Sponsorship - Are we missing out??!!

[kris]

just saying sheesh...
you dont have fields open at 00:25am? ? ? Your problem lies there, thought that had been solved years ago
24hr ball not mainstream down in London? you should move up to sunny manchester

 

[JoseDominguez]

We are well sponsored, purely down to the relationship we have with our sponsor. But most teams expect sometihng for nothing.
"Hello, Argos, I'd like to buy a Dishwasher, yeah, I'll buy my plates from you too and tell my mates where I got it........... can I have 50% off and a free shirt please".
Something like that

 

[Chicago]

Originally posted by Iron Lions - Ed
Yes I do hold the opinion that lower division teams are aware of what the teams winning their division use and may be influenced by it. Obviously not as much as influence as a "PRO" team generates but still some. The value of this should be diminished to acknowledge not that many people are as influenced which I don't deny.

It's not so much the influence of one team you're after as it is the collective influence.

Tournament players are a comparatively small number of, and a comparatively very visible section of, the paintball community. The vast majority of pictures in magazines are tournament players.

The objective is to get your product to be the only product in the product space that people see. You don't want to be Viewloader and have every hopper in every magazine be a HALO, so you will make some concessions to make sure as many viewloaders show up in the magazines as possible. People do notice things like that. It's why almost nobody buys an automag - a perfectly legitimate tournament marker, which nobody sees and nobody buys.

 

[Liz]

An interesting question would be how sponsors account for their sponsorship $$$ - are any able to write this off against their tax liability?

Seriously I don't even understand why paintball companies "sponsor", and I use that term loosly, most teams on the circuit. I mean its very nice of them, but 95% of them dont deserve it.

Take for example, any team lower than Div 1 Millenium. 100% of them have some sort of discount/sponsorship/free squeegee deal and yet 95% of them won't amount to anything, and a marked percentage will split up and disband within a year or two. Whats the point? What do they get out of giving a team something for absolutely nothing. Its a hobby to all of us.

The vast majority of incentivised buying doesn't lead to a loss, and therefore the need for a write-off, for the vendors. You would be looking at between 5-15% discount on full retail price, well above the cost price even allowing for overheads on many cases.
They go on the old theory of rather making £10, 10 times than £50 once

 

[Chicago]

Sort of.

A wholesaler or manufacturer giving you 10, 15 or 30% off of retail is just giving you the money that normally would have gone to the retailer.

They probably actually make more money by screwing the retailer^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H sponsoring you, since the retailer probably adds a 30-50% markup, so any sponsorship discount less than that is extra profit for the sponsor.

I always laugh when people tell me they have a "sponsorship" that amounts to wholesale pricing. That's not a sponsorship, it's a dealer account.

 

[Scars]

To be fair there is very little "sponsorship" in UK. What teams deem at sponsorship usually is just a friendly loyalty discount, If a team is "sponsored" by whoever, it usually means that because of the 10-15% discount that shop will offer. "the team" will rather use the "sponsor" than use anybody else like say planet, its a nice little way to make smaller local teams feel looked after and appreciated, and also guarentee's the "sponsor" business.

Its a nice little cycle where technicly everones a winner

But teams do use the word Sponsorship very loosely thats for sure.

 

[martin]

y?

y should they do anything if all the companys removed sponsorship would we stop playing?
paintball is a odd sport. I am waiting for pipers view he loves it

 

[Chicago]

y?

Originally posted by martin
y should they do anything if all the companys removed sponsorship would we stop playing?

That's no tthe way it works. Sure, if nobody sponsored anybody, everybody would still buy product. But if one group sponsors people and the other does not, then the group that gives sponsorships will sell more product. So the sponsors can't not sponsor people, because then their competition will steal their business.

 

[martin]

ye agreed

but y sponsor teams when they can just give discount?
y give it away

 

[stongle]

Forget any notions of Sponsorship right now, unless it’s charity from your Boss, mates etc, because that’s what it’ll be: charity.

If you want to impress or drive the best incentive deal you can with a supplier start to think in Business terms.

1. Work out your exact requirements, how many bullets you need on a quarter, month, week etc and enter into an agreement to supply X qty at X price and commit to it. Showing that you have a sensible financial set-up will likely mean people are going to take you seriously.
2. Get affiliated to a site, and buy Paint through the site. DO NOT go direct to a minor supplier for cheap bullets it’s a false economy and does more harm than good in the long run. Not only can you not shoot these bullets at certain events (i.e. Millenniums your also not a single brand team), these firms rarely produce a quality product and batches are inconsistent (remember a “quality” manufacturer will always replace substandard paint). If you want to be in Paintball for the long haul there you need to work out who the big boys are and how they want to operate.
3. Always work in conjunction with the site, whether it’s promoting it, getting punters in, whatever this is the place you start. So few players and Teams have any worth they would have an impact on kit sales so forget about Novice Team endorsements. If you have a good site relationship, they might either talk to suppliers to get a bulk discount on your behalf or at least introduce you to people who can help you out. Remember for the bigger suppliers dealing with Teams is a major pain in the arse, because most of the time all they hear is “give me free sh*t”, or they want tiny quantities of kit (hence shipping costs are higher). Also remember the UK suppliers may only have a limited discount of budget to work with, and it may have to be justified explained to the head office guys.
4. Don’t be annoying or whiney and keep the 12 yr old bunker monkeys away from the sponsor and any negotiations. No one cares how great the Div 4 mugging was, nor if they are the next Ollie Lang. You wouldn’t bring a kid to the office / sales meeting what makes you think they have any part in the financial goings on. Keep the kids on the field, let the adults take care of business.
5. Always show gratitude to the sponsor. If their in the bar at an event offer them a drink, but don’t try and be too matey matey. It takes time to build up good relationships and coming across a tit or w*nker ain’t going to help you in the long run.

I’m sure others, but others can put them up.