Apparently thats down to them moving to the UK to play the Freekz series, realising that British teams will pay you to kick their ass (plural)
FACT!
jim x
Philly Americans out of the NPPL
- Thread starter Bob
- Start date
FACT!
jim x
Integration is a thorny subject for some (Chicago) and popular with others for differing reasons not least of which is the somewhat superficial consideration of common sense.
There are moves going on as we speak to try and cut down on the number of events we have in 2009 but there are some important things to consider here for both parties.
These talks involve the two prime movers in both camps and therefore if it's going to happen, it will happen .... but i have my doubts now.
There will be no hybrid format; as Xball 5-man, whether you like it or not, is the dominant format and it makes no sense whatsoever to hybridise 7 man and XBall as a compromise.
The NPPL, apart from Huntington Beach, has not seen any growth in terms of teams attending, I'm not sure of the exact figures but it seems to be decreasing if what I've been told is to be believed.
This puts the PSP, who have shown signs of growth in a relatively strong position for obvious reasons.
On the financial side of things the PSP has turned things around in the last year whereby it is making money and not losing it, as it has done so efficiently in the past.
The NPPL is most certainly not making money.
The cynical among us might begin to think the best strategy for the PSP to adopt, is to sit back, avoid integration and see if the NPPL withers on the vine.
The question is, how long will the money men continue funding the NPPL if the income stream doesn't improve?
I know the owner of the NPPL, Bruce Friedman quite well and we touch base every now and again to discuss certain areas of our sport; he is a man of great vision and commitment.
This guy has a proven track record of business success (outside of paintball) and I know he has an allocated budget committed to developing paintball with the NPPL as its spearhead.
I have no doubts whatsoever regarding Bruce's expertise or commitment but it may well be the cards are too heavily stacked against him in this game which is a huge shame considering his ideas and goals for our sport.
The American economy right now is sculpting the landscape for many businesses, and paintball's terrain of late, looks like a frikkin war zone.
Everybody, and I mean everybody is hurting and with no short term recovery on the horizon, it means we are all hostage to a volatile and unpredictable future.
The industry as a whole needs to scale down so as to nudge the survivors toward a more profitable environment but as to who goes and who stays?
Well, your guess is as good as mine ... come to think of it, no it wouldn't be but you get what I mean
There are moves going on as we speak to try and cut down on the number of events we have in 2009 but there are some important things to consider here for both parties.
These talks involve the two prime movers in both camps and therefore if it's going to happen, it will happen .... but i have my doubts now.
There will be no hybrid format; as Xball 5-man, whether you like it or not, is the dominant format and it makes no sense whatsoever to hybridise 7 man and XBall as a compromise.
The NPPL, apart from Huntington Beach, has not seen any growth in terms of teams attending, I'm not sure of the exact figures but it seems to be decreasing if what I've been told is to be believed.
This puts the PSP, who have shown signs of growth in a relatively strong position for obvious reasons.
On the financial side of things the PSP has turned things around in the last year whereby it is making money and not losing it, as it has done so efficiently in the past.
The NPPL is most certainly not making money.
The cynical among us might begin to think the best strategy for the PSP to adopt, is to sit back, avoid integration and see if the NPPL withers on the vine.
The question is, how long will the money men continue funding the NPPL if the income stream doesn't improve?
I know the owner of the NPPL, Bruce Friedman quite well and we touch base every now and again to discuss certain areas of our sport; he is a man of great vision and commitment.
This guy has a proven track record of business success (outside of paintball) and I know he has an allocated budget committed to developing paintball with the NPPL as its spearhead.
I have no doubts whatsoever regarding Bruce's expertise or commitment but it may well be the cards are too heavily stacked against him in this game which is a huge shame considering his ideas and goals for our sport.
The American economy right now is sculpting the landscape for many businesses, and paintball's terrain of late, looks like a frikkin war zone.
Everybody, and I mean everybody is hurting and with no short term recovery on the horizon, it means we are all hostage to a volatile and unpredictable future.
The industry as a whole needs to scale down so as to nudge the survivors toward a more profitable environment but as to who goes and who stays?
Well, your guess is as good as mine ... come to think of it, no it wouldn't be but you get what I mean
keka said:
Well Jeff, it is a lot of questions but I think you need to apologise before I answer them.
I'm not sure what I would find thorny about the subject. You've got two parties with complementary strengths and weaknesses. Natural synergy.
And many shortcomings on the pacific paintball side of the equation could be remedied with an extremely small number of key changes.
And by small I mean one.
"Integration" of some form HAS to happen. We still have not done the things we need to attract serious out-of-industry money, and there simply is not enough money from the industry to support what we have now. Although I would be surprised if we entered 2009 with only one national league, I would be far less surprised this season than any time since the split.
And many shortcomings on the pacific paintball side of the equation could be remedied with an extremely small number of key changes.
And by small I mean one.
"Integration" of some form HAS to happen. We still have not done the things we need to attract serious out-of-industry money, and there simply is not enough money from the industry to support what we have now. Although I would be surprised if we entered 2009 with only one national league, I would be far less surprised this season than any time since the split.
In pretty much any commercial effort, you need doers and sellers. PSP are the doers, but they can't sell gold to Katrina refugees. PP seems incapable of doing paintball right, but they sure make failure look pretty, at least for a little while.
