How Much Does A Professional Paintball Player Make?

If you love the thrill and competitiveness of paintball and think you might someday make it to the professional level, you may be wondering how much do professional paintball players make? The answer isn't simple, as payouts are tied to overall rankings and tournament winnings.

Tournaments and Event Prizes

Prizes awarded in major tournaments can come in the form of sponsorship deals as well as cash prizes. These events attract some of the top paintball players in the world as well as sponsors from the professional paintball equipment industry. To land a sponsorship, a paintballer must demonstrate their skillset, hard work, dedication and commitment to the scene. Major tournaments offer cash prizes for the top teams that often range from $50,000 to $100,000.

Rankings and Payouts

RLPS (Race to Live Paintball Series) is the official rankings body for professional paintball in the United States and offers financial incentives for the top ranked teams. Teams are awarded points for participating in leagues or events that are tabulated at the end of the season. Rankings are reset after each season and teams can accumulate points towards their total tally for the year. Teams that finish among the top teams in RLPS earn cash payouts. For the 2019 season, first place earned $20,000 while teams ranked 2nd through 10th earned $10,000 each. All teams ranked 11th through 25th were awarded $2000 each.

Endorsement Deals

Many professional paintball players also secure endorsement deals with major manufacturers. These deals come with bonuses such as free paintball gear or access to private paintball fields. Endorsement deals may also require a player to wear certain approved clothing brands and participate in promotional events.

Travel and Expenses

Professional paintball players must travel to tournaments and engaging with sponsors. This requires significant expenses that must also be factored into the equation. This means that even when a team wins a large tournament, travel and equipment can often eat up a large portion of the prize money.

Reliable Sources of Income

The vast majority of professional paintball players have to find ways to make a living outside of the sport. This often involves marketing, coaching or instructing paintball, retail sales, consulting or other such related activities.

Brief Recap

Professional paintball players can be rewarded in many ways for their hard work and dedication to the sport. Earnings come from tournament prizes, rankings payouts, sponsorship deals and endorsement contracts. Although tournaments and rankings can have large payouts, travel and equipment costs often cut into these earnings. As such, many pro paintballers must find other sources of income in order to sustain a living.

This shows that working hard at paintball and pursuing in other areas can help a player achieve success in the sport. Of course, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to reach the top; but the payoff can be personally and professionally rewarding.