SUMMARY

This summary is regarding the case Splatterball Adventure Games which was formed in 1996 by Doug Gray who had great interest in the game since colledge.When the field where he used to play paintball was sold he decided to open up his own business and placed ads in the newspapers.besides running a shop the field was operated from a close area but later onj he decided to run the business from his own home.Lter on the business increased and needed more space so he turened the business into partnership by selling shares.The business could not last long enough as a partnership business as the partners were only concerned aqbout recovering their investemnts and so Gray turended the business back into sole proprietorship.As the hours of the game were limited Gray decided to increase the hours of operation by scheduling the game for different seasons and selling the inventories to the vendors.Splatterball has its own teams as well.The lady tree Dncers playing regularly and in national tornaments,professional teams offered discounts and individuals who want to join have to play for 6 months andthen offered memberships.The semi professional team has won 95 percent of games and ranked 4th out of 50 teams. Splatterball outsources its financial services and part time help is hired when neceessary for the paintball.Paintball is game in which the teams have a war with each other through guns in order to capture the flag of the oponent team which is placed at the flag station.The players use guns and paint pallets as their ammunition.The panitball team members carry a nitrogen or carbon dioxide in the gunsThe paintballs were before made by the Nelson company but later on Banner a canadian manufactirer came up with water based paint as the oil based paint used to dry on players clothing . Paintball is played at woodes areas so that the game may be enjoyed with obstacles in between.Several areas which are suitable for playing like parks etc are used because the paint leaves its mark on trees.The tournaments follow the rules of the international paintball association (IPPA) and the equipments include carbon diaoxide or nitrogen tanks,paintball guns, paintballs and protective eye gogglerz.The equipment is also imported from around thew world advertisment od which is in the paintball news in industry trade publication.The casual play is simple in which the opponent team only has to capture the flag and once brought back they win.On the other hand in the tornament game the round teams advance through robin brackets using 100 point system.The marks are cut for fouls and the team needs 5 players to become a professional team.A person can achieve a professional status by performing well.The game is extremely popular in Canada Mexico and America.The earnings from the game are huge and the president estimated the no of people who play paintball in huge numbers.Mostly male play the game but females are also found playin the initial levels of the game when insisted by their male friends.

Before the paintball game starts the players sign the waiver as to follow all the insytructions of the game.However several injuries have occurred in the past which have created concerns for Gray.Those who do not use goggles during the game get hit by the ball and the injuries may take a day or two to dissapear.The company however takes care of the safety concerns of the players and advices all to use goggles at all times. There are letter writing campaigns and lobbying done to keep the game legal.The children guns which resembled the real ones were banned so as to avoid violations.
The cost incurred on the game varies from a novice player to a professional player. The beginner uses fewer equipments as to strike whereas the professional player uses several other equipkments in order to enhance performance.tHus the cost varies from $30 to $150 a game.Splatterball s competitors include whitewater rafting,hang gliding,roller blading,darts,frisbee,snowboardingt,olympics,and all other activities like football baseball basketball etc.besides this the gyms and fitness centres also compete with the company.Splatterball s teams play on the fields of Nashvile Atlanta Chattanooga,knetucky and Birmingham earning trophies for the most points. Gray is thinking to promote paintball games in the team building programs for the local companies as the market has not been discovered yet because companies use traditional games which are of no use.The organizations even have to incur costs for the games and travel expenses for that and such games also result in less working hours and more team building hours.As for the future of the company Gray thinks of paying all the depts till 1995 and turning the company back to a corporate structure.He would be responsible for the intrests of the company and sales and marketing.Theil will manage the paintball field and equpment whereas Byles would be incharge of the retail operations and work at the field.The CIA team mebers will sponsor the games.Splatterball has received positive reactions from local bankers who are intrested in finacing the company.The retail space would be muchn larger then offering more sport goods and shirts.Gray plans to pattern his outlet with the Rennick Miller s Bad Boy Toys in Chicago.As the items there are for all nonstream activities and in variety it is the perfect choice for sports lovers.Thus Gray plans to follow Miller and create marketing strategies so as to target the organizations and social groups and increase shareholders so that investements may be made and workers to enhance the business by creating more demand in the off seasons so that he can make Splatterball his sole sourse of income.