Why is TV deal so good for paintball
- Thread starter Richard Kirke (DUPS Rocket) UK
- Start date
completely speculative potential benefit #17
More colleges offer scholarships and sponsor their own paintball teams.
Then again, that means that you are entering the realm of NCPA, where C. Raehl has real tangible power... i leave it to you whether or not that's a good thing.
More colleges offer scholarships and sponsor their own paintball teams.
Then again, that means that you are entering the realm of NCPA, where C. Raehl has real tangible power... i leave it to you whether or not that's a good thing.
speculative drawback#2 or #3
At least half of all current ballers can no longer cut the mustard, and competing in even local series is beyond their skills and talent, as hoards or new players swell the ranks of competitive but not professional players.
Which could lead to us, as current paintball players, bot being able to even comprehend a game that is now too fast even for our understanding. Oh well, there is always badmitton.
At least half of all current ballers can no longer cut the mustard, and competing in even local series is beyond their skills and talent, as hoards or new players swell the ranks of competitive but not professional players.
Which could lead to us, as current paintball players, bot being able to even comprehend a game that is now too fast even for our understanding. Oh well, there is always badmitton.
Ok,
Well I seem to have thrown up a range of opinions. I have to admit I haven't had time to read them all, but thankyou all for your replies so far.
Look forward to reading them asap
Cheers
Richard (a small fry in a big pond perhaps)
Well I seem to have thrown up a range of opinions. I have to admit I haven't had time to read them all, but thankyou all for your replies so far.
Look forward to reading them asap
Cheers
Richard (a small fry in a big pond perhaps)
Paintball - Guns
Fencing - Swords
Boxing - Punching people
Our's is not the only sport that could have negative associations. Once the public perception of paintball is that of a sport, we should not have any problems.
A bit more on topic - The polorization of paintball that could possibley be caused by TV could reduce our slice of the pie, but it would be a smaller slice of a much bigger pie.
Practical example. #1
- Paintball becomes more mainsteam.
- Public percieves it as a sport, and sport council recognise it.
- We all get a 17.5% discount, due to sports equipment being exempt from VAT.
Practical example #2
- Greater demand for paintballs
- UK market reaches the point where manufacture of paintballs in the uk is viable.
- The price of paintballs in the UK doesn't have to include the price of international shipping.
Practical example #3
- Paintball becomes cool
- Groupies.
Who pays? Who Plays? Who benefits?
Whether or not paintball will succeed on television or not is very tough to call at this point, but in my opinion, people shouldn't get too excited about it. It would be pretty cool to see, but honestly, I don't see it happening. And even if it does get on TV, it sure won't be prime time. It'll be off hours, only viewable by people who have cable or sattelite, because it's not going to be on standard network television, that's for sure. Hell, it's only been in the last few years that NHL hockey or MLS Soccer has been on network TV, and even still, it's on very rarely.
Ok, Marketing 101 - The number one decider in keeping a television program on the air isn't the number of people watching the show, but advertising revenues. The advertising money is dependant on viewership, but it's a one way street. The big $$ aren't coming if people aren't watching, and they're not going to put too much money behind it unless they think that they'll get it back, and then some. The companies that pay for those 30 second or one minute ad slots during programs are what brings in the almighty buck, not joe paintballer sitting at home watching. Companies don't just buy air time at random and allow a network to put their commercials on whenever they'd like. The networks offer slots during each program at different rates. Obviously, the more popular the show, the higher the cost of those commercial slots. That said, companies are going to have to feel that their reaching their target audience that are going to buy their products. Now the big question is, what companies are going to support paintball by purchasing these slots? More than likely, it will be the same type of products that are advertised during other extreme sports shows. But what are the paintball companies going to do? Obviously, this would be the prime time for the big companies in paintball to hock their wares to all of the potential players that are watching for the first time. But that's not going to cut it though. There would be an absolute need for MAJOR corporate sponsors such as Coke, Pepsi, Mt. Dew, Nike, and companies with enormous advertising budgets to keep this on the air. So what does this mean for paintball companies?
It's going to mean an enormous increase in advertising budgets, and in the short term, this could result in higher prices. Paintball manufacturers are going to have to have major corporate backing for this to succeed because they can't support it alone. It's also going to mean that until it succeeds (a very big if) Joe Paintballer is probably going to pay for it. And it will also limit the number of companies that you see advertising on TV because only the big boys would have the scratch to put ads on TV.
The other side of the coin is profit for the production company and the network. Dick Clark hasn't survived in television for 50 years because he bet on losing horses. The minute that his company sees that they are going to lose a nickel, it'll get flushed faster than you can say XFL. And who exactly will bear the brunt of that financial disaster? Yup, you guessed it - Joe Paintballer.
