What Have We Done To Our Game? Part Three of Five

What Happened to Our Economy?

Okay, so it's obvious that the overwhelming majority of you reading this blog know that this stuff needs to be talked about if we want the game of paintball to grow and flourish. I also know this topic is not for everyone. There are paintball players everywhere that only care about playing in their backyards three times a year. The paintball economy and the number of people playing is irrelevant to them. And I understand that. But those guys (and gals) aren't reading this blog. I'm going to guess that if you're paintball savvy enough to find this blog and actually read it, you care about more than just playing a few times a year. To that end, your feedback, comments, and the fact that many of you are discussing this around the paintball cyberworld is a really, really good thing. So whether you agree with me or not, please keep the talk going, because difference-makers in paintball are watching and listening. I know this because they are telling me they are. In the final article of this series (Part Five) I'm going to wrap this topic up (for now) and in that wrap-up you'll be reading a lot of quotes on this subject from names you know. People are paying attention to what you are saying.

To date I've covered how the game coming almost completely out of the woods has hurt the growth of the game. I've also covered how the rate of fire has become a huge problem--not at the tournament level, but at local fields. If you missed the first two parts of this series, please stop reading this now and scroll down and take the class prerequisites.

The Economy's Affect on Paintball

It's obvious that the shrinking of game fields, the coming out of the woods, and the rate of fire issues are problems--but they're not the only problems. The third problem with the state of paintball really has very little to do with paintball. The economy in this country for the past year or so has drained us all--and that includes most paintball players, field and store owners, and even the mega-manufacturer.

I am definitely not an economist, a financial forecaster, or someone that even knows for sure if we're really in a true recession. But I can see the obvious. According to The Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the unemployment rate in the U.S. rose from 5.5% in June to 6.7% in November. (I wonder if they counted me in there??) So far in 2008 1.9 million people have lost their jobs. U.S. labor costs have increased and while productivity has fallen throughout the year. Retail sales are now down for the fifth straight month in the U.S. according to CNNMoney.com. For a good portion of 2008, gas prices were in the $3-$4 per gallon range across the country. The subprime mortgage scandal broke this past year and according to Fox News one out of every ten homes in the U.S. is in foreclosure. And that doesn't count the hundreds of thousands of home owners who are behind several months in their mortgage payments. Some of the world's largest banks are folding, the auto industry is in shambles and Wall Street is a disaster. We all know our economy is a mess.

How can a bad economy not affect the state of the game of paintball? Despite what some people may tell you about disposable income, teenagers are not going to drive 40 miles to the paintball field when gas is $4 a gallon. Parents are not going to give their kids money to play paintball when they are behind on their mortgage payments, have lost a job, or had their "extra" money in Wall Street investments.

The economy effects paintball manufacturers as well. If people are not buying like they were two years ago, people are going to get laid off. Companies with big manufacturing plants and warehouses are wishing they didn't have to pay for half-empty spaces. Manufacturing numbers are down and quantity discounts are less. It's a catch 22. They need to charge more money because less people are playing. Yet, the increase in price will drive more players away.

The Dollar Versus the Euro

If you've been following the dollar versus the euro dudring the past year and a half, you probably already know that the dollar has been weak, although lately it has been much better. From April of 2007 to April of 2008 the exchange rate skyrocketed. In 2007 one euro would cost you $1.33 U.S. dollars. A year later you would have to shell out $1.66 per euro. So let's assume you're the owner of a England-based paintball magazine and the price you charged for a full page ad from an American company was $1800 per page in 2007. That exchange would net you roughly 1400 euros. A year later you would have to charge almost $2200 for the same ad to net your 1400 euros. American companies, now in a money crunch, simply can't afford to advertise--or they continue to advertise but are forced to raise prices. For American paintball teams traveling to Europe to compete, the average cost of a hotel stay increased from 2007 to 2008 by more than $26 per night because of the exchange rate. That's an increase of about $300 per team just for their hotel stay. The same increase percentage would follow for gas, food, paint, entry fees, etc.

