Posted by: Old Timers on November 11, 2003 at 22:02:58

All sports go through the same stages of individual player growth, through finally becoming made up of mostly sponsored professional players with public spectators, due to ever increasing cost of play (ie: base ball, basket ball, football, tennis, slotcars, go-carting etc). This is an ecomomic principal of business growth without a plan for longivity and endurance. Paintball will take the same path of growth as the individuals cost of participation continues to increase wherein only the public can afford to watch pro sponsored teams play with very expensive equipment and supplies. The cost of paintball will continue to increase because, as individual players decrease in number, manufacturers will also produce fewer equipment, but their overhead cost of manufacturing will be the same, which means continually spiraling costs per unit of production. In time there will be mostly manufacturers, college, high school, and City sponsored teams who will only be able to afford to play for spectators. The only problem is that to date spectators have great difficulty in following a game due to ball speed.....so the spiraling cost may just ultimately be the end of the game unless the industry learns how to continue on a lower profit margin. I am not against profit, but if one wants their business to last one must not try to get rich so quick that the return customers are forced to do something more lasting with their money. Milk the customer over time but don't bleed the customer to death. Never-the-less, as long as I can afford to play I will and hopefully the kids parents keep holding out their credit cards. It is lots of fun....Just my 2 cents worth of rambling. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> : I've recently considered getting back into paintball after a long break. I'm much undecided because of some considerable disadvantages of playing paintball vs. other hobbies that I have, namely mountain biking and SCUBA diving. The criteria that I'm weighing include: fun, exercise, reward, cost of getting started, and cost of participation. In comparing paintball to my other hobbies, paintball is equally fun and the cost of equipment is about equal for high end gear. Paintball is not very good exercise, but that’s not what paintball is all about. The two biggest obstacles to my return to paintball are the cost of participation and low reward. I’ll explain. : Local field fee: $15, all day air: $10, half a case of paint: $50. That’s $75 dollars for one day of play. I find this to be ridiculous. I realize that paintball is a fledgling industry and companies have to pay for overhead, but this is a real roadblock for the growth of the sport. I feel lucky that I can afford this hobby, but I’m not convinced it is worth it. I can hop on my mountain bike and hit the local trail for free and have just as much fun. I feel that once I pay for an expensive gun, it shouldn’t cost nearly 10% of the price of the gun to play. : Another consideration is the reward factor. I’m a senior in college and I have played at the tournament level, but mainly rec ball. When I go to the field, the majority of participants are 15 years old, plus or minus two years. I believe that’s true of most other places as well. Sure it is fun to play with them, but it is not as rewarding as participating with my own peers. There seems to be a gap of participants in my age group, everyone is generally much younger or a lot older and a little creepy. Unfortunately due to the cost, paintball is not on most college student’s radar, except for a once in a blue moon frat activity with first time participants with Tippmans. : To find a solution to my problem, I want to start a club and competition team at the University of Texas at Austin. I know that starting such an organization has been attempted twice since I have been attending UT without success. However, a school with the largest student body in the nation should have a small but dedicated group of paintballers. That is the only way I feel that I could justify the cost of participation. If it doesn’t workout, I will stick to the mountain biking and leave paintball to the kids with their parents credit cards. : Sincerely

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