And not only that, but were talking about a small sector of paintball, now that it has been hacked up and divided into many different pieces. We now have so much crap going on that it's difficult for even players to figure out what they're going to do. There's NXL, PSP, NPPL, Millennium, EXL, SuperPro and God knows what else to come. The majority of US paintball doesn't have a clue what's going on in Europe, and the majority of teams on both sides of the Atlantic can't afford to play on two continents. When you look at Miami NPPL, there were only 5 Amatuer teams and 5 Pro teams from Europe, and that was the highest number of teams at one event all season. It was great to see familiar faces there, but they definitely had a strong homefield advantage. PSP World Cup had even less. On the Millennium side, only World Cup and Camapign saw more than the two or three usual teams. And now Millennium has become divided as well, with certain individuals trying to pull off the same scenario that we've seen in the US, despite the current situation in the NXL. And this attitude of elitism and exclusion presented by some on these boards, with regards to the EXL, isn't doing a lot to keep us together. A lot of players in the NXL are so unhappy with the restrictions, and the absence of the "Big Deal" for the players, that they're jumping ship to enjoy the freedom that the rest of us have. And these aren't just the young guys, but some of the best pro's in the NXL.
Extreme sports, by nature, have always been outside of any kind of established system that is seen in typical sports, and when you impose restrictions on players and tell them that they can't do this, and they can't do that, this is what happens. The type of player movement that the NXL sees isn't as likely in Europe, due to language barriers and geography. Well, I suppose if more than one third of the teams are English, it could happen there, but they've got one of the largest player pools in Europe, so it would be unlikely to see anyone from another country moving over. And where does that leave Country X that doesn't have an EXL squad? Is there any potential for a player from Portugal to play for one of the Brit or Scandanavian teams, if we do see player movement as in other sports? Right from the start it's so compartamentalized that this scenario is highly doubtfull, and if these teams truly do represent the best of the best, what does the average baller from (Insert city/country here with no EXL team) have to shoot for? Sounds like a setup for failure with respect to the Euro-paintball community at-large. Great for the few who are in, but the rest will only be spectators. Sure, it's elite, but it's an island that only a few will ever reach without expansion and player movement, which in turn is dependant on enormous success.
So how does Europe benefit from the NXL being on TV? It's not too hard to say that it isn't really going to have any benefit other than to the teams involved. And honestly, Rancid hit the nail on the head in regards to the American attitude towards the EXL vs. NXL showdown, and that's only happens after the regular season is finished. The NPPL will also be on Fox Sports, but that's going to be a showcase, not an actual match between two teams. And ultimately, when you look at the amount of time required to show an event, any format played on TV will never be more than a showcase unless you focus on one particular match between two teams. It's just too long of a game.
I don't know about ya'll, but I don't think that it will really benefit the average player in Europe. It's possible that it will benefit some of the 120 or so Pro players in the NXL, and the sponsors and promoters, but Joe Paintballer? Doubtfull. EXL players? Doubtfull as well, for the time being. And even for the NXL, if they do wind up getting paid to play, $20k to $30k USD isn't a much of a salary, because only the top names are going to make more than that. And this is all speculation anyways, because it hasn't happened yet, and nobody knows for sure if it will or not. And who exactly is going to pay the EXL players? The SAME sponsors who MIGHT be paying NXL players next season? Down the road, if the EXL does survive, the sponsors would be doubling their expenses by paying the EXL players as well. Not only would it have to succeed in the US, but it will have to have well exceeded expectations, and be predicted to exceed it for X number of years, for EXL players to get something like this. And playing for prize money is not "getting paid", when you factor in only 8 teams, 4 events, and a roster of 13, even if all entry fees are returned in the form of prize money if you win. This means more events playing 7-man, or Div. 1 in the US, which means more expenses. The sponsors of the bottom half of the EXL better have their wallets open.
Not to sound too pesimistic, but that's how it looks to me. Good for some, but for the rest of us, it just means that we have to ride the wake, hope for the best, and play in a league where a handfull of people decide what's best for everyone, whilst we the masses continue to foot the bill.
Whether or not paintball will succeed on television or not is very tough to call at this point, but in my opinion, people shouldn't get too excited about it. It would be pretty cool to see, but honestly, I don't see it happening. And even if it does get on TV, it sure won't be prime time. It'll be off hours, only viewable by people who have cable or sattelite, because it's not going to be on standard network television, that's for sure. Hell, it's only been in the last few years that NHL hockey or MLS Soccer has been on network TV, and even still, it's on very rarely.
Ok, Marketing 101 - The number one decider in keeping a television program on the air isn't the number of people watching the show, but advertising revenues. The advertising money is dependant on viewership, but it's a one way street. The big $$ aren't coming if people aren't watching, and they're not going to put too much money behind it unless they think that they'll get it back, and then some. The companies that pay for those 30 second or one minute ad slots during programs are what brings in the almighty buck, not joe paintballer sitting at home watching. Companies don't just buy air time at random and allow a network to put their commercials on whenever they'd like. The networks offer slots during each program at different rates. Obviously, the more popular the show, the higher the cost of those commercial slots. That said, companies are going to have to feel that their reaching their target audience that are going to buy their products. Now the big question is, what companies are going to support paintball by purchasing these slots? More than likely, it will be the same type of products that are advertised during other extreme sports shows. But what are the paintball companies going to do? Obviously, this would be the prime time for the big companies in paintball to hock their wares to all of the potential players that are watching for the first time. But that's not going to cut it though. There would be an absolute need for MAJOR corporate sponsors such as Coke, Pepsi, Mt. Dew, Nike, and companies with enormous advertising budgets to keep this on the air. So what does this mean for paintball companies?
