Originally posted by Robbo
Paul, I talk to a lot of people who play XBall and they are not necessarily leaving for the reasons you suggest, they are leaving because there is a restriction, not because they wanna play more ball (which some of them may well do) but because they wanna get away to some degree from the cheating guns, the repetetiveness of playing on the same field against the same teams with no, if little renumeration and so on.
And as for your comparison with the NFL, first of all, Paintball is a new sport, it has to sell itself and I'm not sure the proposed presentation is gonna hook enough people even whe you are consider those people are the average Yank TV viewer 
I'm sure there are a variety of reasons some have left the NXL so I won't argue it with ya. (Though why the restriction should bother anyone who doesn't want to play more paintball I have a hard time grasping--
) Too bad they won't escape the gun issues unless they give up ball altogether.
After watching the NXL matches in LA it's clear to me that the teams are only just beginning to get a handle on the format's potential. It makes a new set of demands on the players and requires a whole new attitude to playing the game. I'm not surprised that there are plenty of established top players who are unwilling or uninterested in trying to adjust--particularly without much in the way of incentives except nebulous promises. There are also more than a few old pros who simply don't have the required skill set, too.
As to a potential audience I suppose it depends on the definition of success going in. If anyone thinks they can create some magic format that will be an instant superhit they are almost surely mistaken. And even if they do once the flash is no longer fresh the appeal quickly disappears. Better modest success that can be built on with a proper Sport that develops an audience through education as well as marketing.
