Is the USPL/NPPL Done?
- Thread starter Tony Harrison
- Start date
Maybe you read too much into things Jonathan 
I haven't heard that Camille has actually left - maybe she's doing the PSP and NPPL?
I haven't heard that Camille has actually left - maybe she's doing the PSP and NPPL?
I'm not so sure the period that had the NPPL [Ged Green's NPPL in 2003] creation was really able to sustain two major pro leagues let alone now; in fact, I'd go as far as to say, the period that holds us hostage us now, doesn't really warrant a pro circuit, no matter what some people might suggest [they do this for self-centreed reasons anyway].
I suppose the most optimisitc line of thinking I could adopt is to suggest a pro circuit could be a loss leader investment for future times.
For the scientific minded among us, this present period in paintball is a bit like considering the notion of a singularity in physics; all known rules [that govern our universe] break down in a singularity and we need to think outside the box if we wish to understand what the hell goes on when matter and energy are compressed into a singularity.
Our industry, although not yet condensed into a financial singularity is however creating a situation whereby the normal rules of operation are pretty much redundant, hence, any reasons there might be for justifying or qualifying the very presence of a pro circuit are also destroyed.
Some people might suggest we need a pro circiut to promote the retail side of our industry but if you think about, satellite events [with no pro presence] do this a lot better because these events [in the US] tend to have a greater connection to site players than any media connection there might be [internet and magazines] to pro tournaments.
Nah, I ain't buying the fact we need a pro circuit at all especially when the cost of it is at best, questionable.
From when our sport began its birthing pains in the early eighties, we have witnessed continual and sometimes exponential growth which pretty much ran parallel with how our sport interfaced with the US market.
This type growth is seen many times in any new sport and isn't unique, what I think is unique however, is our present demise.
A lot of people who don't really know what they are talking about discuss our present problems within the domain of the present financial recession but paintball was already declining about 18 months prior to the sub-prime implosion that signaled the first throes of just how greedy and restrained our bankers had become [sorry Glenn, I can't deny the truth mate].
Paintball had already reached critical mass and began its implosion with quite normal pressures being bought to bear that ran independent of any larger recession .... the latter financial recession merely compounded the problems paintball faced.
And so, is there anything we can do?
In fact, should we do anything?
I'm a firm believer in systematic adaption whereby any element within a larger environment should always be hostage to the larger group's conditions without too much interference, this is basically another description of evolution.
We can always meddle but unless we understand ALL conditions within that environment and also are able to control them, meddling is gonna be a chance endeavor.
I think we need to let paintball find its own level and the industry will adapt, and when that happens, if it [the industry] can afford a pro circuit and all the trimmings that go with it, then that's a decision that needs to be taken down the line but for the time being, we need to get real.
Paintball's primordial soup is the punter [site] scene, the tournament scene, esp the pro circuit lost sight of this preferring to distance themselves from this 'unfashionable' side of our game, or so we thought, the irony was, the site scene was the fashion, it actually defined the fashion, and always will do.
Let Paintball's own set of evolutionary forces begin to mould and create whatever offspring it may but I'm afraid any notions of adherence to beasts such as pro circuits, should be jettisoned in favour of a more natural development.
I suppose the most optimisitc line of thinking I could adopt is to suggest a pro circuit could be a loss leader investment for future times.
For the scientific minded among us, this present period in paintball is a bit like considering the notion of a singularity in physics; all known rules [that govern our universe] break down in a singularity and we need to think outside the box if we wish to understand what the hell goes on when matter and energy are compressed into a singularity.
Our industry, although not yet condensed into a financial singularity is however creating a situation whereby the normal rules of operation are pretty much redundant, hence, any reasons there might be for justifying or qualifying the very presence of a pro circuit are also destroyed.
Some people might suggest we need a pro circiut to promote the retail side of our industry but if you think about, satellite events [with no pro presence] do this a lot better because these events [in the US] tend to have a greater connection to site players than any media connection there might be [internet and magazines] to pro tournaments.
Nah, I ain't buying the fact we need a pro circuit at all especially when the cost of it is at best, questionable.
From when our sport began its birthing pains in the early eighties, we have witnessed continual and sometimes exponential growth which pretty much ran parallel with how our sport interfaced with the US market.
This type growth is seen many times in any new sport and isn't unique, what I think is unique however, is our present demise.
A lot of people who don't really know what they are talking about discuss our present problems within the domain of the present financial recession but paintball was already declining about 18 months prior to the sub-prime implosion that signaled the first throes of just how greedy and restrained our bankers had become [sorry Glenn, I can't deny the truth mate].
Paintball had already reached critical mass and began its implosion with quite normal pressures being bought to bear that ran independent of any larger recession .... the latter financial recession merely compounded the problems paintball faced.
And so, is there anything we can do?
In fact, should we do anything?
I'm a firm believer in systematic adaption whereby any element within a larger environment should always be hostage to the larger group's conditions without too much interference, this is basically another description of evolution.
We can always meddle but unless we understand ALL conditions within that environment and also are able to control them, meddling is gonna be a chance endeavor.
I think we need to let paintball find its own level and the industry will adapt, and when that happens, if it [the industry] can afford a pro circuit and all the trimmings that go with it, then that's a decision that needs to be taken down the line but for the time being, we need to get real.
Paintball's primordial soup is the punter [site] scene, the tournament scene, esp the pro circuit lost sight of this preferring to distance themselves from this 'unfashionable' side of our game, or so we thought, the irony was, the site scene was the fashion, it actually defined the fashion, and always will do.
