CourtsideDBQ

Hello all,

I am new to the site and have a few questions for those who "paint" often. I am currently looking to expand my sports bar (which already has three basketball/volleyball courts and two sand volleyball courts) to include a whole array of other activities. Currently we are a 27,000 square foot facility and are looking to expand to over 100,000 square feet. We are in the preliminary stages of research for this and I am trying to gather some information. Some of the amenities we are looking at adding are indoor soccer, rock climbing wall, 6 leasable spaces for sports minded businesses, and of course and indoor paintball course.

That's the background of the project. We currently only have two paintball facilities in our area and both are rickety dink shops (one is run out of a storage shed and the land behind it). I thought it would be cool to run a tactical paintball course. As of right now I have 21,000 square feet (about 96' x 210') set aside for this course. Is that enough? I was thinking it would have cinder block buildings some multi-levels, abandoned cars, and bunkers. We would have available for rent army style paintball guns (but you'd be welcome to bring your own). They would range anywhere from a handgun, to a sniper rifle or an m16. You'd pay extra for items like land mines and grenades.

A couple issues that i find with this though. I have done some preliminary cost on just equipment. It would run anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000, and I am positive that is low. the building costs would be around $7 a square foot. I am not sure that we'd be able to keep the costs down to make it enticing to potential customers. Just by running preliminary numbers we would have to charge $15 a day for field rental (only applies to those who bring their own equipment and paint), $20 a day for equipment rental, and $20 for paint (500 balls).

Those are just a bunch of random thoughts, so here are my questions...

Is there enough space?
Is the price right?
Is it something that paintballers find fun?
Any other ideas, I am open to anything!

Thanks in advance for all your comments.

moodyman117

Well, you havent gotten much feedback. Sounds like a great idea. Pricing isnt to high, except for the paint. $20 for 500 rounds??? Learn from the successful fields and buy/sell by the case. You can break them open and then sell by half a case (1000 rounds) for a slight mark up.

One thing about tactical paintball: the bigger the better. Do you by chance play Paintball at all. Or even just playing tactical shooters like Modern Warfare? If so, that will be a big plus. Players can almost always tell if the field was designed by a non-player. You have to think tactically for a tactical field. See angles, see points that offer an advantage and such. If you dont have any idea what im tlking about, see if you could find some ex military (or current military) guys or even cops to give you advice for design. If you design it wrong, we wont wanna play there as much.

Again, as low as you can possibly make the prices, do it. Paintball is expensive, and the cheapest field is the one everyone goes to for weekend fun. You only go to the nice fields when you got a new paycheck, tax returns or a bonus. I generally go w/ a friend and split a case of paint, so my daily cost is about 40-50 (entry, paint and gas, plus drinks). One way to make money: SELL DRINKS AND PIZZA! Playing makes you THIRSTY, and nothing goes better with a coke and sore feet than pizza.

Finally, dont forget about a crucial part of paintball. Propellant. Since i dont think you play, here is a rundown.
-CO2- Most enrty level guns and players use this, and it is great for long day games/ scenario as you can get alot of shots out of a 20 oz tank.
-HPA/N2-Higher end guns use HPA, or High Pressure Air, which is basically the same as Nitrogen (N2). This comes in two forms, 3000psi and 4500psi. 3000psi can be found in a scuba tank and is relitivly cheap, where as 4500psi is most often used for high level competitions and less commonly used in scenario ball. They are both the same stuff, and both can be provided with a compressor.

CO2 generally retails for about $5 for 20 oz, but can be upwards of $8. HPA ranges anywhere from $8 to FREE! Get a compressor and make it free, then advertise free HPA, and you will bring in more experianced players (or players w/ rich parents, either one). Dont make gas expensive, cause like i said, paintball is already too expensive.

Best bet is to make you money on the paint. Its what everyone else does and they stay in business. Dont go above 15-20 for admission. Any more and you risk loosing players.

Hope this helps

-PS- where are you building this (state?)

__________________
Do you think he sees me

If your parents DON'T pay for your paintball stuff, put this on your sig

92% of teens moved to rap music. if your part of the 8% that stayed with rock, put this in your sig.


Smart Parts Owner #311

JasonW

i think it would be awesome and i would come to this place. Our local paintball store charges $10 for a feild fee and $5 for rental but then again they dont have a varity of guns. They sell their paint for $60 a case. They have specials like on wed. they have free day where your field fee is free and you get free air if you use hpa. They also let you rent hpa tanks for $5 and refill them for free. If you need tips on building your tactical paintball course go to The Art of Woodsball - Woodsball Strategy - Woodsball Field Building Guide - The Alliance - Woodsball 101 hope this helps

P.S. What state is this in?