AirSoft Going Pro ???

Not to clutter up Satans thread anymore,

The Berget Event used to be the Premere Event in Europe, but after the last event that was a total Disaster that has changed.

With banning Sponsors, Company Reps from the game area, those are all things that have to be cleared with the Organizers and Reps before game begin, not trying to drag Berget through the mud, but something went really wrong at Berget 6. Let´s wait and see what happens this year.

4 and 5 were absolutly fantastic, game play from the very first minute to the Bitter end, ( for the Macho´s, the Russian Commander won both events, A Woman ), At 4 there was a Player that suffered a Heart attack, I don´t know if he passed away or not.
Heat Casualties, and Dehydration Casualties are not uncommon, alot of players over estimate what they are capable of, or just forget to take care of themselves while Playing ( I am one ), it is extremly important to have an assistant that also keeps an eye on you, At Berget it is not uncommon to move between 8 to 15 miles a day during the game, the terrain is not all that hard, but maintaining allert, and tactical the entire time does take it´s toll on you, another Reason why Mil-Sims are not everybodys cup of Tea.

At B6, this was the first time that the Sponsors were so oppresive, normaly they hold back and wait for you to approach them. At most of the large events there are some Companies present, and usualy alot of the Local handlers and distributors providing replacement parts, and repair services if somebody should need them, alot of times you walk away with a whole bag of Goodies at the end of an Event, BB´s, Parts, T-Shirts, Hats, new Products to Test and report on. The presence of Sponsors and Companies is not a Bad thing, it just has to be kept under contol.

After witnessing what happened at B6, it just added more fuel to the Fire that sooner or later, AS will go Pro, but like PB, it will be up to the Players and the Teams out there to decide if they want to ride that Horse or not.

Something I forgot,

Another indication that AS is getting on the road to going Pro,

Go to a Gun Convention, or Gun Show, before you would never see an AirSoft handler or Company at such event, AirSoft guns are Toys, Right ??

Now you have Professionals standing there right Next to HK, Colt, JP ARTS, Smith and Wesson, and we are not talking about PTW´s, they are there specificly to get more and more people into the World of AirSoft.

Take a look around the NET, check out how many companies of Tac-Gear are jumping on the band wagon, and targeting the AS player to buy thier Products, Wiley-X, Bolle, Viper, Mil-Tec and so on, sure they are out to make money, but they are also influencing how we play the game. It used to be that you would throw on an old pair of BDU´s, grab your Glasses or Goggles, Gun, Magazines, Batteries, BB´s and off you would go for a Day of Fun, now you see players showing up with a Load out that costs 2 or 3 times as much as they have invested in thier gun ( and thats still at the low end ).

Airsoft is slowing becoming the next craze, but I think the majority of people who converted from paintball to airsoft will decide not to ride 'the horse' because of what happened to paintball. But the younger groups who are tight on money, a sponsorship isn't going to sound all that bad, you get to test out new gear and get special promotions and connections inside of the business if you start looking for a career in airsoft. Just people need to be educated on when a contract is going to far, like a 15"x10" yellow and red badge. A tiny 2"x5" greened out badge and a flag to carry at assembly isn't that bad of a deal.

Lone Wolf wrote:

Airsoft is slowing becoming the next craze, but I think the majority of people who converted from paintball to airsoft will decide not to ride 'the horse' because of what happened to paintball. But the younger groups who are tight on money, a sponsorship isn't going to sound all that bad, you get to test out new gear and get special promotions and connections inside of the business if you start looking for a career in airsoft. Just people need to be educated on when a contract is going to far, like a 15"x10" yellow and red badge. A tiny 2"x5" greened out badge and a flag to carry at assembly isn't that bad of a deal.

Agreeing with LW on alot of these points. I know to me, a sponsership definitely doesnt sound all that bad, But then again I'm 15 years old. Then again, I definitely know when they're taking it to far, and I am confident that I would be able to throw in the towel when neccesary and go back to shooting for myself. IMO, It's up to airsofters let those companys KNOW how airsoft needs to be, and how it's going to STAY.

I agree with your arguments, Sponsorship is not a bad deal, but it has to be done correctly, and when companies or local dealers and handlers start investing more money in a team, they are going to want to see results.

Right now as AirSoft is starting to develop and become more and more known, this is the time to try to secure a Sponsor. If conditions and Terms of a Sponsorship agreement are laid down Direct and to the Point, Some sweet deals can be made.

Rescued Players from PB , have seen how things can get with sponsors and the game going Pro, they are going to be the Doomsday Preachers trying to warn the rest of the community of what will happen, but how many are going to listen ??

Try this on for size, let´s say airsoft gets broken down into age categories, you have a Youth League, Adult League, and Senior League,
Youth League, 12 to 17 year old, game specific, Speed Games, Starting level MIL-SIM.

Adult League, 18 to 39 year olds, game specific, In Depth Speed games, Role Play Scenarios, MIL-Sim Games of 24 hours or longer.

