Are Field Owner's Cutting Their Own Throats?

["Runaway"]

My normal work schedule is Thursday through Sunday. This means I have to take a day off in order to enjoy a day of Paintball. This Sunday past I was allowed to leave work early due to a lack of work. And I thought “Great I’m going to shoot some paint!!!”
As I drove along I started to weigh the cost of a day at the field, I thought of the amount of paint I was asked to buy during past events and that I still have at home and that no other field will allow me to use (paint that I will eventually have to throw away) and the cost of having to buy more of what I already have too much of. As I added the cost of more paint and entry fees I finally decided that I could not afford such a trip. This got me thinking.....

“Are Field Owner’s cutting their own throats?”

First let me preference this by saying, “I do not pretend to understand the inner working of field ownership, their financial situations or any restrictions that the Insurance Companies place on them!”
What I do you know is this…that the cost of a open play weekend game can rival that of attending a major sporting event. Let’s do a quick rundown of the cost.

1. $5-10 gas to and from the field
2. $10-20 entry fee
3. $35-50 case of paint
4. $5-10 for air (some field do however include this in their entry fees)

Total $60-90

Speaking from the perspective of a Parent that as often traveled with as many three young shooters, the cost of a normal field day can easily exceed $200. The thing that I don’t think the owners get is that the more bodies you can get on the field the better it, for example…

If fields allowed you to bring your own paint, but charged you extra for the privilege to do so, it would give them those extra entry fees that they normally would not have gotten. Again I’m not sure how Insurance plays into this, but I have been told by more than one owner that the reason that they will not allow walk-on paint, is because of safety reasons. Correct me if I’m wrong but every field I’ve ever attended, will open up the case and inspect the paint to make sure its "ok" once you buy it. Wouldn’t it be just as easy to allow paint on the field that is still sealed and have a field employee inspect it?

Or…

..have reduced pricing for persons under a certain age and/or family rates on open play weekends.

Both of these ideas, I believe would increase the amount of foot traffic at the field, which would improve sells of things like markers, paint and other miscellaneous items such as food and drinks. Plus…most importantly it would add more bodies to the field which would make it more enjoyable for the customers, not to mention that it would get the next generation of shooters on the field at an earlier age, since it would make it more affordable for parents to take them.

If we could please get some field owners to weigh in on this subject it would be very helpful. Or if you know of fields that as similar policies please let us know so we can get the word out about them.

[Werewolf]

I have always thought that charging $10-15 and allowing players to bring their own paint must be more profitable than buying cases of wholesale paint from a distributor and charging us a few dollars proit on each. Unless field owners are making more than $10-15 profit on each box of paint, which is just downright greedy.

Charging 100% profit for non-field paint seems much more desirable than forcing players to buy field paint and having to stock large amopunts of paint and earning only a small percentage of profit per case.

[Doug]

Field only paint was a policy that was largely unknown before 1993. The idea was pushed by PMI as a way of locking in paint sales from the largest fields in the country (which were their customers at the time) under the guise of making them more profitable. As soon as it became standard practice the incentive to shoot more paint became a priority. This led to smaller fields, more attack and defend games, and in one circumstance I know of, a field removing every branch from every tree up to a height of 15 feet.

The advent of electronic guns, loaders and speedball escalated the importance of shooting more paint, and encouraged even more emphasis on field only paint. If you stop and think about it, with very few exceptions the business model for every paintball business entity, regardless whether it be a paint factory, distributor, field or store, is now first and foremost, the more paint you sell the more money you make.

It is my opinion that the professional tours self destructed because of this phenomenon. The amount of paint needed to compete with the best teams (who weren't paying for it) became an astronomical cost that no one could afford. This was made even worse by the need to practice if you were to have any chance of being competitive. As fewer and fewer teams could afford the cost, fewer and fewer teams began to attend the events. This led to the removal of teams who had no chance to win but subsided the cost of those who could. And with its foundation removed, the walls came tumbling down.

We are stuck with the legacy of those mistakes though. The field only paint policy is still in effect. The technology to shoot too much is still available. And until someone figures out that both are determent to their players enjoyment, we are stuck with them.

[M.A.D. Reaper]

Actually, the owners make more money in selling they're field paint because they buy in bulk and they pay only half of what they sell the paint for. I know this for a fact. They also can monitor the paint grades better that way. Some paintball have more oils in them, for example Wal-mart brands do and they can stain peoples clothes, buildings, trees etc.

Now i have know Howard to let people pay a little fee for the paint they have brought to the field but tells them they cannot do it again. Fields make they're money on air, paint and field fees and nothing more as the markers, masks and tanks are priced the same as on line items and are only in the store to lure people in.

We have set the field as a "no pay to play field" and we have 50 + players every weekend because of that. Now i know our field is small but we have no complaints. This allows us to sell our paint faster and more in volume.

And yes the insurance cost is unreal. So it is hard to become rich only running a paintball field. We are able to stay alive because we have reffs that do so for "in store credit". This way they can earn money for paintballs or playing gear. I myself reff for free and ask nothing in return. But for the most part im always taken care of.

I think the way we run our field has managed to work for us even when the economy was really bad. We still moved alot of paint. And we have vendors like Valken and Procaps beating down our doors. When we finish the sim city i can just imagine how business will improve to be even better.

Oh and one more thing, if most field would change they're game play to (one head , two torso) shots you would'nt be taking home paint at the end of the day. You have to shoot more in order to put players out. Alot of people love that because they are not getting put out by a shot on they're toe or marker allowing them to stay in the game longer. Now i know you can't do that at scenrios but weekly play we have never had a problem. That two makes up for no field pay because we sell more paint.

We only run woodsball/sim city style of play. I myself don't see a problem in paintball company's making a profit. What would be the point if they just "broke even". Im sorry that some people in life have hardships and can't play. Life sucks! I myself am lucky to have a good paying job but this sport isn't for everyone. Hell Golf is just as expensive as paintball and not near the fun.

I shoot an EGO and i can play all day (which is usually 6 hour day) being thirty min games and i only have spent 50 bucks in air and paintballs. That's not bad for a day of painting peoples heads. ;D