Friday, September 19, 2014

Sponsorship in Decline?

Probably should have read sponsorship in further decline without the question mark but I wanted to soften the blow a little bit. Hint at some forlorn sliver of hope that might still exist. But probably doesn't.
Despite appearances (or should I say the recent lack of appearances?) Mr. Curious has not been reliving 'Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas', working as a roadie for a KISS tribute band and categorically denies erecting mysterious communications towers disguised as pine trees across the continental United States. Instead he has been on the job ferreting out secrets from the inner conclaves of the paintball presidium. Unfortunately he was discovered, detained and forcibly re-educated in a camp rumored to be in the wilds of Arkansas disguised as a public school. Even after his escape he remembers little, continues to suffer from a disturbing twitch and mutters under his breath something about paintballs drying. So far VFTD has gotten only a few coherent sentences out of him.
Apparently the giants of the paintball industry are reevaluating sponsorships and plans are being or will be implemented that see a further tightening of sponsorships that may mostly affect the highest level teams. According to Mr. Curious even the future existence of some pro teams is in doubt but he has yet to name names--assuming that info exists somewhere in his tortured mind. While the various industry members seem to be aware of the others intentions they aren't acting as a unified front. While each appears to be modifying past practices each is doing so in its own way and at least one industry giant has apparently begun informing their currently sponsored teams of some of the changes coming.
What this will mean across the board to the pro teams is uncertain at this time but further belt-tightening can only make the effort to remain competitive all the more difficult. On the flipside though for the up-and-comers who have managed largely on their own so far it might make taking the next step up easier if the majority end  up in the same or a similar situation. No way of knowing yet and no way of knowing to what extent sponsorship levels at the top of the game will change or the fallout those changes may bring.  

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paintball companies are/could be looking/acting greedy after recuperating from some bad previous years. May hurt the sport.

Anonymous said...

Businesses look at long term economic evalulators. Which means if I invest money,how long till I see a return plus profits? Face it, businesses are only looking to make a buck.Yes ,there are those that
care about paintball because they love the sport.But to continue to support the game as we now know it is a fruitless endevor. Paintball will always be a niche sport. It missed the boat for TV. Nobody with extra capitol cared about paintball till they heard someone was trying to get it on broadcast television and they could make a ton of cash.So they injected gobs of money into the sport to "Hype" it up.Anyone remember X-Ball? Fast, flashy in your face excitment!! Guess what? No TV deal and slowley the reigns are pulled in. It's peaked. Get over it. Times are changing.

Anonymous said...

Winner winner, the whole system is flawed and needs change. It is very obvious.

MissyQ said...

There used to be a real correlation between what the teams can deliver to the manufacturer and what they receive as their package. I am not sure that teams deliver anywhere near that value now. I believe that if a team can really drive sales they are 100% worth the investment. For example - Rage was never a consistently 'winning team', but whatever they shot was always the #1 gun in the south Florida market. The sales from that market paid for Rage's deal, and that worked for everyone. Joy Division drove European sales. They were a team that delivered to their sponsors. Dynasty always deliver in Global sales. Vicious deliver sales in the Mid-west, but I am not sure how many other current teams are able to make a healthy sponsorship package financially viable to the people providing it, and there are diminishing returns when a manufacturer has more than one team representing them in a single league.

Baca Loco said...

233 Anon
No serious recuperating going on.

501 Anon
The sponsorship by and large has always come from the same sources.

Missy
True enough and those correlations still exist but I'm not sure the volume of product is anything like it once was--hence the reevaluation of the value delivered.

Anonymous said...

Cough KEE cough cough... XSV, T1, Boom.

Anonymous said...

501 Anon here. True the sponsorships are coming from the same place but the amount of liquid capitol put forth has increased.Correct? Adjusted for inflation of course. And the peak ROI has passed.

Baca Loco said...

Not even close. The golden Age of Sponsorship was circa 2004-2006.