Today we begin with the USPL. First and foremost congrats to Arsenal for another solid victory. There seems little doubt they are the world's best 7-man team at the moment. Next up is home turf for the Arsenalisti with the DC Challenge coming the end of August. Registrations are running about the same as before, 86 teams, with paid totalling (including the pros) 22 teams. Now is the time for those registrations to begin shifting into the paid column as there is approx. a 3 week window left before registration closes.
According to the website last week there was supposed to be an announcement last Saturday at the WCO--which apparently, didn't happen. I'm guessing it was about the fourth event which is rumored to be headed for Vegas though there have been concerns about date availability and proximity to World Cup.
And finally a quick word about the vendors at WCO--there were a lot more there than the team numbers justified, even if they were all Cali-based (and I think they were) and I hope they did a decent business and might have gotten a spike from some of the rec players, if they knew the vendors were there.
The Grand Tour's next event stop is slated to be Moscow the weekend of August 8,9. Pro will be an Open division in Moscow with cash prizes for the top three finishers. While the other Grand Tour events have seen a consistent group of 9 teams competing in the pro bracket Moscow is presently at 0 registrants for the Open bracket. And total registration is a meager 11 teams. Is this what would have happened to the MS in Paris without locked divisions and compulsory play?
The MS Campaign Cup is coming to Engerland in September. (I'll have an OTB edition of the field layout up sometime this week.) Nobody seems to be in a hurry to register--at least among those who have that choice--as D2 only has 1 team listed while M5 has 5 teams listed. Home grown team registrations have been weak-ish in recent years for Campaign. It will be interesting to see if that continues or if there is a bit of a turnaround this time. Rumors about an unofficial boycott of Turkey are making the rounds but I doubt there's any traction there.
In the PSP registration for WC stands at 198 (from around noon EST) with the first payment deadline still weeks away. While an impressive number I'm wondering if that is a soft 198. There will be teams that jump on last minute--as there always are--but for an event that has frequently topped the 300 team mark in recent years I'm a little concerned. If registration reaches 250 prior to the first deadline the final total will probably fall within the projected range. On a related subject there is also some speculation that Paintball Extravaganza in September is gonna pull away some percentage of the vendors who would normally go to World Cup. Nobody seems to know for sure but the grapevine hints that for those who would be in an either one or the other but not both situation that Extravaganza may have the edge.
It's a waiting game now.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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11 comments:
i can totaly understand nobody wants to go to london for the M$. who's willing to pay 70 pounds for a double room for the only hotel that's close to the side? not even to mention, the horrible road trip you have to take to get from one of the 3 airports in london (expensive rental cars, cabs are even more expensive, public transportation is tricky...)
well, even if the millennium offers an option on camping - no thanks
teams haven't the money anymore.
also the same with turkey - yes, there's something going on to boycott this event, as flights are so expensive, hotels probably as well and the millennium series is the only part getting profit out of this deal (getting money from the turkish governament)
no thanks to the millennium series.
Cry me a river...
Expensive hotel? You can camp out next to the fields without a problem.
Horrible road trip? Stay at home you pansy. Luton is 2 hours away by car, you can get to the other airports without too many problems...
Public Transport tricky? Learn to read... You've got trains and coaches you can use to get there...
Looks like you'd only be happy if they put the event next to your house, you whiner...
As for Turkey...I can understand some of the reservations, but what you're saying here shows you haven't done any research really...
All-Inclusive trips to Turkey can be had for 300 quid...
Always nice to have Mill Series bigwig Barry Fuggle drop by. Hey Barry!
(Yes, that was a joke. Lighten up.)
What isn't a joke however is the less than enthusiastic response to Campaign and the backlash toward Turkey. Reasonably or unreasonably it may be some peeps are finally fed up.
I think the error Millennium made when announcing Turkey was not, at the same time, having worked out and announcing reasonably-priced all-inclusive travel packages from various European cities. That would have killed the travel cost argument right there, and made Millennium some money on the travel bookings as well.
is it me, or have the MS completely stopped caring about the players?