The Paintball Economy

Going back to the 1990s (and even the 1980s) you would find that most paintball business owners were not really "business people." It was fairly typical for someone to play paintball for the first time in the late 80s and six months later they would open a paintball field. People saw the potential of the game and many jumped in with both feet, experience or not. And in many cases these businesses flourished and thrived. Money was coming in like nobody predicted and business owners spent it like it would never end. That goes for field and store owners, manufacturers, and distributors. Times were really good for more than a decade. In essence most of these businesses grew too large, too fast and were being managed by people with no business managing large businesses. But it's all they knew. They did the best they could. But when times got hard, they were in too deep. When small businesses could no longer sell a "tricked out" Autococker for $1300, they were in trouble because for the first time they were forced to live on "normal" profit margins.

Business is easy when you're making money hand over fist and when profit margins are high. It gets a lot more difficult when margins shrink and you have less customers spending less money. Companies like National Paintball Supply, PMI, Tippmann, the NPPL, JT, and many others were forced to sell off their assets (or they did it before they actually were forced to). This brought the new era of paintball corporations. Jeans and t-shirt CEOs were replaced with "suits" and many of these guys knew nothing about the paintball culture. They were successful businesspeople that were finding it "shocking," as one CEO told me, that so many companies were run "by the seat of their pants," as he put it. I've found it "shocking" myself that many of these corporate guys didn't do their homework and due diligence before spending their millions on companies with such weak foundations. But it is what it is. The "paintball economy" is even worse off than the U.S. economy. And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

A Bad Mix

Call me crazy but I just don't see how a new player shooting a Tippmann or Spyder playing against experienced players shooting Egos on a 200' X 250' field in a bad economy is a recipe for success. You're asking walk-ons to get shot up all day and to pay more than ever for the privilege. Separating skill levels, limiting the rate of fire in walk-on games, playing on larger fields (woods or arena), and even introducing stock games and playing different game scenarios are just a few ways to keep the cost of the game down and to keep the game fun for all players.

Again let me say that I could care less if the PSP allows players to shoot 50 balls per second. If you're at the level of those players you're probably getting what you want. If not, it's in your control to change the rules. But for the average Joe Blow paintball player from Small Town USA, the game is too fast, too painful and too expensive the way it is currently played at the majority of our playing fields and even in backyard games.

Doing It Right

Players
The economy is out of our control to a large degree. There's nothing you can do about that, right? That seems like the easy answer. If you lost your job you can't continue to spend money on frivolous things like paintball. If what you are earning isn't going as far due to the increased cost of living, paintball gets cut out of the budget. I understand that. Economists will tell you that the best way for our country to get out of this mess is for our people to spend money. Spending money creates jobs, more manufacturing, and consumer confidence and it probably would fix our economy. I'm not going to tell you whether you should continue to play paintball and buy paintball equipment in this economy. I don't know your financial situation. But my attitude is I'm not afraid to spend money solely because of the economy. I'm not going to shut down my spending because there's impending doom. I'll shut down my spending because I can't afford to spend. So I guess I'm saying don't be "afraid" of the economy. Spend wisely. Spend thoughtfully. But don't be afraid.

Business Owners
For paintball business owners big and small, you've probably figured out that the money that was once flowing at an almost seemingly endless rate is not flowing so freely anymore. There's probably nothing I can tell you about tightening your belt and cutting your overhead that you haven't already figured out over the past few years. Now it's time to be creative. How? Maybe you should take some of your left-over now-defunct event sponsorship money and sink it into a grassroots paintball promotion aimed at getting new players to try our game. But please don't send them to the Billy Bob's Paintball field where goggles are "optional." Maybe some of that ad budget money that isn't going to PGI or PB2X anymore should go to establishing an 800 number where players can be directed to the best places to play. That's two ideas on the house. Any more are going to cost you. You have my phone number, right?

As always, thanks for reading. Keep the comments and ideas coming. I'll be back Saturday with Part Four entitled, "Paintball, What a Pretty Game."