experience than some going against and with female players. My advice? If you happen to face off against a female team, play them just like you would a male team...it's quite possible you'll regret it if you don't.

 

[manike]

Originally posted by Furby
*shrug* Perhaps I'm a bit biased because I have a bit more experience than some going against and with female players. My advice? If you happen to face off against a female team, play them just like you would a male team...it's quite possible you'll regret it if you don't.

I had similar experiences when I first played the Fat Lady's Charms. At first I didn't take them seriously but they've been training and practicing hard and they are a decent team. They have some killer players and shouldn't be under estimated when you step on the field.

I've played against Clare quite a bit, and I definitely don't under estimate her when we are against each other. (at this point I was going to make a rude comment about shooting her in the face, but in respect of degrading the threads I won't comment at all about my balls on her face...)

The fact is with many teams we don't know how or why they get their sponsorship (or to what level for that matter). We should be careful about what assumptions we jump to.

Originally posted by duffistuta
Great thread, and I don't want to digress it, but just to set the record straight, back in 97 when there was just the plain old Sharks and we were a very good Amateur team with more sportmanship awards than anyone bar The Turks, we got much more sponsorship than we do now - even with the current PGI connection and Pipes running Evil Europe.

That's interesting to know. So your saying either you got a huge deal back then or Pipes is tightwad and needs to brush the moths off his wallet and hook you guys up.

Originally posted by Baca Loco
Or are you simply continuing to dodge the original question posed? So far you've only responded selectively and even then tried to change the subject twice.
And yes, I like the condescension. It becomes you.

Says the true master! I'm trying boss. And the boards were rather dull yesterday.

 

[Piper]

Originally posted by manike




That's interesting to know. So your saying either you got a huge deal back then or Pipes is tightwad and needs to brush the moths off his wallet and hook you guys up.

Si
Me old mucker. I have told you time and time again, when reading duff's post beleave half of what you read and nothing of what you see

Or could it be back in the day there were not half as many teams that think they should get something, for example:

8 years ago 50 UK teams to spread 50,000,000 paintballs around in sponsorship.

8 Years on 200 UK teams to spread 50,000,000 paintballs around in sponsorship.

Please note the above is only an example.

 

[manike]

Originally posted by Andy Piper
Or could it be back in the day there were not half as many teams that think they should get something, for example:

8 years ago 50 UK teams to spread 50,000,000 paintballs around in sponsorship.

8 Years on 200 UK teams to spread 50,000,000 paintballs around in sponsorship.

Please note the above is only an example.

I hear you. And I do believe you because I even remember you buying rounds! And now that people know your sponsorship numbers you'll be getting even more e-mails.

It amazes me how many people in paintball ask for sponsorship and free stuff. I ended up stopping PM's/E-mails on all the web forums I visit pretty much, because I just couldn't keep up with the requests and answering the questions.

p.s. To anyone reading this, DISCLAIMER, I don't do sponsorships, I don't know retail or wholesale prices, and I don't know what we have in stock or what events we will be at. I get kept in a dark room and fed on steak and shrimp... (or that's what I say anyway)