What does the Paintball Industry need?
- Thread starter Missy-Q
- Start date
OK, I had a few ideas while watching Ice Hockey the other day and I thought I would throw them in and see what people thought.
So having never been to a hockey match before and being in Cardiff the day of the Cardiff Devils vs. Belfast Giants 2nd leg I decided to go with my gf. It cost £13.00 a ticket which isnt too much to be fair as the show was pretty good (and it occupied my girlfriend for a good 2 hours 40 minutes, imagine what she could have bought in that time).
While watching I had a look around at the fellow supporters, and realised this sport was full of people like the people that frequent these forums, lovers of the sport, then switching back to what was going on, on the ice, alot of puck missing body checking laughable fun, I realised that this sport had nothing on paintball, but it was very similar, comparing body checks to some one being bunkered, goals similar to pressing that buzzer and it is all in all a violence/testosterone fueled game.
Then I got to thinking if all these people are paying money to watch these brutes skate around the ice wacking a plastic puck around why wouldnt anyone pay £13 to go and watch their team play paintball, which is faster paced, and more enjoyable to watch (in my opinion), and then these thoughts came to me.
Paintball is so big in the US because every state in the country had its team to support, I for one wouldnt know who to go and support, There is London Tigers, London Nexus that I follow, claiming I am a supporter, but then again so does half of the UK.
So I put it to you lot, that maybe if we had a league in the UK that brought the best of players from different cities, i.e. London (insert Agg name here) vs Newcastle (insert Agg name here) and faced them against each other advertising it to the public for a small fee or free to begin with. Would that bring about an increase in public support thus bringing outside sponsorship making paintball a well supported self sustaining sport?
I think I should have PMd this to someone with a higher IQ (like Missy or Robbo) but I want the glory
.
Have a giggle at me and let me know what you think.
So having never been to a hockey match before and being in Cardiff the day of the Cardiff Devils vs. Belfast Giants 2nd leg I decided to go with my gf. It cost £13.00 a ticket which isnt too much to be fair as the show was pretty good (and it occupied my girlfriend for a good 2 hours 40 minutes, imagine what she could have bought in that time).
While watching I had a look around at the fellow supporters, and realised this sport was full of people like the people that frequent these forums, lovers of the sport, then switching back to what was going on, on the ice, alot of puck missing body checking laughable fun, I realised that this sport had nothing on paintball, but it was very similar, comparing body checks to some one being bunkered, goals similar to pressing that buzzer and it is all in all a violence/testosterone fueled game.
Then I got to thinking if all these people are paying money to watch these brutes skate around the ice wacking a plastic puck around why wouldnt anyone pay £13 to go and watch their team play paintball, which is faster paced, and more enjoyable to watch (in my opinion), and then these thoughts came to me.
Paintball is so big in the US because every state in the country had its team to support, I for one wouldnt know who to go and support, There is London Tigers, London Nexus that I follow, claiming I am a supporter, but then again so does half of the UK.
So I put it to you lot, that maybe if we had a league in the UK that brought the best of players from different cities, i.e. London (insert Agg name here) vs Newcastle (insert Agg name here) and faced them against each other advertising it to the public for a small fee or free to begin with. Would that bring about an increase in public support thus bringing outside sponsorship making paintball a well supported self sustaining sport?
I think I should have PMd this to someone with a higher IQ (like Missy or Robbo) but I want the glory
.Have a giggle at me and let me know what you think.
I'd go to watch the fights. And NASCAR for the crashes. Maybe that's what paintball needs, cars. and you can only turn left.
price is an issue.
there is several sites around me.
my local is the cheepest. £25 entry £20 a box of paint. am there all the time.
however other sites scare epople away with a £60 a person and £8 quid 100 paints. cant bring your own markers etc either
i have seen higher prices to.
there is several sites around me.
my local is the cheepest. £25 entry £20 a box of paint. am there all the time.
however other sites scare epople away with a £60 a person and £8 quid 100 paints. cant bring your own markers etc either
i have seen higher prices to.
I feel the industry needs more people to purchase their own equipment... this needs to be made more attractive by lowering prices. I think paint is relatively fair to be honest. Its the markers and all the upgrades that are way to expensive. That said to lower prices the industry needs more customers... this can be achieved at grass roots level at fields, i.e. letting the rental customers know that their are certain events etc available if you are interested taking the sport further and buying your own gear.
I also think that programs need to be aired on TV... If Extreme Sports channel on Sky was to show a paintball series I am confident that the industry would boom. It could have gear reviews, tests, fields etc to show people the wider picture of paintball.
Its a tough one really and due to the economic climate I don't think miracles are going to happen overnight. .50 cal is a good idea but I personally don't want to swap my marker over just to save some money on paint, not until it progresses a lot further anyway.