Of course, we would have all been better off if this had been acted on BEFORE pacific paintball blew through a few million dollars, but one downside to sellers is sometimes they sell themselves. They convinced themselves that they knew how to operate paintball stuff and they were wrong and it cost them a pile of money and a lot of distraction.
But imagine what might happen if you freed PP up from the operations of paintball and let them focus on the selling of paintball.
Here's an example. PP hired Chris Lasoya. Dubious, right? But they actually did the right thing with it (although not all that well) - they got him on their website, with a blog, and the first picture is Chris with hot chicks. Has NOTHING to do with paintball really, but ****, it's good marketing. Gotta make the kiddies believe that if they play paintball they can have hot chicks too. The whole "Be Pro! Stack **** in the warehouse between events so you don't get evicted!" thing just doesn't sell real well.
My suggestion to the industry is stop sponsoring all but 6-8 pro teams. Every company picks one and everybody else gets nothing. Then take all the money you just saved and pick one player from each team and pay him $100,000 a year to go out and 'live the life'. Not the best player, just the youngest, single, attractive one. Give him an expense account, hire him a PR rep, stick him in the clubs with the celebs. Make sure every event he parties it up, take pictures, and put that in the magazines. We 'win' when you start seeing paintball players mentioned in the same places you see DJs, skateboarders, snowboarders, etc.
Kids don't idolize athletes because they want to be athletes. They idolize athletes because athletes get to **** hot chicks.
Of course, we would have all been better off if this had been acted on BEFORE pacific paintball blew through a few million dollars, but one downside to sellers is sometimes they sell themselves. They convinced themselves that they knew how to operate paintball stuff and they were wrong and it cost them a pile of money and a lot of distraction.
But imagine what might happen if you freed PP up from the operations of paintball and let them focus on the selling of paintball.
Here's an example. PP hired Chris Lasoya. Dubious, right? But they actually did the right thing with it (although not all that well) - they got him on their website, with a blog, and the first picture is Chris with hot chicks. Has NOTHING to do with paintball really, but ****, it's good marketing. Gotta make the kiddies believe that if they play paintball they can have hot chicks too. The whole "Be Pro! Stack **** in the warehouse between events so you don't get evicted!" thing just doesn't sell real well.
My suggestion to the industry is stop sponsoring all but 6-8 pro teams. Every company picks one and everybody else gets nothing. Then take all the money you just saved and pick one player from each team and pay him $100,000 a year to go out and 'live the life'. Not the best player, just the youngest, single, attractive one. Give him an expense account, hire him a PR rep, stick him in the clubs with the celebs. Make sure every event he parties it up, take pictures, and put that in the magazines. We 'win' when you start seeing paintball players mentioned in the same places you see DJs, skateboarders, snowboarders, etc.
Kids don't idolize athletes because they want to be athletes. They idolize athletes because athletes get to **** hot chicks.
Chris, first of all there is now no inevitability to integration, it has now been sidelined to that of a mere option and this has come about because of the shift in circumstances each league has undergone in the last year.
The financial turnaround in the PSP sharply contrasted against the financial pains of the NPPL reveals a somewhat disturbing scene if common-sense and industry pressure aspires to dovetail these two leagues.
As I mentioned previously, the cynical among us could well believe the best strategy the PSP could adopt is to just wait .......... and ...... well, I don't need really need to spell it out again.
After all, if the PSP joined in talks to integrate, a necessary part of any integration deal would be a subsequent sharing of power .... 'why bother'? some might ask, when 'all the PSP's gotta do is sit and wait awhile and they can have it all'.
But Chris's point of what Bruce Friedman (PP) could bring to the table is a valid one for sure because if we are to make the most of our product, in terms of marketing paintball to the outside world, then we need Bruce.
And we need him because he has abilities and contacts well outside the PSP array of capabalities ...and I, in no way, mean to be disrespectful to any of the PSP guys here ...I am just making an observation that just happens to be bang on the money.
Our wonderful sport, over the decades, has revealed a unique ability to blast a hole in its own foot mainly due to its head being lodged firmly in its own anal canal.
The best result for all would be for a single format of 5 man (XBall combined, maybe Millennium format) with Bruce and Dave YB on the board along with the brother's G and a few others.
Likelihood?
The financial turnaround in the PSP sharply contrasted against the financial pains of the NPPL reveals a somewhat disturbing scene if common-sense and industry pressure aspires to dovetail these two leagues.
As I mentioned previously, the cynical among us could well believe the best strategy the PSP could adopt is to just wait .......... and ...... well, I don't need really need to spell it out again.
After all, if the PSP joined in talks to integrate, a necessary part of any integration deal would be a subsequent sharing of power .... 'why bother'? some might ask, when 'all the PSP's gotta do is sit and wait awhile and they can have it all'.
But Chris's point of what Bruce Friedman (PP) could bring to the table is a valid one for sure because if we are to make the most of our product, in terms of marketing paintball to the outside world, then we need Bruce.
And we need him because he has abilities and contacts well outside the PSP array of capabalities ...and I, in no way, mean to be disrespectful to any of the PSP guys here ...I am just making an observation that just happens to be bang on the money.
Our wonderful sport, over the decades, has revealed a unique ability to blast a hole in its own foot mainly due to its head being lodged firmly in its own anal canal.
The best result for all would be for a single format of 5 man (XBall combined, maybe Millennium format) with Bruce and Dave YB on the board along with the brother's G and a few others.
Likelihood?