Senior League, 35 to if you can still move you can Play , Role Play Scenarios of 24 hour duration or longer, Mils-Sims 24 hours or Longer, AS Gun Repair, Build, Modification competitions, A Commanders Cup.

So your team is in the Youth League, you play regularly at local events and your team is known and respected, everybody talks about how well and how fair and mature you handle yourselves on and off the Playing Field, a real Class Act !!!
So one day the owner of Mike´s AirSoft Innovations( the Largest AS Handler in your area ) is at a local event and is looking for and impressed by your team and is willing to offer you a Sponsorship contract.
Real Simple and easy Contract,

Reduced Prices, 15% Off all products in His Shops,
Free BB´s
A monthly Shopping allowance of 200$ for the TEAM.
Free Repair of AS Guns
50% OFF on all tuning work, and Parts

In Return you Required to Wear his Store T-Shirt at events, nicely done by the way, in Black and subdued colors, with each individual Players Name on the Back, with your Team patch or Logo underneath.

You are required to wear his Store Patch underneath your Team Patch, again nicely done in subdued colors and not to large.

And as a final condition, Use the best form of advertisement for his Store, Word Of Mouth, you have to promote his store, at events, on your Team Home Page, in Forums and so on.

Not a bad deal, or what....., you sign on the Dotted line and get ready to start reaping in all the benefits of the time and money you have invested in Building your Team.
Well guess what, you have just gone PRO !!!

Now this may sound like a far fetched fantasy, but if you look at how the community is developing, you already start to see some of this happening,
Age Restrictions for Teams,
Age Restrictions for Events, Given this is mainly due to injuries and maturity of Players,
More and More HP´s Linked to Stores and AS Companies,
Prize Winning Events,
Plugging of Local Stores and Events, not just a listing, but Promotion Of,
Store, Company, Handler Banners, Flags, Patches, T-Shirts, Hats at games and large Events,

Going back to the former hardcore PB players, they are going to be standing there saying `` I told you it was a BAD idea´´``Told you this would Happen´´``Now look at what you got us into´´, I have nothing but respect for the Converted PB players, that have seen, lived through, and put up with the changes of PaintBall, and tried to Fight the Sport from going Professional, but they are the few, and when the mainstream of players are forcing it to happen, it is just a matter of time before it does happen.

Now we could all just sit back and say, `` Hey, No Biggie, if that is what they want to do, then Let them, our team is not going to be a part of it !!´´`` We are going to stay just the way we are, and continue to Play the same as before´´`` It dosn´t affect us´´.

If you think that you would be Wrong !!!
Ask any former PB player how much the prices of their Equipment increased, Paint Balls, Game Fee´s, Field Rental, Re-placement Parts, Tuning Parts and so on.....
AS going Pro will affect every Player, sooner or later you are going to have to dig deeper and deeper into your pocket to maintain your Hobby, even if you stay with Playing just Local and with friends or local Teams.

My biggest fear with AS going Pro is not just the inflated costs, it will be how the game is played, Right now there are very few `` Prized ´´ events, ( I know of 4, and only 1 is a Money Prize, 5000$ ). My Fear is that with the introduction of Prized events, the Style of play will change, and for the Bad.
Honesty is the largest controlling aspect of our Hobby, Personally I thing that as soon as Prizes are introduced, cheating will become a huge problem.


Well enough rambling from me for today on this subject, gotta save something for the replies

Ya expecially since the bb leaves no mark on clothes it will be hard to get people to say they are out unless you give them a shower of bb's because the winner of the match get 5 grand and a 50% next purchase at such and such retailer.

I totally forgot about the honesty part!! I have enough problems with the new kid with a spring pistol not calling his hits. Although, the fantasy sponsorship that slob introduced would be a hard one to refuse if not impossible for me. Here in northern michigan we have allot of paintball fields. These fields are starting to have more and more airsoft events, making our sport more mainstream. This could greatly increase the media attention of our sport also.

The media getting involved in airsoft would be bad. As we already said what happened to PB.

The Media is already involved !!!

There are publications dedicated to AS,
Film, videos, Forums, Lets not forget Youtube, Face Book, Live leak, Myspace ....

The trick here is to get the Media to work in Favor of AirSoft, not against it, all players should be responsible enough to portray AS for what it is, a Hobby/Sport, nothing more and nothing less. This is one of my pet peeves, it drives me almost absolutely bonkers to watch vids, or film clips, news reports, Filmed Documentaries about the Game, and the players are standing there describing how he/she and their `` Special Attack Force´´ moved against the `` ENEMY´´ on the `` BATTLEFIELD´, and by using `` SUPERIOR FIREPOWER´´ was able to fix the Enemy allowing the snipers to get well aimed `` HEAD SHOTS´´ resulting in many `` KILLS ´´ and to top it all off our `` HEAVY WEAPONS ´´ Team managed to catch almost a whole `` SQUAD´´ Reloading and `` SMOKED THEM LIKE A CHEAP CIGAR ´´``COVERED THEM WITH SO MANY BB`S, THEY LOOKED LIKE G.I. JOE WITH CHICKEN POX!!´´ ( Reporter and Team Laugh, hahahahaha ).

