Below is the joint statement issued by the PSP & NPPL in the wake of a final effort to bring the merger to fruition. If VFTD was a paintball news site (or beholden to industry support and advertising) that's the way I'd leave it too. But VFTD isn't so ... it looks like CYA to me. "Remain committed and optimistic .." Yeah, right.
Here's the (rumored) dealio. Some time in the last day (or two?) a final ditch effort was made to see if a deal could be reached. As is clear in the statement it didn't work out. After the (apparent) debacle in Vegas--hey, that's the way that effort is rumored (there's that word again) to have gone--VFTD wants to know what really happened. The truth may never get out but--here's a prediction--the first stories are likely to be just that, stories. Who initiated this last ditch effort? Why? What did it amount to? So many questions. So few answers. So far.
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Subject: PSP & NPPL joint Press Release
Dear Industry Members, Teams, Players and Supporters,
In June of this year, the PSP management and the NPPL management met in Las Vegas for a meeting to construct the framework for a merged or newly combined entity to host one paintball tournament event series for 2012 and beyond. Both the PSP and the NPPL supported by the majority of the industry felt that given the past erosion of our industry and the current economic uncertainty, that one league hosting a series of events would be the best thing for everyone involved. After additional meetings in New Jersey, Orlando and Las Vegas combined with countless phone conferences and email correspondence, we were unable to come to an agreement that satisfied both parties. Given the time that is left in the calendar year and the quickly approaching 2012 tournament season, we have exhausted the time to negotiate further.
The PSP & NPPL staff fully recognizes the benefits of a combined league for 2012 and with the most genuine of intentions, deployed all assets and made every effort to make one league a reality for the paintball community. We believe the PSP & NPPL organizations pursued the negotiations with the same intentions and shared our desire to be successful. The PSP & NPPL both recognize the termination of negotiations as a temporary setback but remain committed and optimistic to merging for one league in the future. We want to thank the staff of both the PSP & NPPL and sincerely appreciate the efforts they made to consummate a combined entity.
Regards,
The PSP & NPPL Management
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
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11 comments:
I read this release with some incredulity, being as I was, under the (maybe misguided) impression that the proposed merger was an industry lead initiative. Surely, in these dark economic times, the logic behind it was good, in that the industry could concentrate on one league rather than dividing their support between two, thereby reducing their costs and benefiting the greater good of paintball. It would appear to me that a few individuals may have been in a position whereby they would loose out and have dug their heels in in an intransigent attempt to hold on to what they have without care for the bigger picture. How does it make sense for a beleaguered industry to continue to support two competing separate entities, surely something will give (if it hasn't already)?
Maybe that pressure from the industry just wasn't as strong as it needed to be, maybe they should have been to ones to have dug their metaphorical heels in! We have already witnessed a reduction in the number of trade supporters at events over the past few seasons, the more events there are the more it costs, the less support there will be and its pretty obvious that a lot of the smaller guys make no money at the events ant the bigger guys are probably often close to break even.
Maybe, the industry needs to man up, stop infighting and lay the law down!
So it's up to the evil (Pb) corporations to laydown the law? I'm sure the Fox News of paintball will no doubt agree with you.
The big industry players have always been in a position to support or not support one league or both and the fact those (possibly) hard decisions were never made has more to do with industry in-fighting than anything going on (or not going on) at any event. The only thing the big players have ever agreed on is keeping the circle of big players in the industry as small as possible.
And the less competitive paintball is beholden to the industry the better it is, long term, for the game.
This industry won't change until some of the old guard retire/move on. Whether it's a league merger, an industry organization, or even a tradeshow, their egos and desire for control keeps getting in the way.
I'm not so sure of that B.Bob. There was a time, when much of the industry was run by tournament players, both playing and retired. They seemed fairly supportive of competitive paintball. 90% (or more) of the industry has nothing to do with competitive paintball. As those former tourney players are being replaced by corporate type business people with no ties to tourney play, I have a feeling there will be less, rather than more involvement in competitive paintball (unless of course there is a reversal, which may or may not already be starting, in competitive play participation).
Some of that 90% that is not involved in competitive play, actually blames some of the problems the industry has, on the other 10% (or less). How much support will that 10% keep getting, if it doesn't make sense to the bottom line for those businesses? It's obvious that some of the support has already been clawed back in recent years, and it wouldn't surprise me if that trend were to continue.
Baca is right. Competitive paintball will be better off with being less dependent on PB Industry. Personally, I don't see how that will ever change a whole lot if players/teams continue to be dependent on using copious amounts of paintballs. It's a bit of a dilemma.
That's crap.
The industry runs the leagues and we all know it. Does anyone think the PSP would be here today without Dye? Maybe paintballs Fox News does, but anyone who has been around more then a few months know better. The NPPL is run by pro players/teams, so saying they are all gone is also a pipe dream.
The leagues act as a showcase for the top players and top equipment in our sport, and even if it's only 1% of players who play, until they stop getting 90% of the news coverage, the companies will always want their hand in that cookie jar.
If you don't believe that, then you seriously need to go outside and experience real life...
If a particular vendor can't afford 2 different leagues, what's currently stopping them from supporting only 1 league? Fear of choosing the wrong one?
Don, why do vendors support leagues in the first place? Marketing. Supporting only one league, means marketing to only a portion of the consumers rather than nearly all the consumers (at least in the competitive paintball world). Yes, it's only half the cost, but it's also only half the marketing. Having everyone at one event, keeps the cost similar, but increases the span of the marketing. At least that's the way I see it.
Anon
I wouldn't dream of arguing with you but if you could explain the minor inconsistency in your comment I'd appreciate it. You begin by saying "the industry runs the leagues and we all know it." Shortly thereafter you say "the NPPL is run by pro players/teams .."
So which one is it? It can't be both. Either the industry runs the leagues--or they don't.
Reiner, I'm saying that if the industry has one mind about having only 1 league to support, they don't need a merger to make that happen. They just have to "vote" with their dollars.
BTW, this can still happen. Merger talks was just to be nice to everyone. Now the fangs will come out.
You are right Don. But that is a big "if".
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