HOW TO MAKE AIRSOFT A MAINSTREAM SPORT AND NOT A HOBBY

How to make Airsoft a mainstream sport and not a hobby
Instead of buying into ESPN or other channels there should be a new channel created. We see paintball on ESPN and other televised attractions but not Airsoft as of yet. The first thought we all have is that it is setup for failure based on egos and drama but if that is put aside it will work out amazingly.
What we need to do is all work together and create ONE channel to showcase it all from around the world.

Money will cause fights and issues right?
Yes but if they use the money to promote and even pay for local events with the revenue from YouTube imagine the possibilities. Being transparent on the back end will remove the issues here and if it is ran by people that want the greater good for the Airsoft Community it will work just fine.
The teams, reviewers and players will still have their own channels but they will submit videos to have a larger collection gathered and shared.
Related Blog: Why Paintball Is Better Than Airsoft
Why can’t the teams just share their own videos?
They can still have their channels but having a large collection of videos will expand the network and with a larger viewer base it can do many great things. Boosting the viewers and making videos go viral. Content that would be good to have and wont get flagged would the following:
-Education of the public and new players.
-News about for new products and events
-New stores and fields.
The new stores and fields struggle due to lack of awareness and press. This would help the Airsoft community greatly. Several years ago the Echo1 Tour was doing that and going to fields and locations making commercials for the local Airsoft Community. There are many sites that claim to do this but they don’t do it for free which defeats the purpose of a community.

Cost and revenue
The tasks will be split up to several people and or teams which will make it easy. This wont be run by any Airsoft company but by the players that want to make this community grow and start new players.
Lets assume the average CPM for a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers is around $4 dollars. YouTube takes a 45% cut and sometimes the YouTuber also has Multi Channel Network representing who also takes around 45%. So the You Tuber, who gets on average 600k+ views a week, will end up with around $1-3k a week from CPMs.
Some of this income can be split to pay the hard work and the rest can be used for anything from raffle items to supporting a field opening or growing the channel even bigger..
Now think of the possiblities outside the realm of the Airsoft Community and what can be done. A good PR push of having the profits from this channel goes to some events but what about charities to get the name of Airsoft out in the public and for a good reason.
Related Blog: The future of Airsoft, Good or Bad?

Will it work with so many people contributing?
Yes, it will work when the people that truly love Airsoft and have a passion for it are on board for the betterment of the Airsoft Community. For example I have spent more than two decades in the Airsoft world as a player and representative and I still love the sport and want to see it grow bigger. Along with me there are several others that are in the same league and want the same. As long as the force behind this Airsoft Promotion Machine is non biased it will work. In the past the Airsoft Safety Foundation was having companies buy into it and have them rally against anti Airsoft legislation but later turned into a collection group and nothing was done to really help the Airsoft Community in terms of safety or legal actions but that is for another time.

This is good and all but we still want our own channel for videos.
This wont take away from the many Youtube channels out there but it will be a hub or news channel to promote valuable channels for content and growth and to also hold the Airsoft Community to a higher standard and guide in a better uniformed direction for the long run. So if you had a YouTube channel and another channel with a million or more subscribers had your video playing or a shoutout that would be a great thing. The most important aspect is the ability to use that large following to talk about new fields and stores to get the local community growing stronger.

What are your thoughts on this? Will it help or hurt the Airsoft Community?

Written by Brian Holt

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