Is paintball at (or near) a peak

[Lohman446]

Honest question. Paintball has shown explosive growth through the years, and that growth has slowed. Most people have attributed that slowing to a normal shift in business models. However, it seems paintball maybe on the verge of a contraction. The "roots" are closing receding. More and more stores are failing, and fields. Some of them have been there for some time, and they don't seem to be replaced as quickly or surely as they once had been.

Paintball is on TV, and the world of high end tournament paintball is being exposed to the masses. Does this help? Without getting into the cheating that is paintball, or the attitude issues look at what people are exposed to. Does that honestly make some kid want to try it? Look how good the people are who do it, and frankly the people at the field look the part when they show up.

My question is, could we be at a peak. Not the peak, I have no doubt that there will be a resurgance, but is paintball at the peak of a recession in growth?

[Steelrat]

30%? Yikes! Too bad we can't undo whats already been done.

[cyrus-the-virus]

Thats why I'm buying a mech single trigger classic mag, and an AEDES (if/when it comes out)

after that a PGP and I'll be done really.

[The_Leech]

Asked, and answered. Tom said it best...

http://www.automags.org/forums/showt...=180645&page=4

replying to this post. I honestly dont think tom knew what he was talking about with this. Im not meaning any disrespect or anything. Just............ he thinks Nascar is keeping fans.

Nascar is loosing fan base by large amounts due to how boring it has become. (thats why they came out with Ricky Bobby to try to save interest in Nascar, but that movie sucked miserably. I miss it when Will Ferrel was actually funny. MORE COWBELL FOOLS. Anyways...)


Thats my 2 cents on the nascar thing.



Anyways, Paintball, as a sport is on a decline in the media. Woodsball is barley ever seen, and if seen it's not well done. Speedball is loosing viewing because ESPN just sucks as a company. They dont even shoot their own footage, they buy footage off of other people and for unfair prices. They do huge lowballs, thus the people who shot and edited the film dont want to sell it to them.

Anyways. Paintball is trapped in a media bubble due to this. ESPN shows only games from a few years ago and rules have changed since then. Thus, the professional level of the sport is not spreading.

You talk to someone who hasnt ever played paintball, what do they think of? Woodsball. Thats due to speedball not spreading. Woodsball doesnt need the media for its the way paintball started. But for both aspects to survive, both need to be adervisted and shown regularly. We still do have a long ways to go to have it actually be shown allot more.

It indeed IS BIGGER than allot of sports you see on ESPN2, but it isnt shown as much. I would never classify poker as a sport. It sure is fun, but does it require any real movement or strategy? Not really. Spelling bees are not sports. god no. thats just a bunch of smart children. Sports were for the kids who were smart not acadmeically but in the ways that actually matter.....real life smarts...like street smarts or whatever its called.

[robnix]

Woodsball needs a good survivor type reality show on something like the Outdoor Network. Split into teams, scenario game challenges, vote teammates out at the end of the show, big prize at the end for the winning player.

[The_Leech]

well..it did. Or was it NBC. both now that i think of it...but not NBC...it was UPN

OLN had X-Fire. A Sci-fi paintball show that pitted a Spec Ops team against baddies in a crazy storyline. It used paintball stuff and all that. The problem was it wasnt really "paintball"


UPN had a show that wasnt really paintball but it was a survival game where a group of people were on an island being hunted by some guys with paintball guns. The group of people had to get from point A to point B by trying to dodge booby traps and signals that made the hunters find them.


Yeah....

But they should have a more actual paintball game one.

[punkncat]

I would have to say yes that paintball is over the peak and falling.

Given that there have been no improvements in performance in several years and the prices on used equipment is lower than ever there is no reaon to buy new, unless you are going with something disposable like the Ion.
With reduced sales in profitable items more manufacturers will go away. As they go away there will be less selection, and less availability of parts for the markers made by the ones who have closed, or even ones that are open and offer no support for their older lines...

A lot of people become quickly disgusted with the current atmosphere within the game. And its easy to be so with ramping and cheating becoming so prevelent. Its no fun at all to go to a field with the new clone you bought at Wal Mart and getting your *** handed to you by everyone there shooting(insert name here) ramping markers.

With the average age of players down around 12-15 years of age or so now, that enters a whole other world of crap you have to deal with....

Unless you are very lucky, what made paintball what it was years ago is gone from the local scene. Even those who love the sport the way I and many of you do its getting harder and harder to bring yourself to dealing with the BS.

