Popularizing paintball

[Tonymicjoe]

My ten pence worth

The key to organisation is money.
The key to money is sponsorship, industry or outside.
The key to sponsorship is value for sponsorship money
The key to this value for money is TV exposure...

The market for paintball on tv is out there. Someone needs to present it properly. Such as, watch the game from multiple cameras above or on the tape lines. Then, after the action, dissect the play using instant replay from cameras we may not have got footage from during the game. Also include some mini camera style muggings etc. I see american football commentators drawing on the screen to illustrate their points and direct people away from the main point of focus. Why wouldnt this work for paintball?

We are all agreed that we need organisation to provide, all over the world, decent tourneys, good facilities, industry spokespeople, unbiased marshalls, fair rules and fair conduct procedures. Refer to the top to see how we are going to get it...

Keep it real boys and girls....

 

[Little Jon]

also....if it gets aired on tv. we have to make sure the 'pros' dont ruin it like when Lasoya got shot on the break and he didnt come off the field until another 2 of his players had....he was MAD
and as i said before.the pros have to see where the future is coming from....which is the rising AM teams and younger players so they cant keep pushing us about

 

[Eddepet]

We always tell each other not to get steamin' mad during a game. Save it for after. Pro's should understand best of all that anger right there on the spot doesn't solve anything.

 

[Buddha 3]

Originally posted by Buddha 5
We always tell each other not to get steamin' mad during a game. Save it for after. Pro's should understand best of all that anger right there on the spot doesn't solve anything.

True, but at the same time pros have often achieved the things they have because they are mad passionate about the sport. This often also means that tempers can easily flare.
I know I was a complete a-hole when I was still playing football.

 

[Tonymicjoe]

Yeah, agreed

However, with universal codes of conduct, unbiased marshalls and an adopted disciplinary procedure, there would be absolutely no place for stroppy prima donna players of any rank. No one would be able to use their temper, physical size, industry connections or celebrity status to influence anything. We would all be equal in the sight of the marshalls, organisers and governing body.

Thats how i see it anyway...

 

[Eddepet]

Originally posted by Buddha 3
True, but at the same time pros have often achieved the things they have because they are mad passionate about the sport. This often also means that tempers can easily flare.
I know I was a complete a-hole when I was still playing football.

I understand what you mean and I was prepared for you answering this one. Was it not me who let go after that last game on the Angel field at the DMA's?
I'm just saying, if paintball want to be accepted by the general public, it will be important to not have the swearing and perhaps even violence in it. Get popular fist, then get mad!

 

[Buddha 3]

I don't see anything wrong with a little chestbeating from time to time. I think the main problem lies in the fact that it can get out of hand when some players do it, because there are refs out there who have yet to grow a pair, and do something about it. And yes, that may be caused by the people concerned carrying more cloud in the game/industry, and we all agree that's bad.

 

[KillerOnion]

I've probably said these things twenty times on here, but the question comes up at least three times a year, I post it, and still apparently not a word of it heard or done by those who should.

1. Stop doing so much advertising, publicity, and marketing in house. Companies need to put advertising in front of people who don't have any paintball equipment of their own instead of putting hundreds of logos all over everywhere at events where everyone there already has everything they need. Get NEW PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SPENT A DIME ALREADY TO BUY INTO IT INSTEAD OF RECYCLING THE SAME (and ever dwindling) DOLLAR OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

2. Cut the sticker shock at rental fields. How many times have you seen this happen: People show up to play, get raped for pricing at every turn, play for a couple hours, buy more paint, play more, look at the bill, say "Damn that's expensive!", leave, and MAYBE show up again once a year. At that rate, hell no they can't afford to play! Newsflash: this doesn't steadily build a market, it discourages it.

3. Promote big name players to the outside world. No, this doesn't mean have them giving clinics at local fields, though that is a good start. Have them taking pics holding a Gatorade or Visa card or bottle of Coppertone or Subway sandwich. SPORTS DRAW CROWDS WITH BIG NAMES. Do you hear the names Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, Jeff Gordon, et al. at places other than golf courses, football stadiums, and race tracks? Yes, you do. And when people talk about them, they want to see how they're doing when they're playing, and turn on the TV to watch them.

4. Take on outside advertising. ANY outside advertising, especially on the local level. A bank here, insurance company there, etc. Why is it apparently thought that the only people that can write a check and have a banner put up are selling markers and paint? If I recall correctly I saw ONE outsider's business truck at World Cup. ONE. I suppose it's thought that a couple thousand people can be in one place and all of them spend exactly zero money on anything other than paintball (with gear and paint that they already have or have heard about 9,000,000,000,000 times already) in the other 357 days a year of their lives. No cars, food, cell phones, TV, insurance, banking fees...nothing, all a total vacuum devoid of everything but paintball. Oh, and they didn't use gasoline or airlines to get there either, or a hotel room to stay in. Probably didn't eat anything either. But that's the assumption one would make at a glance. YOU DON'T EVEN SEE A VIAGRA OR GEICO AD THERE. You know you're somewhere out in the 5th dimension when you don't see or hear Geico and Viagra ads every 30 seconds.

...

Ok, will that sink in this time around? Maybe? In another 5 years, if the world lasts that long?

 

[shamu]

Good suggestion KO. I think the first one is the biggest one. Figures say 6 or 7 million people play paintball each year, so there should be a big audience, right? Only most of those people play rec once or twice and that's it. They never hear about tournaments or the 'sport' aspect of it.

I organize rec games with people at work a couple times a year and they don't know about tournaments, let alone things like World Cup or NPPL, until I tell them about it. Once I do, they usually want to know more.

One of the big problems with tournament paintball as it is now - location.

OK, I'm mostly talking about US tournaments here. How many people want to go to a cow pasture to watch some new sport? Not many.

Even if they did, there's no way for them to know about it. KO's point about advertising outside the industry is dead on. The few occasions when tournaments are well located and promoted (IAO and Millenium come to mind), we get good crowd turnouts and better visibility for our sport.

There's a good base of people who know about paintball. Only a few of these people know about tournaments. If we can get that word out, get these people involved attending tournaments, then we can start getting on TV.

 

[joe bob]

Christmas- get somone a cheap pb marker as a gift, 98% cance they are hooked