Rumor: Paintball manufactures call for NPPL, PSP merger

July 5, 2011 1:35 am

ProPaintball insiders indicate that the big paintball manufactures (the guys making the paint) are suggesting that the major paintball leagues merge. According to a rumor floating around, the paintball companies want the National Professional Paintball League to merge with Paintball Sports Promotions in 2012 to reduce the amount of times they need to roll out the heavy duty/expensive event trucks. The rumor goes as far as to suggest the paintball manufactures are considering pulling their sponsorship of the leagues if a merger is not completed.

GI Sports Paintball Truck

The concept of a major league merger is not a new one. In fact, the “merger” rumor has shown its face for as long as many of us can remember. The issues preventing the leagues from merging boil down to a few key points; who and how much ownership everyone would hold in combined league, which format would survive, and, most of all, personal ego.

For those of you unfamiliar, the NPPL is compromised of a group of pro teams who own various percentage interests in the league. The PSP is backed by Dave Dehaan, the owner of DYE Precision. Each league has its established customer base and feels that its format and operation is superior to that of the competition.

Further, the NPPL owners want a seat at the decision making table (a position a core group of NPPL owners have held since 2007) in order to influence the course and direction of the league. The PSP is under the impression that they run a good show and that while a think tank might be good, there is no guarantee that those ideas will be implemented or taken into consideration.

The end of the season is only a few weeks away and the major league paintball merger rumors are heating up. ProPaintball insiders have been passing through a series of conflicting information. You, the ProPaintball community, are invited to be the judge of what is true, false, and ridiculous.

PSP NPPL Paintball League Merger Update

Here is the latest in the stream of never ending merger related gossip. Please note that this gossip comes to us from a variety of sources, some of which are long time ProPaintball insiders, and a few are newer and unvetted. Some of this may be spot on and other elements may be out of left field. Aside from areas marked “ProPaintball:”, This gossip is posted raw and uncut.

According to several sources, the odds of the PSP and NPPL mergering is about 50/50. ProPaintball: If true, these odds appear to remain unchanged after several months of negotiations. For the records sake, these merger negotiations officially began in July, 2011.

Talk around the water cooler is that there won’t be a merger. Then we hear that there will be a merger. ProPaintball: No one knows.

The PSP is rumored to be going to 5 events next year, merger or not.

The NPPL is rumored to be firmly in charge of merger talks and controlling the direction of the merger.

The NPPL is rumored to be pushing a 7-man, Race-to 3 format for all divisions.

The 2012 pro division will be limited to 16 teams. Those that don’t make the cut will be playing in a new semi pro division. Semi pro teams will have a chance to win a slot in the pro division, and the bottom pro teams will be relegated into semi pro.

The PSP pro division will be “the” pro division next year. A select group of NPPL teams will be invited in to the fold. NPPL teams that play PSP Pro at the 2011 World Cup will have priority.

The NPPL pro division will be “the” pro division next year. A select group of PSP pro teams will be invited in to the fold.

Merger talks are taking place at the 2011 PSP World Cup.

ProPaintball:

Players from 3 Pro Paintball teams polled said that if there is no merger, and the PSP goes to 5 events, that they believe their teams will be playing the PSP exclusively. These teams play currently play both leagues.

Pro Merger: Elements from both sides are rumored to be pushing for a rumor so that the industry can work together to rebuild, grow the game and make another push for mainstream acceptance.

No Merger: Elements that are against a merger are worried about the loss of control, ownership stakes, suggest “big sponsorship deals” are in the wings, and prefer one format over the other.

Based on the above rumors, ProPaintball has published a poll (to the right of this article) offering you the opportunity to vote on your preferred paintball format for 2012. Cast your votes and we will discuss the results next Tuesday

Last night a survey went out was sent out from the PSP to gauge the opinion of longtime PSP series players and team owners. This survey is very interesting as it helps shed a bit of light on yesterday’s Major League Merger rumor round up. In the email below, Lane once again clears the air and speculation with regards to format. Lane tackle this issue head on, saying there has been “very little discussion regarding format“. Another interesting element of this survey is the options presented. Players are open to choose between 5man, 7man, or whichever format is provided as long as there is consistent reffing. Lastly, Lane mentions that while they are looking for your opinion and value it greatly, they will not be making a decision based entirely on the results of the poll. Based on the timing of the poll closing (tonight at 7pm), it appears there will be continued discussions of a merger at this weeks 2011 PSP World Cup or shortly there after.

Here is the email we received in entirety:

PSP Pro Paintball

A message from Lane Wright, COO of PSP Events, LLC:

As many of you have probably heard, there are ongoing discussions between PSP Events, LLC and the NPPL regarding a combining of the two companies into one and producing one tournament series.

There has been lots of speculation and rumor-mongering about the format that would be adopted if this merger were to happen. At this point, there has been very little discussion regarding format.

Obviously, a discussion and decision on format will have to take place in the very near future. As such, I am attempting to get a very brief answer from PSP teams about the subject.

If you received this email, your team has shown a commitment to attending PSP events, and as such, we greatly value your opinion.

I want to make clear this is not a poll from which a decision will be made. There are many issues involved in a chosen format. While player choice is certainly a huge part of the equation, it isn’t the only consideration.

Very simply, please log in to your team profile and choose the one (1) choice that most closely represents your opinion on the format used going forward:

A. My team will play whatever format is provided, assuming the reffing will continue to be consistent.

B. My team prefers to play a point-based format but aren’t very concerned with whether there are 5 or 7 players on the field.

C. My team doesn’t care about the point-based format, but we are only interested in playing a 5 player format.

D. My team doesn’t want to play anything other than a format very similar to the current 5 player, point-based format.

E. My team would prefer to play the point-based format currently used but with 7 players.

F. My team would prefer 7 players and a format other than the current point-based format.

To respond to this poll, visit <link redacted>.

I would greatly appreciate receiving your response by 7 PM Eastern, Wednesday, October 19.

Thank you for your support,

Lane Wright

Achja Planet Eclipse bringt angeblich ne Maske raus

na das solln se mal in schland auch machen. wir ham auch net das 5 - 7 problem

Ja obs im amiland funktoniert werden wir sehen ! Aber Is ne gute Idee ... Aber wenn es funktioniert Is es einfach nur gut !

Kein Gerücht mehr es ist WAHR !

Planet Eclipse "Luna"( new Lense System )

Along with the Etha, Planet Eclipse is also debuting its new "Luna" mask system at World cup tomorrow!

Quote:The Luna offers more vertical and horizontal peripheral vision than any other mask system on the market today. Designed with the Professional in mind, the Luna goggle system provides you comfort, rigidity and lightweight protection. The sleek, light, low profile soft compression ear pads provide the protection you need while offering style and hearing clarity. The anatomically correct Luna mask system offers the best in comfort for all facial contours. The Luna retention strap system needs to be adjusted once and once only. One of the Lunas greatest features is the Multi-Directional Venting. The Luna comes equipped with a Smoke Lens.

dict.leo.org/ www.ego4u.de/