How to change tournament paintball for the better of us all !

[headrock6]

Originally posted by Baca Loco
Well, I just spent a weekend hanging around with loads of folks who knew less than nothing about paintball yet plenty of them found the games a heckuva lot more exciting to witness than lots of players do when they aren't playing. Just what that means and how to use it if it holds true in a larger context I couldn't tell ya. But considering the general pessimism expressed by paintballers about the spectator potential of paintball I found it pretty interesting.
But like you I have big reservations about traveling circus paintball being a viable avenue to the mainstream.

And thats great that people had fun watching it...But would they pay to watch it??Cuz thats what we want as an end result..Its easy to put an event on in the middle of spectator central,but its another to actually get people to actually come to it,and not because they stumbled upon it..People pay to see the Bearded Lady at the State Fair!!Are we that F**KED UP that we cant get people to pay to see us??It seems like it should be easy but we all know it hasn't..But I believe Chuck and Co. are taking the steps to put us were we need to be..

I heard HB was incredible..My friends came back and told me it was like nothing they had ever been to before and that makes me happy(Actually,I feel like a douche cuz I missed it)!!...But do you think Vegas will draw that many??Im not complaining as long the venue kicks ass,the reffing is good,and the players are taken care of..But who knows..Maybe the college kids will come out in full force..Maybe im just being selfish,but after HB,I could live with that, if thats the way its gonna be...

 

[Recoil]

A tiny point in a v large thread

This will mean that some paint manufacturer has to come up with a new kind of paint that is clearly visible in the air

Some friends of mine were using Tomahawk paint at campaign last year... and to be honest I have never seen paint like it for visibility. I could clearly see the strings arcing across the field from my view point. Cant remember what colour it was precisley (white, luminous yellow or something) but it stood out extremely well.

 

[WKD]

As for the point of making pb spectator friendly there is a company in the us that has developed a tracking system that could be intergrated onto the pb scene it was discussed on a thread about a month ago i think it was on speak your brainswith all sorts of info about what it could be used for ie showing players positions to spectators showing them moving make showing those killer moves easy to be replayed it had alot of good ideas as what it could be used for and would certainly help pb in a big way

It is called the in track system and was discussed on speak your brains on the 23.01.03 the thread has links to the site

 

[Baca Loco]

Originally posted by Nick Iuel-Brockdorff
Here's the problem:

The game we play today, does not appeal to non-playing spectators - and subsequently media - in the least !

Nick,
Your post is a whole lot of issues rolled into one so I'm only gonna start with one aspect of your post.
I'm gonna disagree with the premise. If tens of millions of people around the world and millions of people here in America are entertained by soccer and baseball "action" it isn't the game. Huntington demonstrated on a small scale that with minimal explanation and a decent view that some percentage of folks with no previous awareness of paintball found it exciting and entertaining.
At a tournament with 100+ teams who do you root for? If you're an outsider looking in the current scene is difficult to become attached to because one team seems a lot like all the others. If you do have a preference any single team is usually hard to follow and with long waits between games. It's not conducive to attracting spectators. And when you roll up multiple divisions of play into one event try writing an interesting, entertaining article about 100 teams all doing the same thing for three days.
My point is, the game works fine, I think, regardless of format and the real issues are how to connect with people and how to tell the stories of paintball in a dramatic and personal fashion.

 

[DMZ Hasse]

You BET!

Some of You might hate me for this but:

Why is horse racing the biggest spectator sport (by far) in Scandinavia? What is so fun about seeing a dozen or so horses running round an oval dirt track? They all look the same and run the same way... Kinda like paintball viewed by an utrained eye right?

ergo:

One answer on how to make paintball interesting for the viewer is BETTING. And betting on what? I say bet on your player not to be shot out, bet on results and bet on tournament results. If betting was introduced, interest would start from the bottom: Which are the best teams? Who are their key players? etc etc. Statistics would emerge, team statistics and player statistics.

Now, at first thought this may appear as a radical/stupid thought, but think about it, how many sports today are huge and would be nothing without the ability to bet on them?

