Want Nike In Paintball?

[P8ntballerAK]

Hello fellow targets,
here is the scoop, I talked to nike about a possible sponsorship for my paintball association. They seemed interested, but there was a problem. They had no idea where to include our sport. So if we want NIKE in paintball, then lsts show them we mean business.
I have an address to submit requests to make a paintball line and such. so write nike and tell them we want them there. also post this on every forum you can so we let them know. I will get the information for ADIDAS, Reebok, and loads of others for us to write later on. OK HERE IT IS!!

ATTN: Non sports related Department

One Bowerman drive

Beaverton, Oregon 97005


let the mailing begin!!

[Hexis]

Just do it, at 300 feet per second!

[P8ntballerAK]

or you can call NIKE directly at their world headquarters

(503) 671 6453

[FrAuStY]

I know they already make cleats designed for soccer, baseball, and foot ball. I think they should design a cleat pattern strictly for paintball. Then they would have another market. Maybe make them out of some slick material so paint won't stick on them.. but they'll still grip the ground. Adidas would be a much nicer company to have around paintball IMO. I think an ADIDAS Samba paintball cleat would be nice. Anyway..good luck. I personally think there are already tooo many companies making waaayyy too much money off paintball. Just my .02

[irbodden]

What should we say if we call them? Is there a 1-800 number?

[P8ntballerAK]

no thers is not a 1800 number, if you call them ask to talk to the sports marketing department, they will ask if they can know what it is regaurding, you say no thanks I want to speak to a person in the department please. if you say why your calling they will send you to an automated "we do not accept new ideas for merchandise" recording and then hang up on you.

this will not be easy
but anything worth doing isnt easy. I need everyones support here, all those players that think someone else will write or call, don't, you are that someone else.

lets do it.

[MagDog68]

Corprate America will ruin Paintball the same as it has ruined every other sport. Pretty soon it will be the 'Budweiser Iromen' and 'Skirmish, IBM.'

~Fred

[Jonno06]

^^^^^^^^^ i agree

[AllAmericanMag]

I like this sport the way it is :)

[than205]

I agree with the last three.
But as we grow the corporate types will see our money and come running.
I can wait till they find on their own.

[FutureMagOwner]

i dont know budwiser iron men sounds pretty cool! they use empty kegs for bunkers!

[paintslinger]

nike making paintball cleats would be kool aslong as they aren't over priced like the vans(80 bucks :( ). and make sure they are pretty too b/c all the current paintball shoes are totaly FUGLY. they could also make gloves and possibly jeresys and maybe pants.

[P8ntballerAK]

so talk to nike.
if you guys dont want paintball to go corporate , then go back to woods games and stay out of tourneys. where do you think the tourney's are headed? they wont stay the way they are forever, and if we control how and when corporate america comes into the sport, we will control the sport.

[Sinnet]

I think that when paintball hits corporate sponsor-dom, we know we're all set. Paint prices will need to fall, and it will need to gain widespread interest before that side-effect occurs, so bring on Pepsi Dynasty! :)

[845]

and the Trojan Men (formally SC ironmen):D

[ogre55]

Now we have a very interesting question here. On the one hand, having big companies around can do wonders for the sport. On the other hand, as many of you have pointed out on this thread, big companies can ruin this sport.

So how can the introduction of Nike or any other big company enhance/ruin this great sport of ours.

The Good:

Big companies bring big money which means, more and better sponserships. Maybe the pros won't need day jobs any more. There is also the possibilty of greatly increased exposure. The last time there was any regular show devoted to PB was back in the early 90's. It was on the old Sport Channel and was either a part of a hunting show or it was an offshoot, my memory has been eaten away over the years through the ingestion of overly large amounts of CO2 and paintball fill :D

Finally, with bigger money come more and better products. From a consumers point of view, that can only be a better thing considering that more products, means more competition, which, by the laws of economics, means lower prices of the players.

And finally, and most importantly, more exposure means more players.