Euro's are quite right to make a stand.
MS events should be held in the countries that best support the league in terms of team participation. If they did this they would save their customer-base thousands of euro's.
missy q: totaly agree. better venues, more teams attending, more money for the M$ - but in my opinion there's also no need to put a great turf and this crazy inflatable field up. better lower the entry fees and play on gras somewhere (the psp does it right)
raehl: alright, this is one good reason. but still, also with travel packages, prices to turkey in this area are expensive. ok, might be some get some cheap flights, but this isn't the majority.
i don't need to get there, play at the beach, where 5 stars hotels are located. if i want vacation i'll for sure not combine it with a paintball tournament. that's an argument the millennium might bring up. "you can easy take vacations there..." tzzzz. bullshit
in my eyes, and i've talked to a lot people, the whole thing is just expensive, looked trough the whole season. paris was a desaster - makes absolutly no sense. malaga & germany where good in my eyes. but i'm afraid of the next 2 events
@whiner (barry): if i want to go in vacation and do camping i'll for sure not choose london. i really hope on rain and people complain to the millennium about this.
not even to mention the other stuff you came up - sorry, but this just shows you totaly missunderstood the whole situation.
it's not even worth to argue with you, however you are
but one thing more: not all players in europe are rich and can afford to play the expensive euro paintball,
think about this
Thanks MS player. You really told Barry.
Congrats.
millennium series player:
So what actually is your problem? It seems that you're angry because:
a. Hotel is across the street from the venue
b. Camping is not the same as staying at a hotel
c. The hotel and the venue are not next to the airport
d. You don't want to go on holiday & play paintball...
The Millennium is a business. As a business, it's looking to make a profit by providing a service to its' customers. That service is putting on an international tournament series. International means being played by people from various countries in various countries.
That doesn't mean everyone will come right to your doorstep to play paintball with you every time you want to play the Millennium.
That doesn't mean the Millennium will only put on events in countries with the highest player base - sometimes it's good to go to countries that are so called "emerging markets" to promote your product.
But tell me, what exactly is your problem?
Should be:
a. Hotel is not across the street from the venue
barry, i agree with you partially. and i understand that the millennium series is a business. today's business is hard - i've got a business running and know this.
ok, i'll tell you a quick and simple example:
at the seasons beginn all the teams had to sign a contract and pay for 5 events upfront - not even knowing what players, teams and vendors are expecting.
what about the paris event? isn't that just rip off? i mean c'mon, what do you expect? teams beeing happy having payed in front a lot money for something they don't want? no seeding points, no ranking, just expenses.
you could have tought before about that and at least put this damn cup for turkey and leave it open who wants to attend to this - this would be paintball & holiday.
but in my eyes the whole situation this year in the millennium series is bad. i think people should take an advocat and let check their M$ contracts, in my eyes this contract is not valid. however, i'll not argue with this. it is how it is, teams have to show up there or pay a fee between 2500-10000 euro if not and maybe lose the spot. but all the expenses for a team might be higher than this fee, so it would make sense to not participate at the event and just play national leagues or other tournaments next year instead the millennium.
one more thing about the emerging markets: i agree with you, and yes, it is a good idea, but this could be handled as i said on top, put the cup there as a great closing event 2009...
it's always been the mill does whatever they want to do, come up with new crazy stuff (see this 10k licensing fee for gun manufacturers, crazy new field netting, cap 10...) - guys, listen to the players and vendors. without the players and vendors the millennium series is nothing. if the 16 CPL teams and some SPL teams would turn the millennium their backs you guys could pack your stuff and close the M$, it's just a question about the time when this happens.
do torunaments for players, vendors and aspecators, not for making money for your pockets. listen to players... that's all i have to say
@baca: sorry for spaming your blog, but i think it is time to put the cards on the table and see what i hit on the flop ;)
If that was spam, I'll have some more, please.
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