As a consequence of human nature, money is added into these situations to make them more exciting for those watching, and in some cases for those who are participating (if you ever have played darts at the pub betting 10€ a head you will probably agree)

Now over to you flamers, does this make sense or what?

//Hasse

 

[DMZ Hasse]

I know that betting is allowed, but what I want to see is a deal with the Millennium Series and one (or more) of the Internet based betting companies out there. They will have to work pretty closely together to get it to work. Why internet-based? Because the national lottery monopolies have agreed not to compete with one another, so for a pan-european thing to work it needs to be a company without geographical borders to protect. (and NO, I do not work for any of these betting or lottery companies)

At least in Sweden horse racing is bigger than football, in terms of on site spectators. I was surprised when I saw these figures, so who knows.. maybe it is the same in Denmark..?

And Nick, where the hell where you when the others had geographics class!? Indeed, we are swedes, but we are definitively not from Sweden! (somehow the comment I usually get from danes and norwegians after this statement is "Good!" )

But back to topic, who is organized enough to set this thing up? (wish I was)

 

[KillerOnion]

There's only one drawback to betting being involved: it would increase the incidence of game fixing and cheating to absolutely ghastly levels. I for one wouldn't want to see that come into play, but that might be the price to be paid for more spectation.

 

[headrock6]

While your intentions with the idea to betting might be good,is that the kind of attention we really need to be giving to the sport at the moment??Maybe if things really progress,betting could be taken into account as part of the game,but I dont see it as a viable way to promote it to the masses without having more headaches than good intentions..And it would never work here in the States..Im not too familiar with betting laws in Europe,but it is tightly regulated here...


Nick-your probably right,but this is my take on the situation..5,7,and 10 man are here to stay with no viable solution to the problem of promoting to the masses in these formats..100 team tournys,while fun and exciting,just dont have the resources to make it into a marketing machine..But their is always gonna be demand for it as long as they are there,regardless of the outside or not..All those formats hace survived for many years without the outside,and could thrive for many more regardless of the spectators..


I also dont think X is gonna solve the problem either,and thats why I dont think you guys should be worried about falling behind..You guys might be in better position if you let the U.S. pros dedicate all their time to X,while continuing your own progress,and when X flops,the gap might be even for you guys when they come back into the mix...Just my opinion by the way..

I think eventually there will be a format that brings P-ball to the masses which can be suited to everyone,but not just yet...Maybe someone from the outside will come and infuse some new life into this stagnant sport of ours..From my eyes,it hasn't happened yet and probably wont for a while...Maybe someone on your side of the pond will do it...You guys have been good at inovation before

-6

 

[wee mouse]

A simple question

All of us assume that we KNOW what the public and television would and would not like to see on a paintball field. But.... do we know for sure?

There are conflicting views among paintballers on what is interesting to non-players. Remember, it is very difficult when you are passionate about the sport and play it, to put yourself in the shoes of someone who knows nothing about paintball.

That is precisely why we need some objective market research.

I am not convinced that the game as we know it today will change radically. However, we certainly need to educate people about it.

We might find that the game itself is fine as it is, but spectators want a comfortable environment, some additional entertainment for the kids, some decent food, a good day out, or a sense that the sport is professionally and safely run.

TV companies will want a product that appeals to viewers and attract sponsors. I'm convinced we already have that.

I accept that at the core of this good day out, we have to get the format of the game itself right. But before we go off and change things radically, let's be professional and do what any good business or industry would do - identify who our customers are(spectators, TV companies and potential sponsors??) what they want and need, then adapt the product as necessary to meet these needs.

When we take the time and trouble to do this, we might be somewhat surprised at the results. But at least we'll know for sure.

John

 

[KillerOnion]

Right on, Nick. Couldn't have said it any better myself. Haven't we been saying this on here for the last...oh...eons? Only one small amendment to it, if I may. They won't ever form a coalition, because as you pointed out they are too used to and too geared towards taking away from each other--I doubt they'd just easily shuck that off and become perfect chums in a day. Rather, I think the ones that take the progressive approach, which is really the only way towards long term survival, as individuals and leave the others behind. For years they've been babbling on and on in a ridiculous loop of "we're small, so we can't afford to reach out, because we don't have the money, because we're too small..."