The Bad:

Obviously, as a member of the AOG I am partial to my 'Mag and I don't want to see AGD's business hurt by more competition. I don't honestly think that will be a problem for AGD as they make high end guns, for which there will always be a market as you will have younger newer players, turning into older more seasoned players, which will require better classes of products. And since the number of companies that devote the kind of time and money to the development of quality products as AGD does is small, I doubt they will feel the pinch.

The Fugly:

For better or for worse, the avalanche has already begun. Oakley has entered the paintball market recently and if they find profits, expect others to follow. Eventually we may see the big names in fireams, like Remington and Smith&Weeson enter the fray on the marker side of the market.

And to be honest I would love to see a paintgun made by Browning, Winchester, or Heckler and Koch.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

[paintballrulzs]

I was thinking they should def make nice cleats designed for paintball, also gloves and other type stuff. (Jersies, sock hats, ect)

[einhander619]

Here's my 2 lincolns:

Nike tried to break into a another "underground" "alternative" and "emerging" sport. Snowboarding. You know what? Most snowboarders, at least the ones who knew what they were doing, gave nike the finger and continued buying the products of companies who actually care about the sport. I know this is a little different, but I would rather buy the product of a company who started in paintball.

[JJBrookshire]

I'm afraid you'll all find out that Nike will not consider supporting Paintball or hunting or trap shooting or target shooting etc... It seems that at the very top of the company there is an "anti-gun" policy. This is similar to the situation at Target. You will notice that there are no Nike hunting boots or squirt guns at Target. That is simply there corporate policy and unfortunately both are not likely to change soon.

[MagNumPI]

Guys, see the long term picture... If we get nike ot buy into it, they will be forced to promote it in a way that matches all the other sports. Golf was nothing till nike hit it, now we are seeing golfers in poweraid commercials.

Once one BIGWIG hits it, we have all the "i don't wanna get left behind-ers" doing it. next thing we have "Gatoraid official sports drink of the NPPL" and we are a "real" sport and we have "highlights" and "play of the day" on ESPN and TSN and what not.

Short term, yes we get another giant on our shoulders, but the giant brings more supporters.

[ben_JD]

Nike already makes paintball cleats...they just call them "football cleats". Pretty sneaky, eh?

[paintslinger]

Originally posted by ben_JD
Nike already makes paintball cleats...they just call them "football cleats". Pretty sneaky, eh?

lol

[liigod]

i think that nike has poor quality and high prices... i dont want them in paintball, cus they would fit right in.

[pumpamatic]

I think when Nike hits paintball they will simply grab a piece of ownership or some existing product and slap their name on it. Anybody who plays hockey would know that when Nike first sold skates they bought out Bauer(good skates) and more or less put their name on them. Sure, little different look, but same thinking, same blades, yadda yadda.
The only thing they might possibly do on their own for paintball is gloves, cleats, hats, or jerseys and pants. They might not be the highest quality, but it's that Nike logo that sells. (Although when it comes to shoes and cleats I've found Nike to be far superior over Reebok and somewhat equal to Adidas). I could see their masks sucking, I could see their guns not lasting long. I could definetely see Nike getting some company to mill up an Angel or cocker and then stick about 3 bubble logos on it. Would I care? no, I kinda like the idea. Will it be a higher price than any gun out there? More than likely. And don't count on me buying it even if it doesn't burn holes in pockets.

[shartley]

Good points from all...

Personally I see no problem with Corporate involvement in the sport. And since I don't have much time now, I will leave it at that. ;)

On a side note.... it seems that people are forgetting that big companies like Nike make MORE than just shoes and clothing. Been watching Golf? Hear of Tiger Woods? Take a look at his Golf Equipment... read the manufacturers name.

Base companies cover much more than their original product lines now days.....

(Note to self and anyone else: I think if you do a search, we had about the same conversation here on AO about 2 years ago... it was great and had many good points brought up. I may look for it later and post the link.. unless someone else gets to it first. It is great reading.)

