For literally as long as there has been
tournament paintball, there have been
national level events held in and around
Chicago, Illinois. In fact National Survival
Game (NSG), the first paintball company,
manufacturer and event promoter held their
first National Championships in Chicago in
1983—the first year paintball was played
competitively. Later, Lively Productions
hosted their Windy City open in Chicago for
the better part of a decade, the pro team
meeting that led to the formation of the NPPL
in 1992 was held in Chicago, the NPPL held
an annual pro event in Chicago throughout
its history and the PSP and NXL have made
the Windy City a yearly tour stop. Chicago
and tournament paintball have been woven
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paintball.media magazine
together for nearly 35 years.
The National Xball League (NXL) once
again brought their traveling paintball
show to Chicago this September 8-10. And
for this event more than 180 teams across
ten divisions came to play. The venue for
the 2017 NXL Chicago Open was Gaelic
Park in Oak Forest, Illinois, roughly 25 miles
south of Chicago and about a half hour
from Chicago’s two main airports. Hotels,
restaurants and everything needed to run
an event of this size was close by and readily
available. Eight perfectly flat green grass
fields provided the best surface we’ve seen
in some time. Parking was close as was the
trade show and its 15 or so vendors