At the end of this month, I got an article coming out in PGI that basically gives an outline of what I believe we need to do if we are to save Euro paintball from a bleak period that almost certainly lies ahead if things pan out as they look as though they are going to next year.
What lies at the heart of this problem are two significant factors; the first is the diminishing turnovers in the US whereby the US paintball industry has seen a downturn in sales of reportedly between 25 – 30 %.
The second is the impending war between the NPPL and Millennium that is to be fought upon the fields of Europe come 2006.
Some people might remark that for the teams, this can only be good because competition is good; well sometimes it is but in other cases it can prove disastrous.
With budgets now being reigned in, the last thing a prospective vendor or sponsor needs right now is another big time tourney to attend where it has the added expense of setting up booths etc, the US counterpart model of the PSP and NPPL has shown that the industry will have little stomach for a split tourney circuit in Europe especially in times as they are now.
One of the prime motives for integration in the US for the PSP and NPPL is one of financial expediency on behalf of the industry and yet, Europe looks as though we are shaping up to make the self-same mistake and we are supposed to learn from history not ignore it.
The main dynamic for this impending war in Europe is one of a lack of ability to find a solution to integrating the interests of the NPPL and the existing Millennium promoters.
The recent attempt by the NPPL to join forces was a little heavy handed to say the least and ended up pissing off the Millennium boys whereby the greater consideration for both parties ended up being flushed down the bog-hole.
Each party was in their own little box and reacted accordingly and the route they are about to take is gonna be the most damndest, stoopidest, God forsaken course we have ever knowingly undertook and is second only in the stupidity stakes to thinking Ryan Greenspan has hit puberty.
If we go down this road of conflict it will put Euro Paintball back 5 years when we need to be looking at consolidation and improvement rather than what we face now.
Companies who sponsor events and vendors will face a decision of whether to back one of the series or both.
Now normally, like 2 years ago, the industry would have gotten behind both series as they did in the US but the commercial landscape has changed and I’m afraid there is no way all the industry who sponsor the Millennium at present are gonna be getting behind the NPPL.
Some of them, a significant number, will choose one or the other.
Now, once this has happened, revenue streams for the promoters will not be enough to make either series viable and that’s without the inevitable loss of team’s entry fees who also won’t be able to afford both.
On several levels this just doesn’t work and whilst the alarm bells may be tinkling in the heads of all those involved, they obviously ain’t ringing loud enough.
The strategy that the Millennium guys are employing is one of, ‘Bollocks, we are gonna do our thing and they can do theirs’…and this has to be a default strategy because little else is open to them if the NPPL don’t wanna discuss integration anymore.
The NPPL sure ain’t gonna be put off by the failure of any assimilation talks and will forge ahead and I’m pretty sure may see the invasion of Europe as another loss leader for the first year and hope their undoubted standards of tournaments they put on as the genesis for killing off the Millennium and eventually taking over.
This strategy is working in the US whereby they have turned their loss making freshman year into a significant income stream and most definitely in the driving seat when it comes to sitting down with their PSP counterparts.
And so, as paintball teams, what the hack we gotta worry about?
We can pick and choose which one we go to and eventually if the NPPL is victorious, we can all go there.
It’s the ‘eventually’ bit that worries me in that it’s so frikkin unnecessary.
It’s brinkmanship and the likes of the industry, the teams and the promoters all stand to lose something as this war unfolds and eventually resolves itself.
What I have written in this month’s PGI article outlines a scenario whereby ALL the Euro teams (with the possible exception of the Russian Legion) start to back Europe.
Without going into too much detail at this point, even the Euro NPPL teams need to refocus if we are to create a coherent European destiny and to do that, we need a coherent tournament circuit with a viable industry supporting tournaments, teams and players.
Resources are now getting thinner on the ground and belts are being tightened up everywhere, this is fact.
Only a couple of the big companies have registered positive growth this last year, things ain’t gonna stay the same, trust me.
If anybody needs any proof or indication that all is not well in the industry as a whole then just cast your eye toward PMI and NPS and their proposed unification.
That said, even though we have this negative backdrop to proceedings, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to compound our problems by reopening European theatres of war, it’s just tempting fate.
The Millennium for all their faults, and let’s face it, their shortcomings were pretty petty and nothing really major or systemic, have done a great job in recent times.
I certainly have had my problems with some of them but once again, they are on petty issues but I didn’t really lose sight of what they have achieved.
The NPPL’s record in the US is outstanding and one might think, the combination would be the way to go instead of an all out war but I’m afraid common sense is so easily projected into outer space when disagreement and acrimony set in.