[lunchbox]

the problem with "our sport" going pro will mean one thing everyone seems to overlook.
a major league so to speak paintball league will mean every paintball player out there today will just be another poser even the best of the players now will just be wannabes. why well think about this you like playing football and baseball and basketball right, well even if you are awesome on the street your still a nobody to the sport. do you think in your fogiest dreams you would ever get a chance to be a pro yeah like your chance of playing in the nfl or nba right?
truth is paintball is fun because its something everyone can do because its a rec game not a sport.
i mean even the best ball players on the feild now will soon be replaced by paid athletes like baseball and football players. they will be geneticaly leaned tward a fit short person who can stretch every direction.
personaly i like being a paintball player way more than being looked at as someone posing to look like the pro's.
i swear people dont think they just want there thing to be king and everyone else to see what they do.
man if you want to watch paintball on tv get a life go out and play paintball.
say what you will about this but the gods honest truth is noone who plays paintball today will ever be considered an athleate when you start paying people to play.Because when you pay people to play then you have alot more to chose from to make a pro team then you do with those who are willing to play.
so in closing next time you want paintball to go pro syndicated realize that you are asking that when poeple see you play at a local feild your just a poser wanna be and not a paintballer like you are today.Dont give up a great game like paintball to the syndications of tv or sponsorship of other sports right now you own paintball but if you give it up to sponsors and corperations guess what you will no longer be part of the sport you will just be imitating a game pros play.

thats how i feel on the subject of "lets make our sport go to t.v. "

and as a reply to the original post dude if you want to wear nike clothing on the feild wear nike clothing noones stoping you you dont need a suit with a pen saying ok nike now endorses your sport now your real(till your replaced next season with real athletes) good job the nppl is rich and you are a poser with a sport you can watch on tv.
lunchbox

[SyntaxError]

I completely agree with lunchbox. The repercussions of taking paintball to the level of football and basketball might not be foreseen now, but when paintball IS taken to that level, everyone will find that they are crap compared to the new, paid, trained professionals. Local fields will become overcrowded, and prices will skyrocket because people WILL buy.

think about this first

[lunchbox]

yeah and also corprate brainwashing would make me gag to the point where well where im gaging right now the youth on the board saying we need nike we need pepsi i mean if you need a pepsi stop at the store on the way to the feild. and to me cphilip is a genius not butterin ya up phil but everytime i see your name in a post that asks a question i read it why cause you seem to know how it all works.but with corprate business running the show people like cphilip would e second guess nobodies and personaly i dont want that to happen btw we need a cphilip fan club logo. and if you havent noticed in pro sport world people like gunga fatman cphilip lunchbox tunaman and Kaiser_Bob dont exist theres no room for the heavy or old in prosport. but looking at the nj ao meet picks these guys seemed to be the life of the party (i shoulda went to it ionly live 45 min away.) but what im saying kids is this paintball has been around a long long time and has stood the test of time over and over again. you dont need nike or pepsi or marlbro stamped on something to enjoy it and to have fun. and you deffinatly dont need to see it on tv when you can easy enough go out and live it in the feild. stop being syndicated corperation zombies turn off the tv and enjoy what you have, a great game made up of great people. how many pro sport players can you actualy say are great people and you have met them one on one and played all day. and you can forget about the pros going to your local feilds the yankee's dont play with the local kids and neither will the pro paintballers.

