ON RECENT PBN BASHER FILES
From Lane Wright (or he call himself Lane Wright):
First, I absolutely applaud your post. That is all I ever ask for. People can hate everything we do and criticize every decision we make, so long as they back it up with reason. I may debate their reasoning with my own. But, I accept everyone has their own way of thinking.
Two of my most prized confidants today were people who totally bashed PSP on the Internet years ago. But both did it with logic and rational thought behind their rants (even though they were almost always wrong). Chris Raehl and Paul Richards wrote more BS about me than anyone. But they always included a reason why they felt like they did. They are two of the people who's opinion I respect the most, today.
The pricing structure is simple - it is there to protect us from having people only attend WC. The fact of the matter is that 3 of our 5 events are marginally productive for sponsors, at best. It could be argued that the World Cup is the only event that sponsors get true value in their sponsorship. I don't necessarily agree. But I can see the argument.
But another fact is that if sponsors decided to pull out of the year long sponsorship and only come to WC, PSP would never make it to WC. So I structure the program to discourage that. Everyone who wants to be anyone has to be at Cup. The pricing is such that it makes sense to almost everyone who is of the sponsoring level to sponsor the season, as opposed to just attending the WC.
The difference in price of "vendor booth" vs "sponsor layouts" based on the additional perks sponsors get. Logo on website, banners at events, mentions at grand stand field, announcements to our data base, etc.
Being that we had to draw a line of what we referred to as vendor level and sponsor level, and it needed to be more than just the area people used, I decided that once a truck/trailer with awnings, signage, etc were involved it would go into the "sponsor level". It seemed legit to me. At the time everyone who would be inclined to sponsor us brought traveling display trucks and everyone who had traveling display trucks were people who looked at sponsorship level involvement.
The $17,500 comes from an effort to protect the other sponsors. In this particular case, Planet and CP. They pay an amount of money to sponsor us each year. This money gets them an amount of space at each of the 5 events and various other things to help promote their brand. Obviously, this cost of space is not even/equal for all events. Certainly it is understood that WC is worth more than NEO. My breakdown allots almost $14,000 of the total money Planet/CP pays for the year to their space at World Cup. To protect them and show appreciation for their support for the whole year, when someone new comes in and wants the same space at WC, they will be priced at 25% more than a season sponsor paid for the same space.
So, this isn't an attempt to protect the owners. It is an attempt to protect the existing sponsors. In this case, a non-owner gun manufacturer, who started very small and grew, in part because they were willing to pay the price to get their stuff out in front of people, and I hope, to a smaller degree, because people who run events think ahead enough to protect them when they support us.
Just to take it a step farther - we do the same thing when people sponsor at one level and then want to increase to the higher level at World Cup. And we do it to EVERYBODY.
KEE (who is an owner in PSP) sponsored PSP at the Gold level this year. They want a Platinum size spot for World Cup. To protect DYE and SP as Platinum sponsors, KEE will pay an additional money to have that space at World Cup. An additional $12,000, as a matter of fact. That's the price charged to an OWNER, who has already paid $50,000 to attend and sponsor their own events.
And lastly, I am saying here and now - the owners who sponsor PSP (DYE, SP, KEE) absolutely pay exactly what others pay for identical sponsorship. They pay the exact same for their teams entry fees. They pay the exact same late fees if they miss deadlines. They pay the exact same additions if they upgrade in space. This is no "petty dispute" or "old grudge". I have no ill will towards Bobby or BLAST, at all. The fact that he chose not to sponsor the league didn't bother me in the slightest. I am well aware of the economics of paintball this year. People have to make decisions based on their business plans and the best interest of their company. That's what I am doing. That's what Bobby is doing. If Rennick Miller (an owner) wanted to bring Shocktech to World Cup with his trailer and asked for the same area that BLAST wanted, he absolutely would have been given the EXACT same price. I guarantee that as my word. He got a similar price for Chicago and decided not to attend. It was too expensive for his company. He's an owner and one of my best friends. But he didn't attend the event in the capacity he wanted and we didn't change the price structure. The point is that BLAST is being treated no different than some of the owners of PSP - fairly.
On that point, I guarantee that Bob didn't write a check for his personal gun. I guarantee that Opie doesn't fork over cash for a case of Draxxus paint. I am certain that Rob Staudinger doesn't pay the walk-on fee if he plays at a PBC field. I feel sure that if Dale wants a CP barrel on one of his guns he just takes a CP barrel and puts it on his gun. But, at PSP, the guys who own the company pay to attend the events just like everyone else. They also pony up when the company lose's money. They also haven't collected a single penny from PSP since it's inception, except to pay back a couple of loans they gave to cover prize money. They also sponsor, in one way or another, a good 60% of the teams who play in the league. They pay to remove one of the obstacles others would have when trying to decide to support the league.
