NXL
- Thread starter red dragon
- Start date
Does this mean that Bunker Insurance will be available in Europe?
NXL Pro Europe is here!
Sep 25 at 7:53pm
There were a lot of rumours flying around at the Millennium Series World Cup weekend about what is going to be happening with the Millennium Series when the NXL take over next year. Many were speculation and some founded in truth. PBM caught up with the owner of NXL, Tom Cole to ask him directly about the future of the NXL in Europe.
“NXL signed the document yesterday (Friday 15th September 2017). We are 99% sure it is going to happen.”
You are going to be replacing the Millennium Series next year? “We had been looking at European paintball for a while, so even if the Millenniums continue, the NXL will definitely be here next year.”
What will the Millennium Series now be called? “NXL Pro Europe.”
What are your plans for the European championships? We hear the NXL are looking at exciting new locations? “We still want to run four events in Europe. We are looking at running one event in France, UK and somewhere hot like Spain, Greece or Italy and another one in Prague, maybe.”
Do you have any idea of locations yet? “We are not sure yet, but we would like to secure locations that are more central to the main cities of the countries. The NXL in USA is always held at a central location and we want to try and do this for the European competitions.”
The problem may be that European cities are smaller and more tightly packed together than in the USA. “This is true and we can’t make any promises on locations at this point but I want to do something better for us here.”
How do you think the NXL will affect tournament paintball in Europe? “I think the NXL is going to be good for paintball. It would be good to have one league, one true event covering all countries. NXL has been looking to expand its tournament arena for a while.”
But tournament is run a little differently in America than in Europe. Are you planning to implement all or any of those changes here? “Tournament in the USA is more exclusive for the professional players. Some of the European teams are amazing but don’t get enough sponsorship because they are not seen as exclusive enough. There is no value in being a professional player here as much as the USA, because the professional teams are not made more exclusive.”
How will this affect the other teams that are not on the pro-field? “We will still have all of the other divisions and they will be as much a part of the NXL tournament as the Millennium Series. But I think by making the professional players more exclusive than the other divisions this will make them more interesting and valued as sports personalities which will only boost the fans interest in paintball.”
What changes will the NXL be implementing next year? “We have a lot of differences between tournament in the USA and Europe. Some of them we will be implementing in the new NXL Pro Europe. For example we will not be charging by the season, but charging per event and we will not lock the divisions.”
What will you keep the same? “Beer. We will keep the beer!”
What about the layout of the bunkers and the middle W bunker, will that change? “We have the same bunker layout as you have here. We are not sure what we will be doing with the centre bunker. We may change it but most things will stay the same I am sure. With NXL taking over tournament in Europe the fantastic game play from the teams will just improve.”
How will these changes affect the media and how paintball will be broadcast to the fans next year? “There are going to be a lot of changes to the media next year that will improve the service that players and fans receive from the paintball media. We will be restricting the media and only allowing professional photographers on the fields. There will be no more photographers that are there to take pictures of just one team. Photographers getting in the way and coaching while on the field will stop and this will improve the game.” Don’t worry PBM fans Tom Cole is a big fan of print media!
A lot of players are worried or have concerns about possible changes under NXL, how can they find more information or have their say about what is happening to tournament paintball in Europe next year? “We want to talk to European teams about what changes they would like to see. We have set up a survey in the NXL tent in Chantilly at this event. Players can use the survey to communicate their ideas to us. To tell us what they want.”
Want your say on any of the changes that you would like NXL to implement next year? Then Tom Cole says take the survey online at nxlpaintball.com “We will be taking a few weeks, send out the survey and collect people’s thoughts. We want input from the teams before we finalise any decisions.”
Obviously Tom couldn’t give us a complete run down of what to expect for next year as many of the important decisions were yet to be made. We would have thought that discussions between the NXL, Millennium Series and big manufacturers have been going on behind the scenes for several months. A few new markers released at the weekend not featuring a Millenniums mode is a bit of a giveaway. Our hopes are that the NXL bring a new vigor to European paintball as a whole and they listen to what the playing community wants. Having said that, it’s going to be a tough job pleasing everyone. The changes in the past few years (M500 and W bunker) always had a knee-jerk reaction among players, some going so far as saying they would give up the sport, only to come round to the ideas once implemented and seeing the merits of change. As long as the NXL is accessible for all players and not just the Elite few, keeps players coming back for more and encouraging more teams to compete then they are onto a winner. As we know keeping your player base happy is key, players will always vote with their feet.
Whether you loved or hated the Millennium Series, the fact is NXL Pro Europe is here!
Do you think the NXL taking on Europe is what European Paintball needs or right now? or do you think it's a sad day and the Millennium Series had the right formula?
Sep 25 at 7:53pm
There were a lot of rumours flying around at the Millennium Series World Cup weekend about what is going to be happening with the Millennium Series when the NXL take over next year. Many were speculation and some founded in truth. PBM caught up with the owner of NXL, Tom Cole to ask him directly about the future of the NXL in Europe.
“NXL signed the document yesterday (Friday 15th September 2017). We are 99% sure it is going to happen.”