[lunchbox]

I know they already make cleats designed for soccer, baseball, and foot ball. I think they should design a cleat pattern strictly for paintball. Then they would have another market. Maybe make them out of some slick material so paint won't stick on them.. but they'll still grip the ground.
???????????
FrAuStY i believe its called leather at least thats what my boots are made of hey hitech makes a great pair of boots that have gortech sides and are water resistant and dont heat up, there plain black and you can tuck your pant legs into them,and paint just slips right off they have sweet ground digging tread and work great on wet cement also. nifty huh. oh and only 70 dollars a pair .
but have you ever seen a specialty nike shoe under 100 dollars. i find it funny everyone saying sweet nike yeah i got to get one but people saying omg how will i affors a 65 beta 85 dollar lvl 10 upgrade hehehehehe the corprate brainwash machine amazes me .
cya later
BoxXx

[ogre55]

Regarding the points made by Lunchbox and SyntaxError. I disagree because all you have to do is look at the professionals from that other "extreme sports", such as snowboarding (which is an olymic event) or BMX to see the future of PB professionals. These are kids, taken out of their local skate parks due to talent. They are not "bred". There is no reason to think that the future paintball athletes will not be recruited in the same way.

Yes bigger, taller players, of which I am one, have an inherent disadvantage, but they can and do still play, even in pro touneys. Check out Pigtv footage of recent tournaments for proof. Hell, in his prime, Babe Ruth was rounder than an R.P. Marballizer. :)

As for increased numbers of players overcrowding paintball parks, if there is a demand, there will be a supply. More players means more money, which means more places to play.

Almost every public park has a basball field and basketball court. Some, I have heard, have facilities for skateboarding. Maybe, with enough demand, public parks will start to have paintball fields. (Now I know I am dreaming).
But seriously, if there is a vast demand for paintball, there will be those out there who will meet that demand.

[lunchbox]

ogre snowboarding bmx there not to the point yet where this topic is asking paintball to go those 2 sports are still called extreeme games. yes there decent but there not pro sports yet and have yet to crossover so you cant really judge pro sport to extreme sport there is no comparisin.noone in bmx or snowboarding is payed a million dollars a year as you commonly see in pro sports aka baseball ,football, basketball. so right now for them its still people who love the game not people who can do the game the best because there payed to play.

[Bartleby]

Alright lunchbox, but if you don't consider bmx or snowboarding to be "pro sports", consider how long the sport itself has been around. And then think about how long it has taken to become what it is today. Snowboarding has been around for over 20 years, but it's still considered an extreme sport. Surfing has been around for over 50 years, but it's still considered an extreme sport, and no one is paid like MJ. I think that you're taking the idea of corporate takeover on paintball way too far. Even if it did happen, it wouldn't happen to the degree that you're implying, and it definitely wouldn't happen within the next 10 years.

[ogre55]

Ok, as far as BMX goes, it is regularly featured on the ESPN network of channels. As for Snowboarding, it is an olympic event. The pros in these sports, as well as skateboarding, to name another one, live off their sports. PB pros still need day jobs to put food on their tables.

That is as far as I want it to go and frankly, that is as far as it will go, at least in the foreseeable future.

[hitech]

Originally posted by lunchbox
...if you give it up to sponsors and corperations guess what you will no longer be part of the sport you will just be imitating a game pros play.


Don't take this the wrong way, but, so what. We (the non-pros) can still play the game the same way we do now. So what if we aren't the "best". I'm not now! ;) We wouldn't be just "imitating", just playing at a different level. Just like "rec" players are today. I prefer "woods ball". That doesn't mean the game has passed me by, even though that is not what the "pros" play.

I don't see anything in your post that points to any problems with the sport becoming "big time". However, I don't think that will happen in my life time. But that's another subject. :D

[SyntaxError]

well see there's where you're wrong. The game will NOT be the same, and who knows whether more fields will open or not? Prices will still go up or at least stay the same as interest rises, manufacturers know that when people want something they can jack up the price. Also, the reason you don't see snowboarders or 'BMXers' getting paid like MJ is because those are individual events, not really team sports. Those atheletes don't recieve the same kind of salary from a team/organization.

In addition, if paintball DOES break into this category, it may not last long. Currently, our tourney scene is perverted with cheating, arguing, cursing, and overall bad behavior. Our referees can't even deal with this now, don't you think the cheating will only get worse if the players are paid to win?