It baffles me that no one ever seems to respect or appreciate that. But my Lord people will jump at the chance to claim they are screwing someone at every chance they get. It is EXTREMELY discouraging.
I am sure this is a bit jumbled. I am certain you could look through here and find somewhere that my math didn't make sense. I'm extremely busy and tried to explain something that took me months to come up with in 10 minutes. And I'm just not very bright. But, I think the jest of the effort is obvious. I am trying to protect PSP by protecting the people who commit - to the level that we need from them - to sustaining PSP. The fact that it benefits owners is simply because they are also paying sponsors. And there are times when this same protection policy works against an owner just as it would anyone else.
I hope the fact that I am willing to come on here and spill so much of our business shows something. I'm hiding nothing. I make mistakes. I make mistakes because I do a lot of things and, quite frankly, I'm in over my head from time to time. But I don't screw people. There are no hidden agendas. There are no schemes to keep anyone out. The fact that one or two people may be kept out because of the plan is the price we pay to keep 6 or 8 people in.
Again, I do, sincerely, appreciate your last post. I hope this reply made enough sense for you to understand what I am trying to do. Obviously, there are far more details than what I would be able to put into a post, and probably more than I would be willing to put out to the public. That's not secretive, just prudent. But, if there is a time AFTER World Cup that you think you want a little better explanation, I'll try. For now, I am busy. I am tired. And I have a lot of work to do. This will have to do.
Edit added: I just got off the phone with Bob. Straight from his mouth to me, he simply cannot afford to attend. Our price, the travel costs, the employee costs, and the missed time in the shop make it cost prohibitive. There is no inference that there is a plot against anyone, no belief that I do things anyway but fairly, no hard feelings at all. It is quite simply an economic decision. And, sadly, one that reflects the state of the industry today.
From Brandon Lambertson:
I think paintball is definitely in a slump PARTLY because of the economy, but I have to agree with New Englander, I don't see paintball going mainstream either, at least not with the way things are set up now.. Paintball isn't dead, and it isn't going to die, but it's not headed towards mainstream either. Now first, let's understand the meaning of mainstream as it relates to paintball. We obviously are not going to rival the NFL or the MLB, or the NBA as far as it's mass appeal and media attention...etc., but we can and should be able to rival the sports most like us, as far as popularity. Not just in the market place and with yearly participant numbers, but with fan base and media attention. The problem is, we don't. Some of that is because of the multiple formats, and lack of one set of rules and regulations. Some of it is because of the inability to film and show paintball properly on TV to new comers. Some of it is because we haven't sold our pro players as true professionals and built any interest in them as athletes. More importantly, I personally believe it's because of this entire industries infrastructure...or lack there of.
Paintball was never ready for the boom we had, and we aren't ready for another one if we are fortunate enough to have one. There have been too many bad apples floating around in our Kool-Aid. I think it's definitely time for changes in this industry. The problem is, no one wants to work with anyone because that could mean giving up their piece of the pie
From a guy named "New Englander"
After lurking for quite some time this topic finally got me interested enough to register and reply.
This is the same old same old in regards to discussion. Absolutely nothing has changed all that much over the years.
Paintball is not going to progress past where it is currently. This has been beat to death over the years. First it was - "Wait till it's out of the woods." Then it was "We need someone in the entertainment world to take notice." It has always been "We need to get people in the stands."
It came out of the woods in regards to tournament paintball, great. In all reality we seem to have lost a bit of the fun. You can only move an airball bunker field around so many times before it feels like - "Been there done that." After multiple use....even the airball bunkers start looking like garbage.
Dick Clark and others came and went and absolutely nothing really sustaining ever came of it.
People in the stands? How are you going to get 20 and up men to come watch a bunch of "agg" acting kids play paintball, are they going to pay and actually spend money on merchandise? 20 and up men do not want to emulate children. Tournament paintball has not traversed in a direction that is marketable to an audience that can and will spend money to view it.
There just are way too many different top teams playing too many different formats. There is way too much player jumping and guesting. What team are you going to follow now? Wait...how many of those guys play for a different team in a different format? This is all too confusing.
It's not going to change guys. Your never going to get the public to come out and watch a national paintball tournament. Your never really going to get widespread "pro's" in this game that are true to the word. As in actually get paid to play paintball - not get the winnings.
Enjoy what it is....help clean up the garbage of a mess it is now but just enjoy it.
Anyway... Not Bashing just havin fun.. these days all we can do is smile and weather the storm. On with the vid.
