Warlords Question #1: Do you think AGD needs a pro team?

[DiRTyBuNNy]

And before you all get uptight about the question...this is in regards to something that was discussed at the Warlords scenario game and I wanted to see what the rest of Ao felt about the subject. There is going to be a second question after I feel this question has had some time to stew. I would also like a little reflection on your answer, that's why I'm just going to stick with "yes" or "no" and let you out there give me a reason why you voted the way you did.
* One of the answers I would like to go along with your yes or no is what kind of value do you thing AGD gains out of having the pro team?
* What kind of decisions do you think having the pro team will influence?
* Even though AGD does not have a pro team what led you to purchase a mag and know why do you think a pro team would influence others in a way different than you were influenced?

[magman007]

yes they should, but not right away... they need to get their 2 current teams into the circulations of the nppl and psp series. THen at a later date instate a pro team..



Also, the current teams will be pro soon enough any ways, we have great tallent to harvest from

[Curly]

Personally I dont think it would do much for them. I do think it would be cool for them to have a pro sponsored team but in the long run it probably is not the best investment for a smaller company like agd. I also know that Tom has stated various reason for not having a pro team. These I believe included the fact that pro teams are notorious for cheating etc and he doesnt want to have to deal with situations like avalanche. I know everyone will say that tom's team wouldnt do stuff like that but i still believe it is a risk and it is not worth the dollars it would take. AGD already has a couple of Factory Teams and they seem to be enough to me. It is very hard to just put together a pro team. Many teams have been playing together for years. They started out as nov or am and moved up. Maybe one day the AGD lions will move up and play pro.

[agdemagman69]

yes, it would promote them a bit more

[Nobody077]

I think that a AGD Pro team could be a good thing but I like Curly's idea of building on the AGD lions or AGD kids. You could just go and pay top dollar for current pros that will win you tournies but will they play for you next year? or will they be shooting talons because brass eagle will pay more? With a built up team you get players that respect the sponcer/team owners more and are less likly to bring bad publicty to a team. Allso how much will a PRO team help AGD's marketing? I think it could help at the upper-end (current player) level but I see most of the sales comeing form the newplayer market, how many newbies have ever seen a PRO tournie? So I would voted yes as long as its not used for a main sales campain.

[adam shannon]

as long as AGD owns the team...not just hired guns who play for free markers.

this would give AGD more room to pick good players who would represent the company and its products in the most positive light. as opposed to a team of mercenaries that will go with whoever is giving the most away and asking the least in return...then switch next season, and badmouth their last sponsor.

the most important feature would be players who love the sport and really believe in AGD products and would be ambasedors for AGD...not lying cheating crybabies who only want to win and will stoop to any low to do it.

what i think would be great, having such a large pool of players here at AO to choose from, is if AGD offered pick up sponsorships for every tournament big and small to players in a registered database. this way a team could be put together for any location around the country from a list of known decent players from AO. a team of folks who love their mags and just need a little help to get a pick up team together and on the field playing under the AGD/AO banner. this ensures that any tournament can have a team who will represent AGD responsibly. these days just showing up and not cheating reflects better than winning at any cost.

[Little Matt]

yes I think it would help. Mags don't have a dominent prescense on the Pro level. They need a team there that could repersent. Though I don't use a mag. I think that would be somthing that should be seen in the pro series.

[Jay]

Hey the AGD Lions were supposed to enter the pro five man at the world cup, but there was a mix up at registration so they didnt this year, but im sure that they will in the future. It could help AGD to have a winning pro team I think.

[BarryTolar]

Sure at some point AGD needs a Pro team.

But consider the cost to sponser that team against a full (Paintball) media blitz.

I hate to see Kingman ads and not see AGD ads.

Barry

[blnk162]

Keep in mind that AGD did not have the funds to support a Pro team before, what makes you all think they are able to now?

Pro team or not, I dont think it will matter to the sales of mags.

[DiRTyBuNNy]

I would have hoped that we would have gotten a little more than 24 votes considering that the page has 155 views..but oh well...I'm going to re-do the poll in a week or so with some added stipulations to the question but I do not want to contaminate the voting at this stage.

[Little Matt]

Well, I tried to vote but I kept getting a error. So you can coun't me towards yes.


Later,

[einhander619]

AGD needs a pro team for one simple reason: The reason mags are not considered pro level guns is because you don't see them in freakin' pro tourneys!!! You get the guns out there, and things will happen. I noticed something on PBN a little while ago, someone was selling an xmag. That gun produced over four pages of responses in less than a day. Clearly, people are interested in the guns, it's the touch/feel that is missing from the equation that people really need to see to make a buying decision for something so expensive. I believe a pro team would provide that experience.

[Scooter/Cootie]

Originally posted by Nobody077
I think that a AGD Pro team could be a good thing but I like Curly's idea of building on the AGD lions or AGD kids.

Don't forget about AGD Pride.

[Troy]

Yes
-I think it is a very important part of marketing in the paintball industry. Look at companies like Diablo, JT and DYE. When Diablo first came into being they had a heavy presence at NPPL events, and used the success of thier teams in their ads. JT, and DYE have made names for the players on their teams. When companies can run ads saying "Joe Blow is one of the best players in the world and he uses our product" i think people eat that up. Look at all of these kids interested in the Ground Zero Timmy, or any of DYE's products.

-Not sure what you mean by what dicisions will be influenced? I think the only real dicision is how much emphasis will be placed on the sucess of the team, and inturn the products that they use.

-The puchace of my first Mag was influeced by the SOBs and everyone at paintball Sams seemed to be shooting one. The only choice for a high end gun at the time was a Mag or a Cocker, and I had no idea how a Cocker worked.