Another, more overlooked consequence is how 'mainstreaming' the sport will exclude people. Look at basketball, are the older players able to keep up as well? Can fatter (no offense) players play as well? No, their physical limitations do not allow for it. So what does this have to do with pball? Simple, as people get better, the sport will evolve, pushing 'older', 'fatter', 'slower', or any other type of "physically limited" player out.

I for one would not want this

[lunchbox]

so basicaly you would spend a afternoon watching the game on tv than playing no wonder you want it to become a tv sport. all i can say is i spent to much time here on this post trying to make you look way into the future when its obvious you only care about tommorow, and whats on tv.
i will not reply again to this thread unless asked a question but to close my opinion is, if you need to see someone else playing your game on tv and to have a common household name to it for it to be real to you then you have no place playing that game.

[rjvemt1]

Maybe make them out of some slick material so paint won't stick on them.. tsk, tsk, tsk! frausty, my man, dont tread where angels fear!;)

[Sooky]

I personally would not care for Nike becoming a part of paintball. I just wouldn't care to use/wear Nike equipment/clothes made by some poor people in the Mexican Maquiadoras for $4 a day, or wherever. But then if you wear GAP clothes or Nike shoes, maybe it doesn't matter to you... :(

[JJBrookshire]

If you have QuickTime and good band width try the following link. It is a snip-it from an upcoming made for TV tournament being filmed in Aruba in September.
If you don't have good band width DON'T click on this unless you are very patient.

http://www.team-maxim.com/video/arubainvitational.mov

Let me know what you think.

[paintslinger]

that tourney looks hella tight. since its gonna be on espn hopefully alot of people will see it. i hope it boost paintball more into mainstream though.

[rjvemt1]

sooky,would you prefer that they make no dollars a day?consider the international exchange rate and the fact that,in u.s. dollars,most third world family income is around 100$ a month(i believe).this means that 4$ a day is 180$ a month job.sorry about the politics ao,its just that americans dont need to feel guilty about the standard of living(or lack there of)in other countries.yes,we can and should do as much as we can to help other peoples,however, we have worked very hard to get where we are and there is absolutely no shame in hard earned success.but thats just my .025$

[Python14]

Personally, I wouldn't mind Nike or another doing some deals in paintball. I wouldn't buy from them though. But I see some good things coming from it...

-The skill level of competion players would jump. With the possibility of Nike dishing out million doller advertising checks, players would try harder to be noticed. And I don't mean they will just get better, we will see more aggressive play. If you mentioned "Scouts" at any serious field, you could literally watch the speed of games boost and the moves would be better. All in time ofcoarse.

Also, since professionals could truely be professionals, and not have to worry about an actual job per say, they could focus more on their game. If Nike is willing to pay Tiger Woods a few thousand bucks a day just to wear a Nike shirt. I can imagine they would spot a 7 or 10 man team a pallet of paint every few days. Since they don't have to worry about minor things like that. They would be able to play harder.

-We, being I guess the mainstream of paintball, would get more attention. Today, I can walk out on the field and most ofte kids their know me and respect me. If paintball became big time, I, and most of you, would be quite highly revered. Most of us know paintball like the back of our hands. Most of the people who would start playing once Nike go into it wouldn't be quite as endowed. I can live with that.

While I like the privacy of paintball, I think having big names in the game wouldn't nessicarily be a bad thing.

[P8ntballerAK]

lucnh box I really hope your kidding. anyone out there who has the knowledge and skill to tryout for a football or a baseball team, and beat the current members, will most likely be drafted. Look at mark shlereth from the denver broncos. I talked to him when he came to my higschool forever ago, he never thought he would have made it to the nfl, but he did because he was better than the competition. the only way your gonna be called a "poser" or "wannabe" is if you already are. If you cant hack it in the pro circuit, then you shouldnt be there. And right now the best players in the world are the people who play paintball now, no guy is just gonna show up and take thier spots without PROVING hes better. And in case you havent noticed there is pro football, minor football, semi pro football, college football, and highschool fottball, same whit baseball. I see the same thing happening with paintball in the future,

Another thing to consider:

paintball is awsome right now because of minds like tom kay always trying to figure out a way to make the sport better, make equipment more accurate, more consistent. If we get corporate in here with us, that means more minds thinking on the same problems, which in turn means better solutions. That, my friend, is what we need in paintball today.