The country could do with indoor sup air fields... lots more... thats just a selfish opinion though
I also think that programs need to be aired on TV... If Extreme Sports channel on Sky was to show a paintball series I am confident that the industry would boom. It could have gear reviews, tests, fields etc to show people the wider picture of paintball.
Its a tough one really and due to the economic climate I don't think miracles are going to happen overnight. .50 cal is a good idea but I personally don't want to swap my marker over just to save some money on paint, not until it progresses a lot further anyway.
The country could do with indoor sup air fields... lots more... thats just a selfish opinion though
I feel that we need to get the word out. Say if you asked the whole world who Ollie Lang was im sure that 99% would answer no. We need to find some way of showing the average person what tournment paintball is like. Sombody asks me at school.
GUY: What did you do at the weekend ?
ME: I played paintball
GUY:What running around the woods ?
ME: No I playing tournment paintball
GUY: Whats that ???....
There needs to be a way of introducing the average Joe to paintball and showing there is more to just shooting a gun and showing theres a whole lot of tactics involved. The word needs to get out! But im not sure how ?
GUY: What did you do at the weekend ?
ME: I played paintball
GUY:What running around the woods ?
ME: No I playing tournment paintball
GUY: Whats that ???....
There needs to be a way of introducing the average Joe to paintball and showing there is more to just shooting a gun and showing theres a whole lot of tactics involved. The word needs to get out! But im not sure how ?
Steeley,I feel the industry needs more people to purchase their own equipment... this needs to be made more attractive by lowering prices. I think paint is relatively fair to be honest. Its the markers and all the upgrades that are way to expensive. That said to lower prices the industry needs more customers... this can be achieved at grass roots level at fields, i.e. letting the rental customers know that their are certain events etc available if you are interested taking the sport further and buying your own gear.
I also think that programs need to be aired on TV... If Extreme Sports channel on Sky was to show a paintball series I am confident that the industry would boom. It could have gear reviews, tests, fields etc to show people the wider picture of paintball.
Its a tough one really and due to the economic climate I don't think miracles are going to happen overnight. .50 cal is a good idea but I personally don't want to swap my marker over just to save some money on paint, not until it progresses a lot further anyway.
The country could do with indoor sup air fields... lots more... thats just a selfish opinion though
TV was seen as the holy grail for paintball but the problem is it is boring as hell to watch, for an outsider all you can see is a guy run to a bunker stick his head out then walk off the field. There is no focal point and it is very difficult to follow. Even for players paintball can still be at times boring, it just doesnt grab the attention and hold it.
The TV dollar has been chased so many times and shown to fail, putting it on TV aint gonna bring in millions of new players as people wont understand whats going on so will just turn over to the X Factor.
This country had a great indoor field, the Fireball Gym but people didnt go so it shut down.
The problem is paintball is a very expensive sport, its a luxury sport and most people who play at rental sites just want a bit of fun for a day rather than losing their life savings on new shiny toys. In my opinion changing the size ball, lowering prices or even sideline strippers aint gonna help (maybe they will actually) what the industry needs is more people enjoying themselves so they come back to play time after time.
What the industry needs is.....a wiser man than me to answer (although im not sure that man is Richmond)
Very valid point Sid! I even have to force myself to watch the PSP streams sometimes lol.
In terms of being expensive... yes it is with no doubt expensive... If I train reball with plan B its 45 quid for the day, then tournaments are 80 quid plus food and travelling etc... so yes it isn't cheap... I am just getting back into it after a long layoff and the costs are very dear... playing twice a month is all I can really afford at the moment but no where near as much as I would like to play.
I don't know if this is against the rules and probably is but Im going to say it anyways! When I was a nipper, playing ball... it was awesome as loads of my friends were into it and we would go deep into the forest after school (in summer) and at weekends and play on a little field we set up. We got our tanks filled up at the local shop and shot the cheapest paint we could find. We chipped in all our spare cash (dinner money, pocket money, paper rounds) and bought paint, we divided it equally. I know it wasn't very legal playing like that but it sure as hell was fun! Maybe someone living on a farm or with access to a field should open up a friend based site and see where it goes.
Even coming back into paintball after years I see a different direction and more corporate style. It would be nice to see it go back to the good old days in a Jam style format but then again that doesn't earn anyone any money lol!
i was discussing with a mate yesterday that paintball starts out being fun, then you start getting better and wanting to win and it becomes competitive, along the way the fun starts to dwindle. After a while you realise you miss the fun and start questioning what keeps you playing. For me its the people around me but this is what, in my opinion, would be the solution for the industry, how can they keep people wanting to play and keep them coming back time and time again. Steely it looks like you missed the fun so have come back for some more..
