( Intro by John Amodea: The National Xball League brought its traveling Pro / Am paintball tournament series to Tampa, Florida this past March. Held on the grounds of the NFL’ s iconic Raymond James Stadium, this event brought back memories of Chris LaSoya’ s Miami Effect jumping the NXL ship and competing in the NPPL’ s Tampa event 22 years ago for the first time under the name“ Infamous.” And if you weren’ t around back then, yes, they did win the event. Yes, Tampa was the birthplace of the Infamous brand.
The Tampa Bay area has produced so many high-level players over the years, from the likes of Team Strange, Tampa Bay Damage, Static and many others. And traveling south down I-75 an hour or so from the Tampa area you’ ll find players like Todd Adamson, Paul“ PSP” Bollenbach, Mike Boogie Bogolub and players form teams line the Florida Annihilators, Rage, Destiny, Femmes Fatale and an assortment of others.
Like every other NXL event, this one had a solid trade show with vendors from all over the world, including all of the names you’ d expect: GI Sports, JT Paintball, Planet Eclipse, DYE, Virtue Paintball, Infamous Paintball, Lone Wolf and many more.)
The Games
Following an absolutely wild offseason, the anticipation for the premier of the 2025 Pro NXL season was palpable.
Professional Division
No team was more talked about than Edmonton Impact going into this event, as they spent the money required to assemble a squad of Titans including Tim Stanczek, Marcello Margott, Tyler Harmon, and Michael Urena. These pickups forced a number of squads to readjust, and the ripples were felt all the way through the pro division.
Photo By Nicholas Shaw
034 paintball. media magazine Photos this spread by John Amodea