Gino and Richmond 2002.
being funnelled into playing tournaments. And while our industry tried to figure out an appropriate strategy to jump-start the flow of players back into tournaments, the world paintball market overall contracted from approx. $ 550 million annually to about $ 300 million in the course of about three years. Those figures are not precise by the way, they are ball-park but the order of magnitude is certainly close enough to make the point.
The solution to our problem wasn’ t going to be easy, we knew that. It had to be a multi-facetted approach but finally, one of the root causes is now being addressed, at least in part, and it is the European Millennium Series along with the NXL from the US that is driving through some necessary changes in our sport. That change is predicated upon making tournament play significantly cheaper for the tournament players. On the face of it, it sounds like a pretty good place to start.
Basically, it was just way too expensive to play tournaments in this new economic era. Costs had to be reduced somehow, otherwise we would continue to witness the decline in our tournament scene. The two biggest tournament series in the world are the NXL in the US and the Millennium Series over here in Europe. The two best-known figureheads of the Millennium are Steve Baldwin and Laurent Hamet. The NXL interest is provided by Richmond Italia but more of him later, because his involvement is critical to what is happening now.
So, the gang of three set out addressing the problems facing our sport. But are these guys qualified to arrest this slide? Yeah, they are capable, and also uniquely placed in our sport / industry. It’ s all well and good with people coming up with great ideas, but if you don’ t have the ability or wherewithal to put them into practice, you might as well go and piss in the wind.
For those of you who don’ t know, Steve Baldwin’ s CV is pretty unique in our sport. He has proved to be a crucial element in our sport’ s evolution, especially so in Europe. He promoted his first event in the UK in 1988. That’ s where I got to know him when he banned my team during that first major event in the UK. Thankfully, he forgave my indiscretions and managed to hang on to his front teeth, and we’ ve been friends ever since.
Steve’ s partner in crime and fellow owner of the Millennium Series is Laurent Hamet, one of the few genuine visionaries of our sport. I
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