I believe the sport and teams are at a major crossroads were true professional athletes are beginning to emerge and the possibility of a TV deal is driving people to make choices. A TV deal means that the TV station pays money to the series for the right to broadcast and a chunk of that money probably gets divided out to the teams in the league in yearly sums and additional prize money for the winners.
If our sport is going to TV, then there needs to be a big level of consistancy. Consistancy of teams and players, where teams are placed in leagues and their standing within the league so non-playing spectators can easily keep up.
That means a closed division of Pro and Am A within a certain series of tournaments. Because you need at least a first division and a second division (in european terms of sports) so the pro's have something to lose (being sent down a division) and the Am A's something to win.
That immidately means that the average player will not compete at their level. A bunch of friends, no matter how good they are, can join the english premier league on a whim, even if everyone agrees they would be good enough, even among the best in the premier....
So now is the time to choose and act accordingly, are you going to secure your place in the league of your choice by playing this year or not. You can choose OpenX, MS 7 man or both or whatever else there might be, but I don't think teams will be able to keep their options open as they have been able to in the past.
Granted, that our sport holds tournaments, not half year long series of matches, makes things a bit more complicated, but only because of the history of being able to choose your playing level.
Those who can't afford to play all they would like, or can't have players committed to it, those teams will not compete at the Pro or Am A level they have been doing in the past, but then that's it, they shouldn't be among the top teams if they can't prove themselves worthy of being there..... And 2004 might be the year that the teams will have to prove it.
And for American teams playing in Europe. I haven't seen anything about the MS not allowing US teams to play the MS in 2004 and earn their future place in their Pro level. But coming over for a tournament or two, perhaps that should be allowed as "pro guests", but their points would not count for the end of season title.
Could a team like Dynasty have two rosters, one for Europe and another for the US ?
There are a lot of possibilites and no one can see all development beforehand. But the end goal is a well regulated consistent league of Pro paintball on TV...right ?
my best
Gudmann Bragi
If our sport is going to TV, then there needs to be a big level of consistancy. Consistancy of teams and players, where teams are placed in leagues and their standing within the league so non-playing spectators can easily keep up.
That means a closed division of Pro and Am A within a certain series of tournaments. Because you need at least a first division and a second division (in european terms of sports) so the pro's have something to lose (being sent down a division) and the Am A's something to win.
That immidately means that the average player will not compete at their level. A bunch of friends, no matter how good they are, can join the english premier league on a whim, even if everyone agrees they would be good enough, even among the best in the premier....
So now is the time to choose and act accordingly, are you going to secure your place in the league of your choice by playing this year or not. You can choose OpenX, MS 7 man or both or whatever else there might be, but I don't think teams will be able to keep their options open as they have been able to in the past.
Granted, that our sport holds tournaments, not half year long series of matches, makes things a bit more complicated, but only because of the history of being able to choose your playing level.
Those who can't afford to play all they would like, or can't have players committed to it, those teams will not compete at the Pro or Am A level they have been doing in the past, but then that's it, they shouldn't be among the top teams if they can't prove themselves worthy of being there..... And 2004 might be the year that the teams will have to prove it.
And for American teams playing in Europe. I haven't seen anything about the MS not allowing US teams to play the MS in 2004 and earn their future place in their Pro level. But coming over for a tournament or two, perhaps that should be allowed as "pro guests", but their points would not count for the end of season title.
Could a team like Dynasty have two rosters, one for Europe and another for the US ?
There are a lot of possibilites and no one can see all development beforehand. But the end goal is a well regulated consistent league of Pro paintball on TV...right ?
my best
Gudmann Bragi
I'd rather keep the doors open than closed here. In my opinion MS pro 7-man's future doesn't look too bright. Best 8 euro pro teams play EXL and looks like they will fill rest of their calendars with NPPL or PSP div 1 X-ball. Pro teams are one of the major attractions at MS events and good competition feeds itself (that's why top euros choose NPPL). When there's no competition, there's no motivation to attend.