The bottom line of this saga is this, If (and it's a frikkin big if), Dick Clark pulls it out his ass and plonks paintball on TV (whatever typre format) and if (another big if) Richmond can generate a significant income stream from the production, he (Richmond) will then extend that benefit across the pond to Europe in keepin the EXL alive.
The EXL can surive in only one of two ways, one is where Richmond supports the promoters and underwrites promotional costs which I am pretty sure he would do if Dick Clark comes up trumps.
The other is where the European promoters would invest in the idea again on the back of a separtely negotiated deal for the EXL in terms of filming it.
The latter I think is less likely because if they are thinking about doing a documentary type production for the NXL, that ain't got a snowball in hell's chance of working here.
I mean, maybe the US public would get hooked into a bunch of nobodies playing a game that very few are aware of but it wouldn't work here in Europe.
The European TV public are a little more discerning.
This leaves us with the EXL being filmed as a league or event based format and if the yanks ain't contemplating that for their own audience, they ain't gonna invest the sort of money to cover that type of series over here.
But then what about the teams?
Just suppose the EXL is exhumed and presented to the European teams as a serious alternative, what the hell do the likes of Joy, Ton Tons and the rest of them do?
With no disresepect intended, the likes of Ducks, Ignition and teams who did not make into the NPPL would probably jump right back in.
The only real choice these teams would have is either Millennium 7 Man or XBall in the EXL, the option in this eventuality selects itself.
As for teams like Ton Tons, Joy, and whoever else makes the NPPL qualification, they would be faced with a stark choice of either playing EXL exclusively, NPPL exclusively or once again, try to do both...it would financially cripple some of the teams if they tried to do the final option of playing both.
And so, if the EXL were to represent the best in Europe, the teams as well as the promoters would have to be financially supported.
As we now know, mixing and matching formats damages performances in both as we (Nexus), Joy and Tons have all found so if any team is to take 2005 seriously, it would have to concentrate on one format.
And to just muddy the waters of 2005 even more...what if the NPPL decided to creep eastward into Europe..stranger things have happened ya know, much stranger things..what would said teams do then?
Come to think of it, what would established Millennium teams choose to play if the NPPL did spread its wings?
I thought by the end of 2004, clarity would have descended upon as all but instead some teams will once again be shrouded in doubt and indecision.
Gettin kinda complicated