Let Paintball's own set of evolutionary forces begin to mould and create whatever offspring it may but I'm afraid any notions of adherence to beasts such as pro circuits, should be jettisoned in favour of a more natural development.
My missus was just offered a gig by the USPL. I guess I'll also be there, running the VIP (I know, right?), so the wheels are still turning at the USPL offices, at least as far as HB...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Professional Paintball League
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For immediate Release
January 8, 2010 Huntington Beach, Ca
National Professional Paintball League
Opens Registration for 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) will open Team Registration for the 2010 season January 15th. There will be an early bird special discount for teams that register and pay by January 31st. Additionally Teams that pay for the entire season will receive a volume discount plus free ID Cards and Pit Passes for the entire year. All details will be announced this week on www.nppl.com .
The League is proud to announce the opening of a full time office located at 15605 Graham Street in Huntington Beach Ca. This office will be permanently staffed and open Monday through Friday to better serve the needs of players, teams, sponsors and spectators.
The NPPL board of team directors and owners will take over all responsibilities of the General Manager as Camille Lemanski has recently resigned from the NPPL. The NPPL wishes Camille all the best in her future endeavors. The league will also be hiring office staff to assist with administrational duties.
The newly appointed NPPL Team Board of Directors will head up varies committees going forward.
Eric Crandall and Frank Connell - Sponsorship Committee
Bart Yachimec and Rob Montiero - Team Relations Committee
Rich Telford, Travis Lemanski, and Bob Long - Rules and Referee Committee
Dennis Olsen and Tom Fore - Finance Committee
The National Professional Paintball League is a player run organization that sanctions and governs paintball tournaments and play worldwide. The NPPL sanctions four events in the U.S. Huntington Beach CA., Joliet IL., Washington DC and Las Vegas NV. Paintball teams compete in multiple divisions from Professional to Amateur. Based on the results of the competitions within each division, paintball teams are awarded points which are used to establish divisional season champions. The NPPL is committed to setting rules, standards and guidelines for safe, competitive and fair paintball competitions worldwide. For more information please visit www.nppl.com
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Professional Paintball League Inc. (NPPL)
15605 Graham Street
Huntington Beach Ca. 92649
714 758 5575
www.nppl.com website
chuck@nppl.com contact
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Professional Paintball League
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For immediate Release
January 8, 2010 Huntington Beach, Ca
National Professional Paintball League
Opens Registration for 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) will open Team Registration for the 2010 season January 15th. There will be an early bird special discount for teams that register and pay by January 31st. Additionally Teams that pay for the entire season will receive a volume discount plus free ID Cards and Pit Passes for the entire year. All details will be announced this week on www.nppl.com .
The League is proud to announce the opening of a full time office located at 15605 Graham Street in Huntington Beach Ca. This office will be permanently staffed and open Monday through Friday to better serve the needs of players, teams, sponsors and spectators.
The NPPL board of team directors and owners will take over all responsibilities of the General Manager as Camille Lemanski has recently resigned from the NPPL. The NPPL wishes Camille all the best in her future endeavors. The league will also be hiring office staff to assist with administrational duties.
The newly appointed NPPL Team Board of Directors will head up varies committees going forward.
Eric Crandall and Frank Connell - Sponsorship Committee
Bart Yachimec and Rob Montiero - Team Relations Committee
Rich Telford, Travis Lemanski, and Bob Long - Rules and Referee Committee
Dennis Olsen and Tom Fore - Finance Committee
The National Professional Paintball League is a player run organization that sanctions and governs paintball tournaments and play worldwide. The NPPL sanctions four events in the U.S. Huntington Beach CA., Joliet IL., Washington DC and Las Vegas NV. Paintball teams compete in multiple divisions from Professional to Amateur. Based on the results of the competitions within each division, paintball teams are awarded points which are used to establish divisional season champions. The NPPL is committed to setting rules, standards and guidelines for safe, competitive and fair paintball competitions worldwide. For more information please visit www.nppl.com
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Professional Paintball League Inc. (NPPL)
15605 Graham Street
Huntington Beach Ca. 92649
714 758 5575
www.nppl.com website
chuck@nppl.com contact
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not at the moment and even in our heyday, you woulda been hard pressed to make a case .... a lot of smart people though did invest in pro teams and will swear blind they achieved some form of payback ... I'm not so sure they did.Can any league, anywhere, in the world still justify such an extravagance
I think people would find it incredibly difficult to actually disentangle the effects of a positive financial growth curve from the payback line of any pro team investment ... it's a tough call.
Paul, I'd be interested to read your thoughts on this, do you think we have ever been in a position where we can justify pro teams?You might want to get payment up front.
I am talking about whether there was some form of return on a company's investment package to pro teams.
And Missy .... I'd like to hear your thoughts also .......
Thats true, but the benefits for many included the celebrity that came with it all. And for many years those that invested in the Pro teams were the team captains themselves that evolved their involvement from playing into the business.
Surely for a large number of the sponsors it was part of their hobby too. An expensive one that also masqueraded as business development but a hobby nonetheless.
The Gardners, Bob Long, Dave Youngblood, Ledz and Jules, Poorman and before that and in a smaller way yourself and Marcus etc.... None of these came from business into paintball. It was the other way round (I may stand corrected but that is as I understand it).
This post is a side adjunct to what you are talking about of course but cannot be discounted. Pride and bloody mindedness appears to have a factor in the sponsorship of the big teams. The return is, in part, implicit.