advice for getting sponsored

phuct · 06-09-2003, 05:43 PM

taken from pb2x
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Get in line boys and girls.

If you've been reading this magazine for any length of time, you know that we've addressed the topic of sponsorships many times. Yet, it doesn't stop the constant e-mail questions on the subject. E-mails that look like this:

"Hey, I'm thirteen years old and me and my friends want to start an amature team. Will you sponsor us?"

Question number two:

"I want to play paintball, but I don't have the money. Do you know of anyone that will sponsor me?"

Question number three:

"I'm going to let you in on the ground floor of the best kept secret in paintball. My team [insert another average team name here] is about to explode onto the paintball scene, and I wanted to know of you would like to take advantage of the amazing sponsorship opportunity."

Notice the first questions starts with the word "Hey." Not good! The least you can do if you're asking a person to give you money, is address them with a little bit of respect, even if you are only thirteen years old. While you're at it, how about learning to spell the word amateur. It's not like companies are going to get in line to sponsor teams or players that don't have even a little grasp of the English language.

The second question is most typical of what I have the pleasure of deleting from my inbox every morning. My question back to this person would be something like this: What exactly are you offering me? Sponsorships are business deals — it's not charity. In most business deals there's something in it for both parties. And by the way, it wouldn't hurt to actually play paintball before asking someone to sponsor you.

The last question may seem unbelievable to you, but to me it's a once a week occurrence. I'm not kidding. If you are trying to land sponsorships for you team, do at least a little "exploding" before you ask. I'm not saying a team has to win the World Cup to get sponsored, but you should have some record of significance to show a potential sponsor, not just on the field, but off the field as well.

John Amodea's Ten Tips To Land A Paintball Sponsorship

1. Make sure all of the words in your request letter are spelled correctly.
2. Turn off the "Caps Lock" key.
3. Mix in an occasional capital letter to start sentences.
4. Don't start your request letter with the words "Hey" or "Yo."
5. Play at least once, both personally and as a team before you ask.
6. In addition to asking for something, tell the sponsor something you can do for them.
7. Send a team photo in with your request.
8. Have a resume. Once again, with all of the words spelled correctly.
9. Be polite (like me).
10. Don't expect a response the same day you ask.

Good luck.

John Amodea

T_M0$ · 06-09-2003, 11:10 PM

nice find. hopefully it will cut down on repetitive threads.

raehl · 06-10-2003, 01:10 AM

Go over to the college forum. I think 4 of the most recent 6 threads are some variation of "Are there scholarships for paintball?"

If there WERE scholarships for paintball (there will be one shortly), they certainly would not go to anyone who can't read the 3 threads already there that have "scholarship" in the title.

- Chris

phuct · 06-10-2003, 08:42 AM

UnknownAssassin · 06-11-2003, 11:59 AM

true raehl, very true...

Muffinman14 · 06-12-2003, 05:02 PM

good tips...

sparkie-joe (Banned) · 06-15-2003, 11:53 PM

nice tips dude!

me being a 13 year old... this will help alot

JTp8ntballer12 · 06-16-2003, 10:45 PM

nice tips (this will also help an immature 14 yr old (me))

Touzy · 06-25-2003, 01:11 AM

my parents sponcer me. thats a lot easyer to do then asking big companies. As part of my contract i am getting a new full setup timmy soon! try to get that out of nps or dye

Juventuz · 06-25-2003, 09:14 AM

Well we can't all be spoiled.

cletusthefetus · 06-25-2003, 09:44 PM

Sticky!

Dyerunner · 06-30-2003, 03:38 PM

My team has/had a sponsor.They where/going to pay half 5 touries but some plat did not want to play. They also we had 10% discount on any gear we bought ther and free field and air + $10 discount on any paint. I hoping that the kids want to play next.
Richard
Blizzard white

phuct · 06-30-2003, 05:28 PM

what he say ???^^^???

P8NTBALLER_2K3 · 07-05-2003, 03:52 PM

What do you get when you get sponsered, and my team is really good, we play at least 3 times a month, and we are all 11. no one will even reply to our sponsorship requests. what are we doing wrong?

raehl · 07-06-2003, 07:20 PM

1) You're sending your requests by email. Most sponsors I know just delete them unread.

2) You're a team of 11 year olds who play at least 3 times a month. Who cares? There are thousands of teams out there that play 3 times a month, that's not going to get you a sponsorship. There are thousands of teams who play three times a month who think they are "really good" too - also not going to get you a sponsorship.

To get any serious sponsorship, you pretty much have to play the national circuits. You can get some ok product/wholesale sponsorship if you have a good track record at the local level, or do other things that help the company's business and make their product visible.

But just being a team of 11 year olds who play a lot and are "really good" is not going to sell any product, and not selling any product isn't going to get you a sponsorship.

- Chris

Dyerunner · 07-07-2003, 03:46 AM

chiris- There is a state circuit call the Mini Mac it is the big toury circiut for 12 to 17 old in the state of Maine. Say my team place 1st or 2nd in the over all circiut and we sent a type letter to the business would that business bother with has or would we and would we more than that to get them to think about them sponsoring has.

raehl · 07-07-2003, 03:55 AM

It's not like there are hard and fast rules for this. Good team resume, good exposure, and personal contact with the person you're seeking sponsorship from never hurts. Are you in tight witha local field? Maybe you can get sponsored through their main distributor?

Really, the sponsorship that will make the largest difference to your bottom line is the one from your local field.

Tournament sponsorship budgets are getting smaller and smaller. You shouldn't be looking at it from the "IS this enough?" but "What more can we do?"

- Chris

snave29 · 07-11-2003, 02:01 PM

I pretty much agree with everything that Chris has said. What worked for me was meeting people at big events and through local shops. Besides playing in local and big events to create a record for your resume. Meeting people and networking is very important. You want companies to see that you are the kind of person that they want representing thier company.

fox149 · 07-17-2003, 12:04 PM

If your a team just starting and playing local tournies, but you are doing pretty well in them. Then I would say aim for a local sponsor before you start writing companies. It will most likly be easier to get your local store or field to sponsor you then it will be to get Dye, Jt, etc. This is what my team has done and we are working on getting our season standings up in the CFOA(a growing tourny series that is picking up more sponsors by the month, Carolina Field Owners Association) so that we can attempt to draw in a some bigger name sponsor. We don't expect anything big, but we are just looking for a little help. Will

PUREVIL · 07-18-2003, 08:19 AM

we kept getting regected for sponsors the a represenatative saw us play a tourney and now everything on my gear says Evil.

impy2301 · 07-22-2003, 08:50 PM

some of these guys are right. i never thought i would play for a sponsored team and now i have tracer paintball and equation barrels as a sponsor. all i do was fax them a resume and gave them a description, picture, and info bout our team.