X-Ball. Disney and World Cup

[Baca Loco]

But it's not all good

Originally posted by Nick Iuel-Brockdorff
Secondly - who cares about Disney - They aren't the target here.

The TV companies are - and Disney World just happens to be a cool setting for it.

So - The PSP and a few others make money off the X-ball concept (if all goes well) - I fail to see how that is a problem for paintball ?

At the end of the day, some positive effect will trickle down to OTHER paintball events. - I.E. "CBS is airing paintball regularly - so BBC come cover the Campaign Cup".

It's all good....

Nick

A couple of nit-picky items first: Disney owns ABC and ESPN for starters so they are a target here.
Heck, everybody should cheer if anybody can find a way to make money off'a playing p-ball. Not an issue.
No doubt p-ball on TV would be cool and might actually have a positive effect on the average player at some point--
And in that respect it is all good, BUT--

Where it ain't all good is what the short term may bring to the average player and the fact that all these prospects are being represented as being done in the interest of those same average players.
Why in the world is it so hard to simply inform the players that look, here's what we're doing and why we're doing and we'd really appreciate your understanding and support. Is that so hard?
Don't all the players who show up and pay for their opportunity to play deserve some consideration?

Maybe it's just me and God knows most of the player base is pretty apathetic but it seems a sorry state of affairs.

 

[Matski]

Why dosnt Lane sort out something like including 10 tickets free with every team or something, get the friends and families of teams to come and watch at a reduced rate or something. That way, Disneys sales figures will look much better. I think a small increase in entrance fee would absorb this. You could even have an increase in entrance fee in proportion to status-pros entrance fee increases most of all to provide more 'free' tickets, pros would be least effected due to sponsors. At the other end of the scale, novices only pay a little extra in their entrance fee.

My point is that Lane obviously has pballs interests at heart but players dont want to feel like their having to pay extra for something they dont really need.
In the same way that the cost of filling everybodys air all day long is included in the price, he should work out some way of absorbing the cost of these tickets into the fees, please disney, keep the bitching players happy (no offence intended baca).

 

[Mark/Static]

I kind of echo Baca here.

Last I heard this was supposed to be held at the Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, now Lane say's it'll be at a Disney "property."
I don't have a problem with the exhibition, and I don't have a problem with it being in X-Ball format either. This tells me they want it to be spectator friendly, as I've heard X-Ball to be. This implies that perhaps some executives will be watching the games, to see whether it's something they can market.
I do have a problem when I'm being asked to buy tickets for the good of the sport, when I have no idea of the soundness of the investment.
I've played a long an expensive season, World Cup is the light is at the end of the tunnel. to ask NPPL players to buy Disney tickets at the last event of the season doesn't show much forethought. I've already blown my vacation time, and due to the rescheduling of Cup I have to take an extra day off. An extra day I won't get paid for along with the rest.
If I'm being asked to buy a ticket to show Disney what a lucrative market paintball is, I'd like to know what else is going on.
Is this ticket drive the only economic factor?
What, and where is this Disney "property?"
Will there be true promotion of this exhibition so the non-playing public can check it out?
If precedent holds, I don't expect answers to these questions, but I thought they should've been asked.

 

[Baca Loco]

In the interest of fairness

here's a relevant post from Lane offered in another public forum offered without comment.

-----[For the record, and barring some unforeseen act of God, the X-Ball event will be held at Disneys Wide World of Sports Complex. I have no idea exactly where on the grounds it will be.

And I have no idea where your money goes once you buy the tickets. I guess you would have to ask Disney about that. I do know that it doesn't come back to me, Jerry, or PSP in any direct form. Quite possibly it would be returned to you, me, PSP, and all paintball teams and players in the future in the form of a huge sponsorship package from Disney. But that is a hope, not a promise. And based on the shortsighted and selfish comments that I see here, it's questionable at best.

My simple point is this -
Disney is looking at paintball. This is a good chance for paintball to show a big company that we are a sport worthy of their involvement. Any company that EVER decides to get into paintball will have one ultimate goal in mind. --SELL MORE OF THEIR PRODUCT -- . In this case Disneys product is tickets to their theme park. (NOTE: not tickets to the X-Ball event. There is no admission to watch X-ball).

If we (paintball related people) buy enough tickets to make it obvious to Disney that by attaching themselves to paintball they can increase revenues, we have a much better chance of Disney wanting to get more involved.

If you don't want to buy tickets, don't buy them. If you can't afford them, don't buy them. I simply want people to understand that Disney, as well as any other potential big money sponsors, are not nearly as interested in what we do on the field, as they are in what we do as far as their products sales are concerned. If a company can't even get increased interest in their product from the actual particpants of a sport they chose to throw money at, would they ever believe that spending money on the sport would attract others outside of the sport to buy their stuff. I doubt it. It is quite possible that paintball is not ready for outside sponsorship.

Disney is giving us a chance to show them what participation in paintball can do for there company. It's simple. We either make an effort to show them we are a viable marketing tool, or we don't. If we don't, they will make the obvious and easy decision that paintball as a sport is not worth their involvement. Paintball will continue. Disney will continue. And there may be another chance down the road. But there is a CHANCE right now! I don't want to sit around waiting on the next chance. If you do, so be it.

Just keep in mind that the door is opening. Paintball will get out of this opportunity exactly what it deserves. Disney could approach us with an offer of increased participation next year, or the lady may call me again in two weeks and tell me this was a complete waste of their time. Either way, paintball players will decide what paintball gets out of this deal. And we will deserve it, whether it is good or bad. It will be a good indication of how much our sport is worth.]-------