Paintball has seen a lot of attention lately. From the NXL being aired on ESPN2 to the NPPL on Fox Sports Net, paintball is being exposed to the masses in a more regular fashion. Today on the Discovery Channel I even saw some previews for the new season of “Mythbusters” in which the hosts were using Piranhas to perform one of their experiments. With all of this new attention us ballers need to assess where our sport is going, what is the future of paintball? We’ve come a long ways from old school woodsball. This becomes painfully obvious when you are trying to sell an old 98 Custom with a drop the size of a soup ladle that the market for this kind of equipment just isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. Unfortunately the image the average person has of paintball still has its place in the woods, with a bunch of loser kids and fat uncles who want to play war. This schema gets reinforced every time there is an article in the newspaper from a local state park asking people not to play paintball there because it is dangerous for bystanders and the paint shells litter the park. This has become a little to common place in the area I live, central Minnesota.
We all know at this point that the top two contenders for bringing paintball to the masses take shape as the NXL and the NPPL. So where are these two sports going to take our sport? What will become of me and you and all the average guys that show up almost every weekend to their local field and play their hearts out? Lets start off with the NPPL since it’s the older school. The sport that most readily comes to mind when thinking of analogies for the NPPL is golf. In golf you have an intertwining of independent and corresponding tournaments in which golfers win money or accumulate points for a grand total. What’s important to remember in golf is that very few people play in professional tournaments televised on TV. The true backbone of golf is the retail sales of golf equipment to the doctor who can get out of surgery in the early afternoon and hit the links. The retail golf equipment market is somewhere around three billion dollars! (Murphy, “Driven to Succeed,” Business Week, 11-15-2004, p.122.) What that means to companies like Smart Parts and Dye is a swimming pool full of money as seen on “Ducktails.” More importantly for us weekend-warrior ballers, is that the professional level of the NPPL encourages amateur play. It does this because we can play the same format that they do, and play it affordably. If the damn snow would melt, I could go out tomorrow morning, buy a few cases of paint, and play my heart out until the sun went down. And all it would mean would be more money for the field I’m playing at, and in the grander picture, the manufacturers and retailers of equipment. So lets all jump on the NPPL bandwagon now; bring out the Angel girls, tap the keg, and lets stay for the weekend!
There is one thing I forgot to mention here, watching an NPPL game on TV IS BORING! There is a ton of laning… and a bit of action. Its not what I consider an edge of you’re seat game for the most part. I have seen some exceptions to this though; the episode last Tuesday, February 1st, on FSN was awesome. Even though I had seen the outcome of the game on the internet and in magazines like a half a year in advance, it was still freakin’ sweet to watch Infamous slap Dynasty around like its red-headed step child. The catch here, as I’m sure you’re all aware of, is that Infamous was an NXL team and had adapted their aggressive style from Xball to the NPPL games. I’m aware that I’m beating a dead horse here, but the NPPL needs to change formats if it’s going to deliver paintball to the masses. The series in its present form is just not that fun to watch on TV even with editing, to really carry on a fan base other than ballers themselves. For one thing 7 man is a bit hard to follow, especially on the confines of your TV set. The tournament setting inhibits aggressive play that is fun to watch and more importantly entertaining, which is what TV is all about.
Okay, so the NPPL is good, but not perfect. What about the NXL? First thing first, the NXL is a concept to change the format of paintball so that it becomes a sport that can be identified with basketball or football. Well, there are a few problems here that I’m sure the administrators are working on changing here, but that need to be addressed. Starting from the top, how often have you heard advertisements for a regular season game between NXL teams? This seems to be a staple of other sports, the regular and post-seasons, but seems to be missing from the NXL. As of now the PSP is the showcase of X-Ball, not the NXL. If you truly want paintball to be seen as a sport on a parallel with football, you need to have regular season games that determine who makes it to the playoffs and who needs to start training for next year. This would mean home fields, away games, the whole bit. I’m well aware that this is easier said than done. In order for the teams to make any money from their games there would need to be a huge fan-base for the teams that would be willing to purchase tickets and attend these individual games. How many people do you know that are that die hard fans of one particular paintball team? Sure there are super-fans and the like, but is there enough of them to fill up a stadium?
One of the largest concerns I have regarding the NXL is the isolation of the amateur player. How many amateur football players do you know out there? Sure there is high school and collegiate players, but how many of those continue to play the sport into their forties or even thirties? Most are done after their glory days of high school. Now I have to admit every now and again I get caught into an impromptu game of touch football after a glorious day for the Vikings, which only occurs once a year, but I don’t play on a regular basis. So why don’t you see the amateur football or hockey player all that often? Because it’s damn expensive that’s why. If you wanted to buy all the gear necessary to play football, you would be running a large tab on the old credit card, and you probably would not use it that often. The same goes for X-Ball, it is damn expensive. The sheer amount of paint that a player can go through in one game is phenomenal. The standard, tournament style, NPPL game curbs this because you can beat a team in 2 games. That could mean as little as 30 seconds of game play if you managed to sweep you’re opponent in both games. Then again it could go the other way and you might take a team to 3 games, right? Compare this to X-Ball where you play for an allotted amount of time, and in that time it easy to get in 20 sets in one game! That translates into… well a whole hell of a lot of paint. Did I mention that X-Ball is also extremely capable of bringing in money to equipment manufacturers?