You are going to be replacing the Millennium Series next year? “We had been looking at European paintball for a while, so even if the Millenniums continue, the NXL will definitely be here next year.”
What will the Millennium Series now be called? “NXL Pro Europe.”
What are your plans for the European championships? We hear the NXL are looking at exciting new locations? “We still want to run four events in Europe. We are looking at running one event in France, UK and somewhere hot like Spain, Greece or Italy and another one in Prague, maybe.”
Do you have any idea of locations yet? “We are not sure yet, but we would like to secure locations that are more central to the main cities of the countries. The NXL in USA is always held at a central location and we want to try and do this for the European competitions.”
The problem may be that European cities are smaller and more tightly packed together than in the USA. “This is true and we can’t make any promises on locations at this point but I want to do something better for us here.”
How do you think the NXL will affect tournament paintball in Europe? “I think the NXL is going to be good for paintball. It would be good to have one league, one true event covering all countries. NXL has been looking to expand its tournament arena for a while.”
But tournament is run a little differently in America than in Europe. Are you planning to implement all or any of those changes here? “Tournament in the USA is more exclusive for the professional players. Some of the European teams are amazing but don’t get enough sponsorship because they are not seen as exclusive enough. There is no value in being a professional player here as much as the USA, because the professional teams are not made more exclusive.”
How will this affect the other teams that are not on the pro-field? “We will still have all of the other divisions and they will be as much a part of the NXL tournament as the Millennium Series. But I think by making the professional players more exclusive than the other divisions this will make them more interesting and valued as sports personalities which will only boost the fans interest in paintball.”
What changes will the NXL be implementing next year? “We have a lot of differences between tournament in the USA and Europe. Some of them we will be implementing in the new NXL Pro Europe. For example we will not be charging by the season, but charging per event and we will not lock the divisions.”
What will you keep the same? “Beer. We will keep the beer!”
What about the layout of the bunkers and the middle W bunker, will that change? “We have the same bunker layout as you have here. We are not sure what we will be doing with the centre bunker. We may change it but most things will stay the same I am sure. With NXL taking over tournament in Europe the fantastic game play from the teams will just improve.”
How will these changes affect the media and how paintball will be broadcast to the fans next year? “There are going to be a lot of changes to the media next year that will improve the service that players and fans receive from the paintball media. We will be restricting the media and only allowing professional photographers on the fields. There will be no more photographers that are there to take pictures of just one team. Photographers getting in the way and coaching while on the field will stop and this will improve the game.” Don’t worry PBM fans Tom Cole is a big fan of print media!
A lot of players are worried or have concerns about possible changes under NXL, how can they find more information or have their say about what is happening to tournament paintball in Europe next year? “We want to talk to European teams about what changes they would like to see. We have set up a survey in the NXL tent in Chantilly at this event. Players can use the survey to communicate their ideas to us. To tell us what they want.”
Want your say on any of the changes that you would like NXL to implement next year? Then Tom Cole says take the survey online at nxlpaintball.com “We will be taking a few weeks, send out the survey and collect people’s thoughts. We want input from the teams before we finalise any decisions.”
Obviously Tom couldn’t give us a complete run down of what to expect for next year as many of the important decisions were yet to be made. We would have thought that discussions between the NXL, Millennium Series and big manufacturers have been going on behind the scenes for several months. A few new markers released at the weekend not featuring a Millenniums mode is a bit of a giveaway. Our hopes are that the NXL bring a new vigor to European paintball as a whole and they listen to what the playing community wants. Having said that, it’s going to be a tough job pleasing everyone. The changes in the past few years (M500 and W bunker) always had a knee-jerk reaction among players, some going so far as saying they would give up the sport, only to come round to the ideas once implemented and seeing the merits of change. As long as the NXL is accessible for all players and not just the Elite few, keeps players coming back for more and encouraging more teams to compete then they are onto a winner. As we know keeping your player base happy is key, players will always vote with their feet.
Whether you loved or hated the Millennium Series, the fact is NXL Pro Europe is here!
Do you think the NXL taking on Europe is what European Paintball needs or right now? or do you think it's a sad day and the Millennium Series had the right formula?
“We still want to run four events in Europe. We are looking at running one event in France, UK and somewhere hot like Spain, Greece or Italy and another one in Prague, maybe.”
Well that's kinda cool. Never been to Prague, but it sounds like a cool place. Italy or Greece would also be interesting. There's a decent amount of fields near Milan.
Well that's kinda cool. Never been to Prague, but it sounds like a cool place. Italy or Greece would also be interesting. There's a decent amount of fields near Milan.
Well A-rod played for them before, and I think Dalton did as well.
Dalton played a lot of points for Impact though, so that'd be surprising if he moved. Aftermath didn't have a great showing in Chicago either.
Dalton played a lot of points for Impact though, so that'd be surprising if he moved. Aftermath didn't have a great showing in Chicago either.
Yes, Raney played for them as well, along with Bobby Aviles and Scott Kemp. To be honest, I'd be surprised if anyone leaves Impact, as it is a salaried team.
But if Aftermath has the cash to make some pickups in the offseason, they might get back to their glory days of ten years ago.