The article in PGI goes into a lot more detail and the only reason I am posting this up here is because after talking to Duffy, we both felt that you guys could help in the process of sorting this sh!t out.
Believe it or not, the powers that be in both the Millennium and NPPL do read these pages on P8ntballer.com and in PGI and as such, if we can create sufficient popular momentum we can hopefully influence proceedings.
The basis of what I wrote in the article is that we need to appoint a singular voice in the Millennium in that Laurent is that sole voice and controller
He has proved time and again that he is the man when it comes to putting on a tourney, his vision of our sport and its ultimate direction are unique.
If we look toward any process of unification or association between the NPPL and Millennium it needs to be done with Ged Green of Pure Promotions (NPPL) talking to Laurent alone.
To try and extract agreement from five or so Euro promoters is about as easy as getting Piper onto a diet that doesn’t include a minimum of 300 pounds of buffalo-meat pies per month, in other words, it ain’t happening.
I am saying Laurent needs to take control of the Millennium with the other promoters being instrumental in promotions and not decision-making in terms of negotiation and direction.
Once this has been done, the Millennium then need to create a circuit that is consistent with its best tournaments and so create for the players and sponsors, a much more attractive product that rivals the NPPL US events.
I have suggested keeping the Paris tournament and making a lot more of the Malaga event and looking for 3 other locations that can obviously still be run by the other promoters but are a lot more in keeping with where we want paintball to go.
There may well be another promoter becoming involved in the Millennium and I believe this new promoter definitely wants us to create our own destiny and go the same way as I am suggesting, the irony is, he’s American.
Exciting things are possible and are achievable in the short term if we are both sensible and pragmatic and put aside all the bollocks that seems to permeate paintball at times.
With Laurent’s new playing surface that we saw in Paris, it opens up the possibility of beach events a lot more and also other more exciting locations.
If we do a bit of work in new site selection, the European tournament bandwagon can really get rolling; it’s merely a matter of actually doing it.
We got the brains and imagination in the Millennium guys, we got the player base and teams, we need to keep the industry unified in terms of where to support, we don’t fackin need another war in Europe, we really don’t need one.
Ged, Millennium guys, it’s up to you lot, you can either go at it or you can work together for the benefit of all, the choice is simple, the actions somewhat more difficult but certainly not impossible, nowhere frikkin near.
What lies at the heart of this problem are two significant factors; the first is the diminishing turnovers in the US whereby the US paintball industry has seen a downturn in sales of reportedly between 25 – 30 %.
The second is the impending war between the NPPL and Millennium that is to be fought upon the fields of Europe come 2006.
Some people might remark that for the teams, this can only be good because competition is good; well sometimes it is but in other cases it can prove disastrous.
With budgets now being reigned in, the last thing a prospective vendor or sponsor needs right now is another big time tourney to attend where it has the added expense of setting up booths etc, the US counterpart model of the PSP and NPPL has shown that the industry will have little stomach for a split tourney circuit in Europe especially in times as they are now.
One of the prime motives for integration in the US for the PSP and NPPL is one of financial expediency on behalf of the industry and yet, Europe looks as though we are shaping up to make the self-same mistake and we are supposed to learn from history not ignore it.
The main dynamic for this impending war in Europe is one of a lack of ability to find a solution to integrating the interests of the NPPL and the existing Millennium promoters.
The recent attempt by the NPPL to join forces was a little heavy handed to say the least and ended up pissing off the Millennium boys whereby the greater consideration for both parties ended up being flushed down the bog-hole.
Each party was in their own little box and reacted accordingly and the route they are about to take is gonna be the most damndest, stoopidest, God forsaken course we have ever knowingly undertook and is second only in the stupidity stakes to thinking Ryan Greenspan has hit puberty.
If we go down this road of conflict it will put Euro Paintball back 5 years when we need to be looking at consolidation and improvement rather than what we face now.
Companies who sponsor events and vendors will face a decision of whether to back one of the series or both.
Now normally, like 2 years ago, the industry would have gotten behind both series as they did in the US but the commercial landscape has changed and I’m afraid there is no way all the industry who sponsor the Millennium at present are gonna be getting behind the NPPL.
Some of them, a significant number, will choose one or the other.
Now, once this has happened, revenue streams for the promoters will not be enough to make either series viable and that’s without the inevitable loss of team’s entry fees who also won’t be able to afford both.
On several levels this just doesn’t work and whilst the alarm bells may be tinkling in the heads of all those involved, they obviously ain’t ringing loud enough.