So now picture Joe the Plumber coming home from work, just finishes dinner, plops down in his favorite chair with a cold one in the hand, flips on the Boob Tube, and gets to see that.

Now Joe is sitting there thinking `` What the Heck !? , My Boy/Daughter plays that also !! ´´ He picks up the TV Guide, looks up the name of the show, 6MM, The Plastic Death !!!!

Now he is really interested and after another 10 to 15 minutes of watching a Commercialized, Edited for ratings, Totally wrong portrayal of AirSoft, there is a loud yell in the House, `` BOBBY !!!, Bring your Militant, Goat Smelling Tail end Down Here Right NOW !!!! Now Dad is Tweaked at you, and you didn´t do a darn thing wrong, but you have to explain to him that what they said and showed just isn´t true, of course your fighting an uphill battle because as we all know, News Reports ALWAYS tell the Truth .

If Andy the AirSoft enthusiast had described what happened using a more thought out and neutral description to the reporter everybody that plays the game would know exactly what he was talking about, and the uninformed would not be shocked,

`` Our Team´´ moved against the `` OPPONENT´´ on the `` PLAYING FIELD ´´, and by using `` Better Tactics and Communication Skills´´ was able to fix the Opponent allowing the Snipers to get well aimed `` SHOTS´´ resulting in many `` HITS ´´ and to top it all off our `` HEAVY WEAPONS ´´ Team managed to catch almost a whole `` GROUP´´ Reloading and `` REMOVED THEM FROM THE PLAYING FIELD WITH LITTLE WASTED TIME OR EFFORT ´´``NEEDLESS TO SAY, THEY AIN´T HAPPY !!!´´ ( Reporter and Team Laugh, hahahahaha ).

Yeah I know it´s not as colorful, but it still says the same. How we describe how we play amongst ourselves is no Big Deal, but How we Portray it to the uninformed Is.

@djstasevich,
That Fantasy is not all that far fetched, a lot of young teams do pick up sponsors just that way.
I am willing to bet, that after some time you will start to see Supported or Sponsored teams showing up at you Local PB Field.

I am convinced that airsoft could go pro. How long would any of you estimate this would take?
If this happens in the next 10 years there will still be players from the beggining like Slob who will set things straight and set a good example, But lets say in 20 or 30 years there will be a different crowd who want to make it sound as flashy as possible and make it look like they are just like call of duty 10 (or whatever game for the the xbox 900). It is really important to everyone to have every one educated right like slob said, but some people won't listen or think they are above that.

Who Says I won´t be Playing in 20 Years , I´ll Stop when the man upstairs diconnects me from the Battery Charger

But Gracie just brought up a good point, a lot of the members here are the next Generation of AirSoft Players, can say without being to overly dramatic, The Future of the Game.

Who knows what developments or changes to AS will happen over time, I´m sure that any ex PBér would tell you, if they could turn back the clock to redirect the path that PB took, they would do it in a heartbeat.

slob, I think you are hitting the nail right ontop of the head here. one of my friends has a disease called hemophillia (I think thats how its spelled), and he can get internal bleeding from being punched, falling, etc... So when he tried to get his parrents to let him play paintball, they wouldn't let him, beceause they had seen so many pictures and vids by news crews, documentaries, and YOUTUBE of people with giant bruises from suposedly one paintball war.

I had played paintball before, and tried to explain that those bruises were probably from being shot repetadly (I think thats how its spelled) at close range with a pro level gun, but there decision was already made, beceause a few bad apples decided that paintball is "to dangerous" and decided to alert cerain tv stations about it.

P.S. we may have finnaly coxed them into it seeing as they may let him get a paintball gun when hes a little older

To all former long time PaintBall Players,

Does this seem some what familiar,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJbI9BFiD0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzE45VzM0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97sPjzAMu9s

The Change is comming guys !!

I hope that really doesn't happen, I couldn't ever do that. I don't need a computer telling me I am out, it wouldn't be as fun as calling your hits with honesty. Sure I know people who cheat and me and my friends get mad but at the end of the day we know he is out. Airsoft doesn't need hit detection systems that is getting rid of the honesty of it.

But the helmets do kind of look cool not!

The point I was trying to make with the Vids is,

It has an amazing resemblance to how PB looked it in´t youth, Change the little building for, Walls, Ballon Barriers and so on....

Teams 5 on 5, Speed Death Match
Score Keeping
Viewing Stands for people to watch and to root on their frinds or favorite teams....

All we need now are the Babes in skimpy clothes, and until you see what they are shooting, it looks just like Paint Ball.

Then MIL-Sim you have a big LCD with a Tactical display and each viewer has a individual screen tappet to view in on a specific player and pan cameras.

Actually LW, things like that are already being used,

Not as Highspeed, but simular.

Those last two are rediculas. I would hate it if airsoft got like that.