Is our sports fading a little???

[tolley]

Paintball mania in my area seems to be on the way out. I see less players at the fields, I see less products in the shops (except Walmart). Are you guys seeing this too, or is it just me???

[ttink]

I've noticed alot of people getting out of it here too. I think it's just because our local field/shop sucks though.

[egb groupie]

Paintball mania in my area seems to be on the way out. I see less players at the fields, I see less products in the shops (except Walmart). Are you guys seeing this too, or is it just me???
tolley, I know of at least 2 excellent fields in VA, Splatbrothers in Hopewell, VA (played it, great field) and Skyline Paintball in Strausburg, VA (haven't played it, but have heard good things) That should be a good start for you....

[AGDlover]

what I've been seeing the most of is not lack of product but the segration so to speed of noobies and advaved players so to speek

[rx2]

Ebb and flow. I have been at it for 14 years, and sometimes it booms, only to bust.

[txaggie08]

Meh it comes and goes. The hardware stores are just starting to pick CO@ back up, and we still dont have a field in this area...


When i started ten years ago, there were two fields, two or three pro-shops etc.

[nate2k191]

it will never die completely, so theres no worries, there will always be people who do it for b-day parties and stuff, plus i dont think im quitting anytime soon. no worries :dance:

[RoadDawg]

It's a roller coaster. It fades in and fades out. It really depends on the economy. For example with Gas prices busting over $3 in many areas (wish it was that low in my area) people are running low on the "extra" cash to play with. Therefore you'll see a decline in the people playing. Another factor is the game is getting expensive (paint wise). With markers shooting faster, more paint is being consumed and people are spending more then they can afford to.

[Jaan]

I think part is that it got to big and technical. Nobody wants to spend that kind of money for a simple hobby, especially if they're up against pre-teens with rich parents, a $1500 gun shooting 2 cases or more of paint. When my friends and I were younger, without families in the early 90's we could afford it, now some weeks it's hard to get even an extra $30 to spend. I'm seeing now, slowly but surely, a return to the game being fun and people starting to play pump games. I think the weekend hobbyists are starting to reject the "bigness" that paintball has become.

It could be just me though. lol

[gibby]

It's a roller coaster. It fades in and fades out. It really depends on the economy. For example with Gas prices busting over $3 in many areas (wish it was that low in my area) people are running low on the "extra" cash to play with. Therefore you'll see a decline in the people playing. Another factor is the game is getting expensive (paint wise). With markers shooting faster, more paint is being consumed and people are spending more then they can afford to.

I definitely think this is true. As for me, paintball used to be the thing that ate up all the extra cash I had. But time has passed and my spending priorities have changed. Where I live now, I don't think there's a field with all day air. We pay per 1000 psi...so that kinda blows. Especially if you shoot a mag with LX. LOL!

But eventually I'll see myself on the field again. Maybe not as religiously as before, but just to have fun with old friends. :)

[Lohman446]

Is it that the sport is receding or you are improving? When I first started I would play against anyone, push myself, and have a great time. I find myself now playing against newer players and not going all out or pushing as hard. So the people I greatly enjoy playing against are a smaller group of the more skilled players. I could make it a less people on the skill level I play with means contraction, or I could simply see that I am playing in a smaller niche.

[hipster]

you also have to add in the fact that there are more stores than ever more web stores than ever and more fields which means you local pb community is now more scattered /spead out though the area.

[dahoeb]

in my area i noticed that it was pretty big for awhile but is starting to fade some. at the popular local field, they have a 2 speedball fields and some decent woodsball fields. the local field sponsored team comes every weekend, and being friends with the refs and owner, are able to get get the refs to listen to them and not the other players, so we always end up playing almost exclusively speedball there anymore.
well when you have a field sponsored tourney team, with dm's, egos, and the best equipment money can by, and you throw billy noob and his spyder xtra up against them, the results aren't pretty and that poor noob isn't going to have very much fun. this local team basically comes every weekend to beat up on the local newer players to make themselves feel good about themselves....thats probably why they haven't done well in any tourneys....
if the refs don't seperate the advanced and beginners it can really make for a bad day. most fields i go to are pretty good about that but the field i'm talking about above usually doesn't have quite enough players to seperate into different skill levels, and the tourney team refuses to split up.
i'm optimistic that this stuff doesn't regularly happen at many fields, but i can say i think thats a reason its faded a little in my local area. newer players have been quitting out of frustration.

[peewee]

Paintball has a history of cycling ( but general #'s increase ). many are gung ho for a while then fade away. The true players come back after a while.