[mobsterboy]

Is _________ at (or near) a peak?

Well, fill in the blank here with whatever you want actually. Paintball, cars, cellphones, mp3 players, war, tv's, the list goes on. Yet they all survive

[lather]

Anybody have any actual numbers or source for this alleged downturn?


If true, a 30% drop in sales could be interperted as more people are a bit more market savvy and not jumping feet first into new marker hype---realizing their 03 shocker, Viking or DM3 performs just as well as a DM8, NXT shocker, or Angel 1. Or their apache or egg loader shoots fast enough for them, and they dont NEED to have a 23 bps Halo or Vlocity. Who knows?

Heck the price of gas could also be a factor--a lot of people need to drive an hour + to get to their field.

I dont see anything to get alarmed about, a huge upsurge followed by a sharp decline and an evening out is a usual trend for any industryu--why should paintball be an exception?

[kruger]

At my field, I have seen a surge of players that have never played before. Also, there is an increase of speedball players that are fed up with the speedball thing. I am a scenario/woodsball only field. People tell me that the attitude of the average speedball players is the reason that they come to my field. I think that a lot of people are just trying to get back to what made them want to play in the first place, just for the fun of it. No tournaments, no peer pressure, and no attitude. Just for the fun of it. Woodsball and scenario ball fill those things for them. As to a 30% fall in sales, yes, I can see that. Today, there is no reason to buy a 1000 dollar marker when a 250 marker can perform just as well. The higher priced markers are for those that feel the need to impress others or those that want to have the cutting edge. Just like in drag racing, its fairly easy to hit the 6 sec. bracket, but when you try to start shaving those 1/10sec off of that time, thats when you start running into the big bucks. And people dont really see the need to shave off those "1/10th sec."

[robnix]

At my field, I have seen a surge of players that have never played before. Also, there is an increase of speedball players that are fed up with the speedball thing. I am a scenario/woodsball only field. People tell me that the attitude of the average speedball players is the reason that they come to my field. I think that a lot of people are just trying to get back to what made them want to play in the first place, just for the fun of it. No tournaments, no peer pressure, and no attitude. Just for the fun of it. Woodsball and scenario ball fill those things for them. As to a 30% fall in sales, yes, I can see that. Today, there is no reason to buy a 1000 dollar marker when a 250 marker can perform just as well. The higher priced markers are for those that feel the need to impress others or those that want to have the cutting edge. Just like in drag racing, its fairly easy to hit the 6 sec. bracket, but when you try to start shaving those 1/10sec off of that time, thats when you start running into the big bucks. And people dont really see the need to shave off those "1/10th sec."

Are the sales numbers we're discussing money that's generated at fields, or money from marker and accessory purchases?

[SCpoloRicker]

I'd honestly say no. I've mentioned that I play to co-workers from time to time, and I've generally found that most people are familiar with the game.

/played since '95

[jenarelJAM]

Sports were for the kids who were smart not acadmeically but in the ways that actually matter...

Sorry to digress, but I feel the need to argue this point. Maybe competitive sports are for those who aren't academically smart, but academics do actually matter. Most people play sports as a release, as a game, recreation. To make the generalized statement that sports are for people who are smart, but aren't educated, and that education doesn't matter is untrue, insulting, and stupid.
I understand that you're trying to say that the term "sport" refers to physical activity, but I don't think anyone classifies a spelling bee as a sport. Paintball is a sport. And many people I know (non paintballers)have seen paintball championships, and when they hear I play, they say, "That sounds so fun!" or some such line. Paintball is seeping out to the general population.

[Steelrat]

I'd honestly say no. I've mentioned that I play to co-workers from time to time, and I've generally found that most people are familiar with the game.

/played since '95

BUT, do they think the game is running around the woods in camoflage?

[BuyMyMag]

I think it's nearing it's peak, but I also believe that it will fall down the other side of the hill. I know you said not to mention people's attitudes, or cheating, but I think these are two important factors of how many people will continue to play. I've seen recreational players go out for a day of fun just to get ragged on by the tournament players, and I think that such ******** bring a negative feel to paintball. I know that if they treated me like that on my first day of play that I wouldn't be interested in continuing play. I think that there will be a point where people are tired of cheating, general *******ry (Is that a word?) on the field, and they will just stop playing. I know that's what did it for me.. I used to be an every weekend guy, but it's like these immature kids have taken over the sport, and it's not as fun as it used to be.