San Diego, California — In the past few years, with the death of most paintball print media, and the world economic climate limiting what was creatively possible for other media outlets, a content vacuum exists restraining the sport of Paintball’s exposure to both possible and existing fans.

Among a few other bright shining lights, one big exception to this has been the PSP Webcast, which has given fans a vehicle to watch, dissect, and enjoy the game being played at its highest level. Though a great start, and a hefty investment for the PSP, it hasn’t been enough. More must be done to thrust our sport into the world.

To combat this vacuum, the people behind the PSP webcast have formed a new media company, Sports Media Productions. SMP is the brainchild of Pat Spohrer, Matty Marshall, Dave Youngbood and other key industry leaders who came together to focus their diverse talents, because they saw the immediate need for a more intense and comprehensive paintball media attack.

Having been involved with the sport first as a pro player for the Ironmen, then as a team captain and industry business owner, and also as a league executive, Youngblood is intimately aware of what big moves are needed to take paintball forward, and help it grow. The creative team assembled SMP is taking bold, concrete steps to create a media infrastructure which will ensure the paintball story will not only be told and televised, but be done so with the direction and professionalism is deserves.

Dave had this to say about the new project, “I think we are all very aware of the impact that the economic recession had on our daily lives and the paintball industry as a whole. All industries are challenged as one point or another and this is the biggest challenge we as an industry have ever faced. We have lost many great companies that gave so much to our sport and more will follow, unless we as an industry do something about it. Many different organizations (Dick Clark Productions, G7G Productions, Miller Entertainment) to name a few and major media outlets (ESPN, Fox Sports, etc.) have tried to portray paintball in the way they thought the public should see it and the way they thought it would be accepted. History now shows that these approaches did not work and when the industry took a downturn they left us for better opportunities.

There are a lot of talented people in our sport and it’s time we took matters into our own hands. Sports Media Productions is founded by players who care about our sport and are motivated to turn things around. There’s no one better to promote paintball than paintball players themselves; this is exactly why we are embarking on this journey. We need everyone’s help to show the world what our sport is really about, how fun it is to play. SMP will debut a great webcast product at the 2012 PSP Galveston Open and continue to cover paintball events world wide, getting better with every broadcast. We are committed to showing our sport in the best competitive light and to stimulate participation. SMP is a group of long-standing industry members, with over 80 years of combined experience, who are simply trying to do something about the direction our industry is heading. We love paintball and it will show. I hope you enjoy our broadcasts and support us as we strive to do better with every show we produce. Thank you and stay tuned.”

Enter Patrick Spohrer, who moved into paintball filmmaking after falling in love with sport as player for Team Fury and The Family. First spending years in Skate, Snow, and Surf media, he moved into paintball film making full-time, crafting the groundbreaking and seminal paintball films Push, Sunday Drivers, and the Cereal Killers series. The technical mastermind behind the webcast, Pat is excited to bring his talents to bear on the SMP project, “The possibilities of how to broadcast, and showcase our sport is up to us and our creativity. Depending on how good a job we do, we are shaping the way this sport will be seen in the future. That reality, to me, is very thrilling.”

Matty Marshall has been involved with paintball media as a writer, producer, editor, TV host, play-by-play commentator, and narrator for the past 13 years, becoming the face and voice of the paintball media in the process. He had a storied professional paintball career for over ten years, winning two world titles with the Ironmen, and helped change the definition of the modern back player.
Marshall had this to say about the enterprise, “I’m greatly looking forward to covering this sport with the honesty, depth, and intensity it truly deserves. I’ve been there; I’ve been in deepest trenches we have. And what’s going on in this fight, in these people lives on and off the field, is utterly fascinating. SMP is going to bring you a level of paintball coverage, of the people who play it, who make it live, beyond anything that has come before. We have to make people understand. We have a giant soapbox, a giant mirror, so get ready.”

Serious capital expenditures and monetary investments are being made in order to use the best existing technology to bring the world of paintball into your living rooms, onto your computer screens and mobile devices. Look for SMP to launch different media platforms in the coming months.

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If you’d like more information about Sports Marketing Productions, or schedule an interview with the principles, please contact Matty Marshall at matty@sportsmarketingproductions.com