[robnix]

I think part is that it got to big and technical. Nobody wants to spend that kind of money for a simple hobby, especially if they're up against pre-teens with rich parents, a $1500 gun shooting 2 cases or more of paint. When my friends and I were younger, without families in the early 90's we could afford it, now some weeks it's hard to get even an extra $30 to spend. I'm seeing now, slowly but surely, a return to the game being fun and people starting to play pump games. I think the weekend hobbyists are starting to reject the "bigness" that paintball has become.

It could be just me though. lol

I disagree, it's all perspective on the value you get for your money. People spend money equivilant to that to go skiing or snowboarding. The problem I see, at least in my area, is a few things:

1) field saturation.
2) field owners that open fields without understanding what customer service is
3) vets making things hard on new players by being rude and overplaying them

[jsdatjsd]

I think part is that it got to big and technical. Nobody wants to spend that kind of money for a simple hobby, especially if they're up against pre-teens with rich parents, a $1500 gun shooting 2 cases or more of paint. When my friends and I were younger, without families in the early 90's we could afford it, now some weeks it's hard to get even an extra $30 to spend. I'm seeing now, slowly but surely, a return to the game being fun and people starting to play pump games. I think the weekend hobbyists are starting to reject the "bigness" that paintball has become.

It could be just me though. lol

Mebbe i should drop my plans for a mag and get a stock phantom instead.......

[paullus99]

The industry is beginning to mature - so we've hit a bit of a plateau . The numbers of players coming into the sport is not growing as much as it used to, but always remember, 75% of players don't play on organized paintball fields. You'll never see the vast majority of players out there, so it can be very hard to judge total participation.

Also, with the introduction of the ION (the new Model-T of paintball markers) SmartParts is changing the entire paintball industry. Prices are starting to come down, across the board, so I think you'll see another culling out of paintball companies - some who will die off and others that will adapt or find that niche market that will keep them in the game.

The days of the $1500.00 ubermarkers are over - they will continue to be the Corvettes or Ferraris of the sport, but no longer have the presence they did just a couple of years ago. Why buy a DMC when you can get a second-hand DM4 or better yet, an ION, for a fraction of the price.

The next few years will be extremely interesting. AGD might not have done a bad thing keeping their heads down & waiting to see where the market went. If they had waited & came out with another high-end $1000.00+ electro now, it wouldn't make much business sense.....

[REDRT]

The next few years will be extremely interesting. AGD might not have done a bad thing keeping their heads down & waiting to see where the market went. If they had waited & came out with another high-end $1000.00+ electro now, it wouldn't make much business sense.....

:mad: Them not doing much of anything hasn't made much sense to me. People buy what they want or think they want. Price is not a concern. People are maxing out their credit everyday to buy the flashyest toys money can buy. AGD or any other company either needs to become a trend setter or hop on the band wagon and follow suit. Maybe stepping on some toes along the way, but you can't sit at idle and hope for the best! Being the nice guy doesn't make money or anything positive really. All it does is make you look weak amonst your peers and allows people/industry take advantage of you. High time for AGD to give the rest of the industry a one fingure solute and start taking back some of what they partly created and advance themselves like they used to. :cool:

[Aslan]

I've actually seen it growing. With the popularity of the A-5 and the Ion...I've seen a ton of new players enter the fields and outback circuit.

Now, the economy thing is a problem...and will continue to be. Gas prices affect things a great deal more than we'd like to think.

Where the negative does seem to appear is with field owners and paintball stores. Fields are struggling to adjust to the increase in competition. Back when paintball was small, fields could charge alot, charge a ton for paint, require memberships, etc... Now, fields are trying to adjust by offering lower priced paint, free all day air, lower registration fees, etc... and still make money. And the stores are really in trouble...mainly due to the huge internet storefront. Paintball stores were already getting pinched by the big box stores, and now they are just getting murdered by online stores.

[robnix]

And the stores are really in trouble...mainly due to the huge internet storefront. Paintball stores were already getting pinched by the big box stores, and now they are just getting murdered by online stores.

I hate to say this, but my local store is at least 25% higher than what I would pay online. They have a website and a field, but no online sales.

[tolley]

Well, it sounds like you guys pretty much agree with me, and seem to think it is only a healthy fluctuation that you might observe in any sport over the years. That's what I had hoped. Thanks.

And as far as shops and store sales of gear, I wholeheartedly agree with most of you. I have purchased easily $3000 in stuff in the last 5 years and at least 80%of that was done online.