I NEED A sponsor sombody help me

HOW DO I GET A SPONSOR I HAVE A REALLY GOOD TEAM AND NOW I WANT A SPONSOR CAN SOMBODY PLEASE HELP ME

Edited by tippmanns-best

Scouting? LOL, yes that's the way have "scouts" watch you play . The question is what do you have to offer a sponsor? Not what do they have to offer you. It's also not only about how good you are- what else do you do to promote paintball and therefore their products? Do you host tourneys? Do communitity service projects? How many events a year will you play and where? How often is your team out there putting their name out there. Start small with local stores and fields- start with field fee discounts or product discounts (maybe work on Saturday reffing to be able to play on Sunday free of charge).

Deal. I'll sponsor you(well, not me, my copmany). PM me your info and i'll send the EGOs your way.

dont forget to tell me how many you want, and if you want a reloader or halo.

your wallet is your sponsor

great giude i posted in the new players section a wile back!

 

HOW TO GET SPONSORSHIP, AND ABOUT SPONSORSHIP



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ive decided to make a post on this topic.

As you can see from my title above unlike other authors, which are not many on this topic I have seen it from both sides. Yes I have read all the other articles that I can find on this subject and it bothered me a bit, quiet a bit because there is not a lot on it, but I can understand why, no one really knows what to write. So I will try and help out with these and even explain how a lot of it works.

Now first off to understand that there is NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. This goes with paintball sponsorship and sponsorship for other sports as well. Companies are not going to give you free stuff unless you are a Pro-Level or high placing Amature A or B level team. Also what you hear about companies and fields not giving money or product to unproven teams is in general true. Now if you have been playing at your local field for a while and they know you by name and have seen you and your team's playing style then it is possible to get a little bit out of them.

Stores/fields and stores do not like to sponsor unproven teams or teams that haven't gone to tournaments before, because there is no guarantee that they will get promotion from you or that you will even play them in the future. I have teams that I sponsors that tell me they are going to 3 or 4 tournaments and because of one thing or another, they do not. I do not want to pull my sponsorship because of stuff like that but it makes me very very careful next time, so the next team or teams that I sponsor get even more rules and less sponsorship and such.

This is a two way street, sponsorship. You are not getting free stuff, and some sponsors will not give much or might change their sponsorship from year to year. Also when companies ask what you can do for them, don't just tell them, "well we will tell everyone how great our sponsors is, and advertise on our banner and jerseys". Everyone will do that for me. I want to know what is special about you that is different from Robbie Newbie's Team down the street. Then if you promise to put name's on a jersey and such, that will come out of your pocket. Now you and your sponsors go to the same events, prove to them that you have held up your end of the bargain. Take pictures of your team, especailly with silk screened logoed jerseys (or t-shirts whatever) to show your sponsor that you have done that.

How to get sponsorship is the hardest question to answer and at times will seem impossible. Chances are no paintball industry company will sponsor your team. Now I do not mean fields and stores but the manufacturers they are more inclinded towards the higher profil, winning pro and Amature A teams. Fields and stores are you first and best bet for a good first or second sponsor. Your local store (or maybe online store) or field might be willing to help you pay for some entry fees, or give you free or very discounted jerseys, discounts on product and such. But this will come at a cost to you. Your team will have to promote that store or field, do not take a store or field who you have not or will not buy off of, we know that, and hate that. Plus if you can't back up your support to other teams we know when you are faking it and some of the better stores or fields around anyways. Next you will probably have to help out at the field during tournaments or other events, this will vary from field to field. For stuff like this do a cost comparision. If you work 50 hours at the field to get $50 off a jersey you just got paid $1 per hour of work. THINK ABOUT THIS. Know what you are getting and giving in terms of sponsorship. Now discount on products will vary because that will depend on what you buy on how much you will save. But for free items and such think about it.

The first sponsor will be the hardest to get. I have noticed that the first 2 or 3 sponsors that you do not know really well does make it really hard to get but it can and will get easier as you begin to think outside the box, as the saying goes. Raven Paintball Club's first sponsor was Showcase in the D'Olean's mall and I really appreciate all that John from Showcase has done for us. He took a big chance on us and I hope that he see's that its worth it. I also received sponsorship from SMT Adventures for myself only though, so Raven was still on their own. Now this year 2001 we have 8 sponsors for a team/club that still hasn't won any events but we are currently doing better and better now that we have a full team to play with and practice with. How many industry companies do we have 1, Kermode Concepts, 1 paintball field and store which is SMT Adventures in Smith Falls which now sponsors Raven Paintball Club, and 1 online Store which is Unlikely Heroes for gear and supplies. Everyone else is outside the paintball industry but help us out in their cases monetarily.

Who can you look to for sponsorship. Well think about this and use your head. First don't be a bunch of friends that are thinking about entering tournaments, hopefully you have a set team that practices together and have played tournaments together under your own dollar. Do not lie to companies if your team only believes it will enter 3 tournaments this year say so. But don't forget when you practice you are still a team and can tell everyone about your sponsors. Now if your team is a 3 person team, hopefully you have 4 players as one is a backup. Each of you probably have a job, and therefore 3 potential sponsors, each of you probably live with someone (parent or guardian) therefore 3-6 more potential sponsors. Maybe your parents own their own business, what about that and their suppliers. See how this can add up really quick. Also when attempting to get new or your first sponsor know the numbers game.

