Who's to blame? Where do we go from here?
The definition of sponsorship: to be responsible for, or to vouch for someone or something. Now, that is far off, I mean, when we ask a company to help us by sponsoring us, we are asking for them to help us buy into what we are doing. Why they do that is totally up to them. Whether to garnish attention to their products or because they simply can and want to help, it doesn't matter. It’s that these companies and people want to help you as much as possible and beyond then they want to help themselves. Sponsorship in our industry is getting far and few between and there is talk that the vendors want to make it even more scarce, taking us back to the days were everyone paid their own way, which for me is ok, except for the fact that it will considerably shrink our already taxed ranks. Many teams are gone because they couldn't get the help they needed, so I can only imagine where it will go if it keeps going the way that it is. Outside sponsorship is the answer, but sadly, we are too small and fractured to have a chance at getting anything, unless of course you have the hook up or inside track.
Who is to blame? Everyone; the sponsors, the teams and everyone in between. If it costs a pro team $75,000 to play a season of paintball and be remain competitive, and the team can’t raise that money from within the industry and they can’t get it from outside the industry- then what happens? This isn't about greedy players looking to get paid- it’s teams that can’t compete because it simply costs too much. So what happens if teams can’t get support from the industry and the cost to compete is still too much? Well, frankly, they go away, leave the sport and someone else moves in and then the cycle repeats again. Does this sound familiar? Unfortunately, the state that things are in right now, as well as the direction things are going is only going to get worse. There aren't enough pro players that can pay their own way, so we are going to lose them. If the industry simply can’t or won’t support the pro teams and players, then that sends a very clear message. We as players need to rally behind those few sponsors who are helping the teams and ignore those who won’t. If it’s tough for the pro teams, you can imagine what it’s like for the lower ranked teams. Good luck…
//Rich Telford
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