[rjvemt1]

If we get corporate in here with us, that means more minds thinking on the same problems, which in turn means better solutions but we will also have more minds flooding our market with pure crap.paintball is not going to get huge until the 'spectater' issue is addressed and solved. corporate sponsorship goes were the money is and the money is in the pocket of spectators.would pro atheletes get the kind of money they are getting if only pro athelets watched the games?heck no!having netting around your hyperball and speedball fields isnt good enough, get some of those metal little league bleechers out there. my local field has an amatuer tourny the first sunday of every month,if they had this setup, i would be out there to watch on the days i couldnt play.strap a hotdog and drink dray on some kid and the next thing you know,me and the two or three people that come out with me are droppin 20$ on a 'day at the ballpark' type lunch.

[ogre55]

rjvemt1 wrote:

>>having netting around your hyperball and speedball fields isnt good enough, get some of those metal little league bleechers out there. my local field has an amatuer tourny the first sunday of every month,if they had this setup, i would be out there to watch on the days i couldnt play.strap a hotdog and drink dray on some kid and the next thing you know,me and the two or three people that come out with me are droppin 20$ on a 'day at the ballpark' type lunch.<<

rj: That is about the most brilliant PB related thing I have heard in a long time. The strange thing about brilliant ideas is that they are usually the simplest. Speedball, whether Hyper or Super-Air, is a classic spectator sport. Fast, action oriented. Hell, look at some of the spectator sports of today. Baseball? It's like watching grass grow. Auto-racing? Go out to the speedway and watch cars make left turns all day.

And people go out just to WATCH these sport, without any chance of real participation for most of them, at least as far as auto racing is concerned.

Here you have a relatively fast and enjoyable game/sport, that is pretty high teck (compared to base/foot/basketball) that almost anyone with a little $$ can at least try.

And as far spectators just enjoying a a "day out at the park" without playing, I can say from personal experience that it us definetely enjoyable. I was at the AO NJ II, and because of an injury, I could not play, so I watched the tounrney all day and had a great, if sunburned time.

To reinterate...RJ, great idea.

lunchbox wrote:

>>so basicaly you would spend a afternoon watching the game on tv than playing no wonder you want it to become a tv sport. all i can say is i spent to much time here on this post trying to make you look way into the future when its obvious you only care about tommorow, and whats on tv.<<

Kids watch baseball and then they join little leagues. Maybe is PB had some good TV converage we would have more kids bug their parents to go to the local field, or perhaps even have PB little league.

SyntaxError wrote:

>>The game will NOT be the same, and who knows whether more fields will open or not? Prices will still go up or at least stay the same as interest rises, manufacturers know that when people want something they can jack up the price.<<

Don't mean to beat a dead horse but if demand goes up, supply will as well. There are few things one can trust but greed is always a winner. If more people want to play, someone with a little money to invest will see it and open a field to cater to those people. Or established fields will expand to meet the supply. As for equipment/paint priced going down, the expanded market will force the prices to go down. I have been playing for over a decade and I can tell you that prices have come down.

[DjGruv]

I would rather have OAKLY my self, BUT a NIKE AIR"BALL" field sounds sweet. Get it, Nike air...:p

[JJBrookshire]

We (SPPLAT, IAO and Dick's) are trying something for the first time in paintball. We are actively seeking specators for and event. If you go to www.paintballspectator.com you will see what thousands of Dick's customers are pointed at. There are brochures in every Dick's Sporting Goods store encouraging specators to come out to the IAO. So far response has been decent. I hope this is a new trend.