Numbers game? What I mean is know how many players play paintball in your given area. If you are going to a tournament know how many players will be there and how many spectators. This is a target audience for you to advertise too for your sponsors. If they have stickers or such, even if you have to buy them, get some and put them on cases, visors, toolboxes, hoppers, markets, tanks, whereever they may be seen to help them and you. For instance, for the 2002 season Raven Paintball Club will be playing in Skyball, and hopefully 4 GTPL tournaments (hopefully more, I would love to go to 6 of them but I need sponsors to accomplish this), and the last one we are going to be trying to attend is the Wasaga Beach, Beach Blitz (10 man especially with some other teams to go and play). Ok for Skyball, this is a 5 man event, last year there were over 200 teams in attendance and 10'000 visiting spectators who didn't play. Therefore that is a target audience of over 11'000 people, assuming it stays the same size. One of our (RPC) greatest advantages is our website which we keep semi (hey I am trying) up to date with info, tournaments, fields/stores, sponsors (ours), reviews and articles (like this one). We get over 90 hits a week and growing. With us off Crosswinds now I hope to increase that number by Christmas to about 175 a week is my goal. Therefore there is more advertising and assistance you can get.

Sometimes you can get sponsors that will help you with projects or things that don't directly affect you but can indirectly affect you. Like if I have a website developer make me a webpage for RPC and put his advertising where I allow him/her (because its still my page). This will help them show off what they can do and everyone will see it and help us with a nicer more user friendly and technologically advance website to show off and get more sponsors. But one thing is make sure what you get you can use it. If someone was to make me a site but I can't update new reviews or changes that have been made. Then it is of no use to me, and yes I have tried that they will keep it updated for me, since I am not paying it just doesn't work.



HERE IS ANOTHER POST ABOUT IT.

Any team that plays paintball knows how expensive this sport can become, hundreds of dollars can be spent on a tournament style marker, barrels, mask, packs, pods, paint, air, tanks, jerseys, the list goes on and on. How does a team make playing paintball affordable; the answer is sponsorship?

What is sponsorship and how do I go about getting sponsored, you may ask? Before I go into that, let me give you a little history about my team "Sudden Impact". We have been playing tournament paintball for about two years and currently have about 8 sponsors, Raven, Nelson Paintballs, Millennium Paintball Field, JC Robinson's Attic, Allan Paintball Products, Affordable Plumbing of Jacksonville, and PCS Consulting. Some of these names you are very familiar with and some of the sponsors are non-paintball companies, and yes we even sponsored by a plumbing company. As you can see there are numerous opportunities for the dedicated team to get sponsored.

Back to the issue at hand, what exactly is sponsorship? Sponsorship is entering into a mutually beneficial agreement with a company, where both parties get something they need or want. In most cases you either have to provide an advertising outlet for a company or do some kind of work. For example, most paintball related companies want their sponsored teams to wear their products, display banners at tournaments, and put their products on your website. A paintball field may want you to referee a tournament or work a couple of weekends. In both cases the sponsor is getting something for their generous donations of cash or products.

Now that you know what sponsorship is, how do you go about getting one? First and foremost a team has to ask themselves if they are sponsorship worthy. Would a company want to sponsor you? Does your team have a lot of tournament experience, how long has your team been together, does your team show sportsmanship, and how many tournaments do you plan to play in the upcoming year. These are all things most sponsors look at. Put yourself in the sponsor's shoes, would you want to invest time and money into a team that has not proved themselves or even played in a tournament; what does the sponsor get out of the deal? If you still think your team is sponsorship worthy, lets get started.

Most paintball-related sponsors have forms that you can fill out on their website, they ask many of the questions I have already covered. To set yourself apart form the crowd you will want to take the extra time and effort to put together a bound portfolio of your team. Have a section that list the teams experience and future plans, and a section for each player with photographs and a brief history. You may want to write a summary of what you could do for the sponsor and how your team would go about doing it. Always be polite and neat when putting together your team portfolio, and remember to be organized. For some of the non-paintball sponsors, it may be as simple as asking the owner or doing a little advertising for them.

Team Portfolio - Sections & Points to Remember
• Give information about your team's experience and history.
• Include your team's future plans and goals. Where does your team want to end up?
• Include an individual section for each player with pictures and a brief background about each player.
• Include a summary. Tell your prospective sponsor why sponsoring your team will benefit them. What can your team offer that others can't? What makes your team worthy of sponsorship?
• Remember to make the portfolio neat, clean, and well organized. Include a cover page and use a bound portfolio. Make it look as professional as you can.
• Submit your team for sponsorship, make sure you understand what contracts you are entering into and be sure you can live up to your end of all sponsorship agreements.

Now comes the hard part, the waiting. If you have not heard from the potential sponsor in three or four weeks you need to call them or send them an e-mail. Be courteous and polite and remind them who you are and who your team is, they go through hundreds of applications, so be patient. And like you've heard your parents say "don't put all your eggs in one basket", apply to three or four different places, all sponsors are not looking for exactly the same thing. If a particular company does not want to sponsor you, send them a thank you note and apply again later, ask them what your team could do to be considered next year. Hopefully you can pick up a few good sponsors and your "out of pocket" expenses will start to decrease.

A word of caution: most of these sponsorships are contracts, so if you or your team can not fulfill your part of the bargain, do not waste the sponsors time and money when they could be using it on another team. Read the contract carefully, have a team meeting to go over the details. Most sponsors like to be kept to date on the team's progress, so be prepared to send them updates and keep in touch with them. Now that some of your costs are decreased, your team can enjoy what paintball is all about, having fun and competing in one of the greatest spots on the planet!

No such thing as free lunch?

Thats what I got from my previous sponsor.  :p

Just saying, if you are any good (which I doubt), you can go to the Dye website, they hav ea form to apply for sponsorship. There's absolutely no way you're getting it unless you play an amateur league or better though.

My team's sponsored by the local field

yeah