First, I absolutely applaud your post. That is all I ever ask for. People can hate everything we do and criticize every decision we make, so long as they back it up with reason. I may debate their reasoning with my own. But, I accept everyone has their own way of thinking.
Two of my most prized confidants today were people who totally bashed PSP on the Internet years ago. But both did it with logic and rational thought behind their rants (even though they were almost always wrong). Chris Raehl and Paul Richards wrote more BS about me than anyone. But they always included a reason why they felt like they did. They are two of the people who's opinion I respect the most, today.
The pricing structure is simple - it is there to protect us from having people only attend WC. The fact of the matter is that 3 of our 5 events are marginally productive for sponsors, at best. It could be argued that the World Cup is the only event that sponsors get true value in their sponsorship. I don't necessarily agree. But I can see the argument.
But another fact is that if sponsors decided to pull out of the year long sponsorship and only come to WC, PSP would never make it to WC. So I structure the program to discourage that. Everyone who wants to be anyone has to be at Cup. The pricing is such that it makes sense to almost everyone who is of the sponsoring level to sponsor the season, as opposed to just attending the WC.
The difference in price of "vendor booth" vs "sponsor layouts" based on the additional perks sponsors get. Logo on website, banners at events, mentions at grand stand field, announcements to our data base, etc.
Being that we had to draw a line of what we referred to as vendor level and sponsor level, and it needed to be more than just the area people used, I decided that once a truck/trailer with awnings, signage, etc were involved it would go into the "sponsor level". It seemed legit to me. At the time everyone who would be inclined to sponsor us brought traveling display trucks and everyone who had traveling display trucks were people who looked at sponsorship level involvement.
The $17,500 comes from an effort to protect the other sponsors. In this particular case, Planet and CP. They pay an amount of money to sponsor us each year. This money gets them an amount of space at each of the 5 events and various other things to help promote their brand. Obviously, this cost of space is not even/equal for all events. Certainly it is understood that WC is worth more than NEO. My breakdown allots almost $14,000 of the total money Planet/CP pays for the year to their space at World Cup. To protect them and show appreciation for their support for the whole year, when someone new comes in and wants the same space at WC, they will be priced at 25% more than a season sponsor paid for the same space.
So, this isn't an attempt to protect the owners. It is an attempt to protect the existing sponsors. In this case, a non-owner gun manufacturer, who started very small and grew, in part because they were willing to pay the price to get their stuff out in front of people, and I hope, to a smaller degree, because people who run events think ahead enough to protect them when they support us.
Just to take it a step farther - we do the same thing when people sponsor at one level and then want to increase to the higher level at World Cup. And we do it to EVERYBODY.
KEE (who is an owner in PSP) sponsored PSP at the Gold level this year. They want a Platinum size spot for World Cup. To protect DYE and SP as Platinum sponsors, KEE will pay an additional money to have that space at World Cup. An additional $12,000, as a matter of fact. That's the price charged to an OWNER, who has already paid $50,000 to attend and sponsor their own events.
And lastly, I am saying here and now - the owners who sponsor PSP (DYE, SP, KEE) absolutely pay exactly what others pay for identical sponsorship. They pay the exact same for their teams entry fees. They pay the exact same late fees if they miss deadlines. They pay the exact same additions if they upgrade in space. This is no "petty dispute" or "old grudge". I have no ill will towards Bobby or BLAST, at all. The fact that he chose not to sponsor the league didn't bother me in the slightest. I am well aware of the economics of paintball this year. People have to make decisions based on their business plans and the best interest of their company. That's what I am doing. That's what Bobby is doing. If Rennick Miller (an owner) wanted to bring Shocktech to World Cup with his trailer and asked for the same area that BLAST wanted, he absolutely would have been given the EXACT same price. I guarantee that as my word. He got a similar price for Chicago and decided not to attend. It was too expensive for his company. He's an owner and one of my best friends. But he didn't attend the event in the capacity he wanted and we didn't change the price structure. The point is that BLAST is being treated no different than some of the owners of PSP - fairly.
On that point, I guarantee that Bob didn't write a check for his personal gun. I guarantee that Opie doesn't fork over cash for a case of Draxxus paint. I am certain that Rob Staudinger doesn't pay the walk-on fee if he plays at a PBC field. I feel sure that if Dale wants a CP barrel on one of his guns he just takes a CP barrel and puts it on his gun. But, at PSP, the guys who own the company pay to attend the events just like everyone else. They also pony up when the company lose's money. They also haven't collected a single penny from PSP since it's inception, except to pay back a couple of loans they gave to cover prize money. They also sponsor, in one way or another, a good 60% of the teams who play in the league. They pay to remove one of the obstacles others would have when trying to decide to support the league.
