How about we look at the flipside of the Argument DaveB (changed your name just for this thread???).
Many here would argue that it's your attitude that is the thorn in the side of Paintball in the UK, not vice versa. Go ahead and rip the arse out of the rec-ball scene if you wish, sure it's your current cash cow, have you given any thought to your future revenues?
The Punter Rec-ball scene in the UK is far from perfect, and in many ways a fool to itself. Your attitude suggests that you have no interest in return or repeat custom, you merely want to cover the operational costs and return a short term daily profit. Normally I would say fair enough, but this is a public forum and people have a right to an opinion.
Or is it perhaps that various rec-ball sites which promote purely the pseudo military game have started to become worried about the growth in the tournament game? Worried that your cash cows will realize that for the same cost, they can probably play double the amount of games, shoot double the amount of paint, get double the adrenaline rush for the same costs? Also isn’t the Rambo image now a bit passe? I mean look at the current press / public reaction to war and more specifically some paintball related incidents.
Punter Rec-ball days, feed and continue the growth of Paintball both Globally and in the UK. In a shrinking market (a basic economic fact is that this year people will have smaller disposable incomes thus hitting leisure activity spend), what are you gonna do to preserve your profits then? Put up Paint costs to 120 quid a case of blaze? Simply put you’ll price yourself out the market. Why not try to encourage repeat custom, it doesn’t take a marketing genius to work out the demographic you need to appeal to. Bring more people in, encourage them to shoot more paint (not be scared sh*tless that they could be bankrupted by going out there and having fun). Offer them a variety of scenario’s not just getting lost in the woods for half an hour not seeing anybody to shoot at for most of that period. You might start to see people say “Hey, best adrenaline rush I ever had, gotta do it again soon”. You might start to find your fluctuating gate receipts become a constant 300 people a day, thus increasing your profits as: 1) the fixed costs remain a constant (whether you got 50 or 300 on site). 2) Variable costs to a point are subject to economies of scale (i.e. diminishing proportional to volume).
Yes all the site owners have a right to make a profit, but your attitude that the Tournament game is a thorn in the side of UK Paintball is a bit old-hat and spanks more of racketeering. I’m not saying Super-Air is the only way to play and that rec is bad at all, the two sides of the game co-exist. But by not encouraging new and repeat customers, you begin to choke off the stream of incoming players thus shooting yourself in the foot in the long run. Don’t you think that more people playing would be beneficial not only to yourself but the whole-related industry as a whole? Perhaps SmartParts and LPS etc would see more marker and kit sales, thus enabling them to offer kit to all at cheaper prices, and getput more back into the sport?
This is not an overnight transition, and will take time effort, sacrifice and commitment from all (you also seem to forget the PR job a lot of tourny players do at rec-ball sites showing people kit and helping people in games etc). Hopefully Paintball as an industry and sport can benefit from all parties looking to the future.
My 20 pence worth anyway
Many here would argue that it's your attitude that is the thorn in the side of Paintball in the UK, not vice versa. Go ahead and rip the arse out of the rec-ball scene if you wish, sure it's your current cash cow, have you given any thought to your future revenues?
The Punter Rec-ball scene in the UK is far from perfect, and in many ways a fool to itself. Your attitude suggests that you have no interest in return or repeat custom, you merely want to cover the operational costs and return a short term daily profit. Normally I would say fair enough, but this is a public forum and people have a right to an opinion.
Or is it perhaps that various rec-ball sites which promote purely the pseudo military game have started to become worried about the growth in the tournament game? Worried that your cash cows will realize that for the same cost, they can probably play double the amount of games, shoot double the amount of paint, get double the adrenaline rush for the same costs? Also isn’t the Rambo image now a bit passe? I mean look at the current press / public reaction to war and more specifically some paintball related incidents.
Punter Rec-ball days, feed and continue the growth of Paintball both Globally and in the UK. In a shrinking market (a basic economic fact is that this year people will have smaller disposable incomes thus hitting leisure activity spend), what are you gonna do to preserve your profits then? Put up Paint costs to 120 quid a case of blaze? Simply put you’ll price yourself out the market. Why not try to encourage repeat custom, it doesn’t take a marketing genius to work out the demographic you need to appeal to. Bring more people in, encourage them to shoot more paint (not be scared sh*tless that they could be bankrupted by going out there and having fun). Offer them a variety of scenario’s not just getting lost in the woods for half an hour not seeing anybody to shoot at for most of that period. You might start to see people say “Hey, best adrenaline rush I ever had, gotta do it again soon”. You might start to find your fluctuating gate receipts become a constant 300 people a day, thus increasing your profits as: 1) the fixed costs remain a constant (whether you got 50 or 300 on site). 2) Variable costs to a point are subject to economies of scale (i.e. diminishing proportional to volume).
Yes all the site owners have a right to make a profit, but your attitude that the Tournament game is a thorn in the side of UK Paintball is a bit old-hat and spanks more of racketeering. I’m not saying Super-Air is the only way to play and that rec is bad at all, the two sides of the game co-exist. But by not encouraging new and repeat customers, you begin to choke off the stream of incoming players thus shooting yourself in the foot in the long run. Don’t you think that more people playing would be beneficial not only to yourself but the whole-related industry as a whole? Perhaps SmartParts and LPS etc would see more marker and kit sales, thus enabling them to offer kit to all at cheaper prices, and getput more back into the sport?
This is not an overnight transition, and will take time effort, sacrifice and commitment from all (you also seem to forget the PR job a lot of tourny players do at rec-ball sites showing people kit and helping people in games etc). Hopefully Paintball as an industry and sport can benefit from all parties looking to the future.
My 20 pence worth anyway
)