The strategy that the Millennium guys are employing is one of, ‘Bollocks, we are gonna do our thing and they can do theirs’…and this has to be a default strategy because little else is open to them if the NPPL don’t wanna discuss integration anymore.
The NPPL sure ain’t gonna be put off by the failure of any assimilation talks and will forge ahead and I’m pretty sure may see the invasion of Europe as another loss leader for the first year and hope their undoubted standards of tournaments they put on as the genesis for killing off the Millennium and eventually taking over.
This strategy is working in the US whereby they have turned their loss making freshman year into a significant income stream and most definitely in the driving seat when it comes to sitting down with their PSP counterparts.
And so, as paintball teams, what the hack we gotta worry about?
We can pick and choose which one we go to and eventually if the NPPL is victorious, we can all go there.
It’s the ‘eventually’ bit that worries me in that it’s so frikkin unnecessary.
It’s brinkmanship and the likes of the industry, the teams and the promoters all stand to lose something as this war unfolds and eventually resolves itself.
What I have written in this month’s PGI article outlines a scenario whereby ALL the Euro teams (with the possible exception of the Russian Legion) start to back Europe.
Without going into too much detail at this point, even the Euro NPPL teams need to refocus if we are to create a coherent European destiny and to do that, we need a coherent tournament circuit with a viable industry supporting tournaments, teams and players.
Resources are now getting thinner on the ground and belts are being tightened up everywhere, this is fact.
Only a couple of the big companies have registered positive growth this last year, things ain’t gonna stay the same, trust me.
If anybody needs any proof or indication that all is not well in the industry as a whole then just cast your eye toward PMI and NPS and their proposed unification.
That said, even though we have this negative backdrop to proceedings, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to compound our problems by reopening European theatres of war, it’s just tempting fate.
The Millennium for all their faults, and let’s face it, their shortcomings were pretty petty and nothing really major or systemic, have done a great job in recent times.
I certainly have had my problems with some of them but once again, they are on petty issues but I didn’t really lose sight of what they have achieved.
The NPPL’s record in the US is outstanding and one might think, the combination would be the way to go instead of an all out war but I’m afraid common sense is so easily projected into outer space when disagreement and acrimony set in.
The article in PGI goes into a lot more detail and the only reason I am posting this up here is because after talking to Duffy, we both felt that you guys could help in the process of sorting this sh!t out.
Believe it or not, the powers that be in both the Millennium and NPPL do read these pages on P8ntballer.com and in PGI and as such, if we can create sufficient popular momentum we can hopefully influence proceedings.
The basis of what I wrote in the article is that we need to appoint a singular voice in the Millennium in that Laurent is that sole voice and controller
He has proved time and again that he is the man when it comes to putting on a tourney, his vision of our sport and its ultimate direction are unique.
If we look toward any process of unification or association between the NPPL and Millennium it needs to be done with Ged Green of Pure Promotions (NPPL) talking to Laurent alone.
To try and extract agreement from five or so Euro promoters is about as easy as getting Piper onto a diet that doesn’t include a minimum of 300 pounds of buffalo-meat pies per month, in other words, it ain’t happening.
I am saying Laurent needs to take control of the Millennium with the other promoters being instrumental in promotions and not decision-making in terms of negotiation and direction.
Once this has been done, the Millennium then need to create a circuit that is consistent with its best tournaments and so create for the players and sponsors, a much more attractive product that rivals the NPPL US events.
I have suggested keeping the Paris tournament and making a lot more of the Malaga event and looking for 3 other locations that can obviously still be run by the other promoters but are a lot more in keeping with where we want paintball to go.
There may well be another promoter becoming involved in the Millennium and I believe this new promoter definitely wants us to create our own destiny and go the same way as I am suggesting, the irony is, he’s American.
Exciting things are possible and are achievable in the short term if we are both sensible and pragmatic and put aside all the bollocks that seems to permeate paintball at times.
With Laurent’s new playing surface that we saw in Paris, it opens up the possibility of beach events a lot more and also other more exciting locations.
If we do a bit of work in new site selection, the European tournament bandwagon can really get rolling; it’s merely a matter of actually doing it.
We got the brains and imagination in the Millennium guys, we got the player base and teams, we need to keep the industry unified in terms of where to support, we don’t fackin need another war in Europe, we really don’t need one.
Ged, Millennium guys, it’s up to you lot, you can either go at it or you can work together for the benefit of all, the choice is simple, the actions somewhat more difficult but certainly not impossible, nowhere frikkin near.