It's going to mean an enormous increase in advertising budgets, and in the short term, this could result in higher prices. Paintball manufacturers are going to have to have major corporate backing for this to succeed because they can't support it alone. It's also going to mean that until it succeeds (a very big if) Joe Paintballer is probably going to pay for it. And it will also limit the number of companies that you see advertising on TV because only the big boys would have the scratch to put ads on TV.
The other side of the coin is profit for the production company and the network. Dick Clark hasn't survived in television for 50 years because he bet on losing horses. The minute that his company sees that they are going to lose a nickel, it'll get flushed faster than you can say XFL. And who exactly will bear the brunt of that financial disaster? Yup, you guessed it - Joe Paintballer.
And not only that, but were talking about a small sector of paintball, now that it has been hacked up and divided into many different pieces. We now have so much crap going on that it's difficult for even players to figure out what they're going to do. There's NXL, PSP, NPPL, Millennium, EXL, SuperPro and God knows what else to come. The majority of US paintball doesn't have a clue what's going on in Europe, and the majority of teams on both sides of the Atlantic can't afford to play on two continents. When you look at Miami NPPL, there were only 5 Amatuer teams and 5 Pro teams from Europe, and that was the highest number of teams at one event all season. It was great to see familiar faces there, but they definitely had a strong homefield advantage. PSP World Cup had even less. On the Millennium side, only World Cup and Camapign saw more than the two or three usual teams. And now Millennium has become divided as well, with certain individuals trying to pull off the same scenario that we've seen in the US, despite the current situation in the NXL. And this attitude of elitism and exclusion presented by some on these boards, with regards to the EXL, isn't doing a lot to keep us together. A lot of players in the NXL are so unhappy with the restrictions, and the absence of the "Big Deal" for the players, that they're jumping ship to enjoy the freedom that the rest of us have. And these aren't just the young guys, but some of the best pro's in the NXL.
Extreme sports, by nature, have always been outside of any kind of established system that is seen in typical sports, and when you impose restrictions on players and tell them that they can't do this, and they can't do that, this is what happens. The type of player movement that the NXL sees isn't as likely in Europe, due to language barriers and geography. Well, I suppose if more than one third of the teams are English, it could happen there, but they've got one of the largest player pools in Europe, so it would be unlikely to see anyone from another country moving over. And where does that leave Country X that doesn't have an EXL squad? Is there any potential for a player from Portugal to play for one of the Brit or Scandanavian teams, if we do see player movement as in other sports? Right from the start it's so compartamentalized that this scenario is highly doubtfull, and if these teams truly do represent the best of the best, what does the average baller from (Insert city/country here with no EXL team) have to shoot for? Sounds like a setup for failure with respect to the Euro-paintball community at-large. Great for the few who are in, but the rest will only be spectators. Sure, it's elite, but it's an island that only a few will ever reach without expansion and player movement, which in turn is dependant on enormous success.
So how does Europe benefit from the NXL being on TV? It's not too hard to say that it isn't really going to have any benefit other than to the teams involved. And honestly, Rancid hit the nail on the head in regards to the American attitude towards the EXL vs. NXL showdown, and that's only happens after the regular season is finished. The NPPL will also be on Fox Sports, but that's going to be a showcase, not an actual match between two teams. And ultimately, when you look at the amount of time required to show an event, any format played on TV will never be more than a showcase unless you focus on one particular match between two teams. It's just too long of a game.
I don't know about ya'll, but I don't think that it will really benefit the average player in Europe. It's possible that it will benefit some of the 120 or so Pro players in the NXL, and the sponsors and promoters, but Joe Paintballer? Doubtfull. EXL players? Doubtfull as well, for the time being. And even for the NXL, if they do wind up getting paid to play, $20k to $30k USD isn't a much of a salary, because only the top names are going to make more than that. And this is all speculation anyways, because it hasn't happened yet, and nobody knows for sure if it will or not. And who exactly is going to pay the EXL players? The SAME sponsors who MIGHT be paying NXL players next season? Down the road, if the EXL does survive, the sponsors would be doubling their expenses by paying the EXL players as well. Not only would it have to succeed in the US, but it will have to have well exceeded expectations, and be predicted to exceed it for X number of years, for EXL players to get something like this. And playing for prize money is not "getting paid", when you factor in only 8 teams, 4 events, and a roster of 13, even if all entry fees are returned in the form of prize money if you win. This means more events playing 7-man, or Div. 1 in the US, which means more expenses. The sponsors of the bottom half of the EXL better have their wallets open.
Not to sound too pesimistic, but that's how it looks to me. Good for some, but for the rest of us, it just means that we have to ride the wake, hope for the best, and play in a league where a handfull of people decide what's best for everyone, whilst we the masses continue to foot the bill.
Exactly
I am afraid that as long as people keep saying "More money in the sport" I will remain unconvinced that I'll see any benefit.
Richard
Exactly what I have been trying to say!
I am afraid that as long as people keep saying "More money in the sport" I will remain unconvinced that I'll see any benefit.
Richard