It baffles me that no one ever seems to respect or appreciate that. But my Lord people will jump at the chance to claim they are screwing someone at every chance they get. It is EXTREMELY discouraging.
I am sure this is a bit jumbled. I am certain you could look through here and find somewhere that my math didn't make sense. I'm extremely busy and tried to explain something that took me months to come up with in 10 minutes. And I'm just not very bright. But, I think the jest of the effort is obvious. I am trying to protect PSP by protecting the people who commit - to the level that we need from them - to sustaining PSP. The fact that it benefits owners is simply because they are also paying sponsors. And there are times when this same protection policy works against an owner just as it would anyone else.
I hope the fact that I am willing to come on here and spill so much of our business shows something. I'm hiding nothing. I make mistakes. I make mistakes because I do a lot of things and, quite frankly, I'm in over my head from time to time. But I don't screw people. There are no hidden agendas. There are no schemes to keep anyone out. The fact that one or two people may be kept out because of the plan is the price we pay to keep 6 or 8 people in.
Again, I do, sincerely, appreciate your last post. I hope this reply made enough sense for you to understand what I am trying to do. Obviously, there are far more details than what I would be able to put into a post, and probably more than I would be willing to put out to the public. That's not secretive, just prudent. But, if there is a time AFTER World Cup that you think you want a little better explanation, I'll try. For now, I am busy. I am tired. And I have a lot of work to do. This will have to do.
Edit added: I just got off the phone with Bob. Straight from his mouth to me, he simply cannot afford to attend. Our price, the travel costs, the employee costs, and the missed time in the shop make it cost prohibitive. There is no inference that there is a plot against anyone, no belief that I do things anyway but fairly, no hard feelings at all. It is quite simply an economic decision. And, sadly, one that reflects the state of the industry today.
From Brandon Lambertson:
I think paintball is definitely in a slump PARTLY because of the economy, but I have to agree with New Englander, I don't see paintball going mainstream either, at least not with the way things are set up now.. Paintball isn't dead, and it isn't going to die, but it's not headed towards mainstream either. Now first, let's understand the meaning of mainstream as it relates to paintball. We obviously are not going to rival the NFL or the MLB, or the NBA as far as it's mass appeal and media attention...etc., but we can and should be able to rival the sports most like us, as far as popularity. Not just in the market place and with yearly participant numbers, but with fan base and media attention. The problem is, we don't. Some of that is because of the multiple formats, and lack of one set of rules and regulations. Some of it is because of the inability to film and show paintball properly on TV to new comers. Some of it is because we haven't sold our pro players as true professionals and built any interest in them as athletes. More importantly, I personally believe it's because of this entire industries infrastructure...or lack there of.
Paintball was never ready for the boom we had, and we aren't ready for another one if we are fortunate enough to have one. There have been too many bad apples floating around in our Kool-Aid. I think it's definitely time for changes in this industry. The problem is, no one wants to work with anyone because that could mean giving up their piece of the pie
From a guy named "New Englander"
After lurking for quite some time this topic finally got me interested enough to register and reply.
This is the same old same old in regards to discussion. Absolutely nothing has changed all that much over the years.
Paintball is not going to progress past where it is currently. This has been beat to death over the years. First it was - "Wait till it's out of the woods." Then it was "We need someone in the entertainment world to take notice." It has always been "We need to get people in the stands."
It came out of the woods in regards to tournament paintball, great. In all reality we seem to have lost a bit of the fun. You can only move an airball bunker field around so many times before it feels like - "Been there done that." After multiple use....even the airball bunkers start looking like garbage.
Dick Clark and others came and went and absolutely nothing really sustaining ever came of it.
People in the stands? How are you going to get 20 and up men to come watch a bunch of "agg" acting kids play paintball, are they going to pay and actually spend money on merchandise? 20 and up men do not want to emulate children. Tournament paintball has not traversed in a direction that is marketable to an audience that can and will spend money to view it.
There just are way too many different top teams playing too many different formats. There is way too much player jumping and guesting. What team are you going to follow now? Wait...how many of those guys play for a different team in a different format? This is all too confusing.
It's not going to change guys. Your never going to get the public to come out and watch a national paintball tournament. Your never really going to get widespread "pro's" in this game that are true to the word. As in actually get paid to play paintball - not get the winnings.
Enjoy what it is....help clean up the garbage of a mess it is now but just enjoy it.
Anyway... Not Bashing just havin fun.. these days all we can do is smile and weather the storm. On with the vid.
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