So X-Ball is expensive, that hampers amateur play of paintball. What else could I possibly hold against the NXL? Here’s you’re next homework assignment little Johnny; go on the internet, and search around for the official rules of X-Ball. Now maybe I’m just looking in all the wrong places, but I cannot find them anywhere. The closest I got was on forums where I was able to find bits and pieces here and there, but nothing like you can get from the NPPL site. On the NPPL’s main site you are able to download a splendid PDF of all of the 2004 official rules. Now you are supposed to ask, “Why is that so stinking important?” Its important because I can set up an official sized field, and get together with my team and some random kids and bunker them until they go home crying to mamma. The reason I do this is because I’m insecure and it boosts my self-esteem. Okay seriously, I can put up an official size field and teach everyone the rules, and I can train using those rules to make myself better and further my obsession of being the next Ollie Lang. Say it with me now, THUS ENCOURAGING AMATUER PLAY.
Now that I’ve complained about the current state of professional paintball, lets think positive. For the paintball player, right now is the golden age of paintball. Think of how many teams out there have some form of sponsorship. Its insane how many teams out there are sponsored by equipment manufacturers and/or retailers. Look at all the exposure paintball receives these days; magazines, newsletters, websites, DVDs, and now even a video game, and for once this paintball video game doesn’t even suck! Something else here, paintball is on TV. Yes that’s right, have we forgotten already, both tournament series have been televised. Another homework assignment for you now: put on you’re favorite paintball apparel whether it be a t-shirt or beanie, whatever you want. Now go into some public place, preferably where there is no paintball products for sale, that may be a little biased. How many times does someone come up to you and say, “hey nice shirt,” nod, or stare at you’re gear. Now, rip off that paintball apparel in super hero-esque fashion only to reveal you’re Minnesota Vikings jersey. Okay, so you’re going to get different results depending on where you live; if you live in Minnesota no one is going to say peep to you, if you live elsewhere you will most likely get heckled. Ballers have formed quite a tight community these days. There have been numerous times I have been walking to campus with my Dye pit shirt on and have received approval for my apparel in numerous ways, anywhere from the random shout out to an invitation to play ball that afternoon. My point here is that although the sport isn’t so-called mainstream, it is still recognized and adored by its players and has a larger following then most realize. The coolest thing about our sport is that there is no one out there that can say that they play paintball for the money, only for the love of the game.
We all know at this point that the top two contenders for bringing paintball to the masses take shape as the NXL and the NPPL. So where are these two sports going to take our sport? What will become of me and you and all the average guys that show up almost every weekend to their local field and play their hearts out? Lets start off with the NPPL since it’s the older school. The sport that most readily comes to mind when thinking of analogies for the NPPL is golf. In golf you have an intertwining of independent and corresponding tournaments in which golfers win money or accumulate points for a grand total. What’s important to remember in golf is that very few people play in professional tournaments televised on TV. The true backbone of golf is the retail sales of golf equipment to the doctor who can get out of surgery in the early afternoon and hit the links. The retail golf equipment market is somewhere around three billion dollars! (Murphy, “Driven to Succeed,” Business Week, 11-15-2004, p.122.) What that means to companies like Smart Parts and Dye is a swimming pool full of money as seen on “Ducktails.” More importantly for us weekend-warrior ballers, is that the professional level of the NPPL encourages amateur play. It does this because we can play the same format that they do, and play it affordably. If the damn snow would melt, I could go out tomorrow morning, buy a few cases of paint, and play my heart out until the sun went down. And all it would mean would be more money for the field I’m playing at, and in the grander picture, the manufacturers and retailers of equipment. So lets all jump on the NPPL bandwagon now; bring out the Angel girls, tap the keg, and lets stay for the weekend!
There is one thing I forgot to mention here, watching an NPPL game on TV IS BORING! There is a ton of laning… and a bit of action. Its not what I consider an edge of you’re seat game for the most part. I have seen some exceptions to this though; the episode last Tuesday, February 1st, on FSN was awesome. Even though I had seen the outcome of the game on the internet and in magazines like a half a year in advance, it was still freakin’ sweet to watch Infamous slap Dynasty around like its red-headed step child. The catch here, as I’m sure you’re all aware of, is that Infamous was an NXL team and had adapted their aggressive style from Xball to the NPPL games. I’m aware that I’m beating a dead horse here, but the NPPL needs to change formats if it’s going to deliver paintball to the masses. The series in its present form is just not that fun to watch on TV even with editing, to really carry on a fan base other than ballers themselves. For one thing 7 man is a bit hard to follow, especially on the confines of your TV set. The tournament setting inhibits aggressive play that is fun to watch and more importantly entertaining, which is what TV is all about.
