Sign In | Register
Advertisement : Your Ad here
A New Kind of Sport

Paintball was first practiced as a ‘survival’ game twenty years ago, but has quickly turned into a true sport, with specific rules, marshaling and legal structures. Today, modern paintball still retains these two faces: It is both an entertainment and a sport. Huge paintball parks have grown all over the US (and beyond) and welcome thousands of weekend players looking for fun and new sensations.

But at the same time, more and more people experience paintball as an extreme sport, participating in local or international events, in US or in Europe. Inflatable concept fields came in to permanently alter the sport in 1996. This was a revolution for this young sport. The game took a more tactical aspect and players started to develop real team strategies. Besides, the game became more visual and attractive for the media. In 2001, paintball as an industry weighed an estimated 700 million dollars, with six billion paintballs sold each year. Manufacturers and distributors spend millions in research and development to bring the latest equipment to thousands of players in all corners of the world practicing what had become a global sport.

In 2002, American Sports Data reported about 7 million people practicing paintball in the United States, ranking paintball as the fourth strongest extreme sport industry, before snowboarding.

This year, the new X Ball tournaments will be featured on national US TV network ESPN and the final event of one of two US-based leagues will take place at Disney World. Furthermore, tournaments have attracted personalities like Maurice Gibb, William Shatner, Howard Stern, Everlast or B Real.

In the paintball sphere, entertainment and sport remain closely linked. Thousands of people spend entire weekends in big theme parks springing up all over the US, but still keep an eye on the sport aspect of paintball, notably thanks to the specialized press and TV coverage.
 Latest Video
Post your video here 
 SUBSCRIBE NOW
 BULK ORDERS
 ONLINE MAGAZINE
 FACEPOLL
How often do you check face-full.com?
1. Every Day
2. Every Week
3. Once Every 2 weeks+
 ANYWHERE
Home World Paintball Magazine
   World
 Event Calendar
 About Paintball
 Circuits
 FACEFULL Online
 Concept
 Subscribe
 Back issues
 Contact
Advertise on face-full.com | Job Opportunities
© 2010 Facefull Magazine - Adrenaline Edition All rights reserved 
Appropriate paintball gear should be worn during play to ensure safety. Quality paintball equipment can be purchased from available online manufacturers.