Okay, so the NPPL is good, but not perfect. What about the NXL? First thing first, the NXL is a concept to change the format of paintball so that it becomes a sport that can be identified with basketball or football. Well, there are a few problems here that I’m sure the administrators are working on changing here, but that need to be addressed. Starting from the top, how often have you heard advertisements for a regular season game between NXL teams? This seems to be a staple of other sports, the regular and post-seasons, but seems to be missing from the NXL. As of now the PSP is the showcase of X-Ball, not the NXL. If you truly want paintball to be seen as a sport on a parallel with football, you need to have regular season games that determine who makes it to the playoffs and who needs to start training for next year. This would mean home fields, away games, the whole bit. I’m well aware that this is easier said than done. In order for the teams to make any money from their games there would need to be a huge fan-base for the teams that would be willing to purchase tickets and attend these individual games. How many people do you know that are that die hard fans of one particular paintball team? Sure there are super-fans and the like, but is there enough of them to fill up a stadium?
One of the largest concerns I have regarding the NXL is the isolation of the amateur player. How many amateur football players do you know out there? Sure there is high school and collegiate players, but how many of those continue to play the sport into their forties or even thirties? Most are done after their glory days of high school. Now I have to admit every now and again I get caught into an impromptu game of touch football after a glorious day for the Vikings, which only occurs once a year, but I don’t play on a regular basis. So why don’t you see the amateur football or hockey player all that often? Because it’s damn expensive that’s why. If you wanted to buy all the gear necessary to play football, you would be running a large tab on the old credit card, and you probably would not use it that often. The same goes for X-Ball, it is damn expensive. The sheer amount of paint that a player can go through in one game is phenomenal. The standard, tournament style, NPPL game curbs this because you can beat a team in 2 games. That could mean as little as 30 seconds of game play if you managed to sweep you’re opponent in both games. Then again it could go the other way and you might take a team to 3 games, right? Compare this to X-Ball where you play for an allotted amount of time, and in that time it easy to get in 20 sets in one game! That translates into… well a whole hell of a lot of paint. Did I mention that X-Ball is also extremely capable of bringing in money to equipment manufacturers?
So X-Ball is expensive, that hampers amateur play of paintball. What else could I possibly hold against the NXL? Here’s you’re next homework assignment little Johnny; go on the internet, and search around for the official rules of X-Ball. Now maybe I’m just looking in all the wrong places, but I cannot find them anywhere. The closest I got was on forums where I was able to find bits and pieces here and there, but nothing like you can get from the NPPL site. On the NPPL’s main site you are able to download a splendid PDF of all of the 2004 official rules. Now you are supposed to ask, “Why is that so stinking important?” Its important because I can set up an official sized field, and get together with my team and some random kids and bunker them until they go home crying to mamma. The reason I do this is because I’m insecure and it boosts my self-esteem. Okay seriously, I can put up an official size field and teach everyone the rules, and I can train using those rules to make myself better and further my obsession of being the next Ollie Lang. Say it with me now, THUS ENCOURAGING AMATUER PLAY.
Now that I’ve complained about the current state of professional paintball, lets think positive. For the paintball player, right now is the golden age of paintball. Think of how many teams out there have some form of sponsorship. Its insane how many teams out there are sponsored by equipment manufacturers and/or retailers. Look at all the exposure paintball receives these days; magazines, newsletters, websites, DVDs, and now even a video game, and for once this paintball video game doesn’t even suck! Something else here, paintball is on TV. Yes that’s right, have we forgotten already, both tournament series have been televised. Another homework assignment for you now: put on you’re favorite paintball apparel whether it be a t-shirt or beanie, whatever you want. Now go into some public place, preferably where there is no paintball products for sale, that may be a little biased. How many times does someone come up to you and say, “hey nice shirt,” nod, or stare at you’re gear. Now, rip off that paintball apparel in super hero-esque fashion only to reveal you’re Minnesota Vikings jersey. Okay, so you’re going to get different results depending on where you live; if you live in Minnesota no one is going to say peep to you, if you live elsewhere you will most likely get heckled. Ballers have formed quite a tight community these days. There have been numerous times I have been walking to campus with my Dye pit shirt on and have received approval for my apparel in numerous ways, anywhere from the random shout out to an invitation to play ball that afternoon. My point here is that although the sport isn’t so-called mainstream, it is still recognized and adored by its players and has a larger following then most realize. The coolest thing about our sport is that there is no one out there that can say that they play paintball for the money, only for the love of the game.
