Hello All,
I agree with Pete on this, up to a point. Generally sportspeople enjoy watching their betters compete, as this is the way they learn and also an enjoyable spectacle for them to watch, as opposed to regular divisional play, which is boring as hell. Boredom is the anti-spectacle, and the problem with Euro events now is that most of the games are boring to watch unless you have a special interest. Regional paitball events in the US are also incredibly boring. Hence I agree that the Euro's would love to see the yank teams there and in turn, the yanks love nothing better than to be treated as some kind of superstars, and can strut around to their hearts content.
The US teams already get favoritism from the MS and have done for years. I doubt Dynasty ever paid an entry into that league, even when they won an event. The organisers know that they are worth 10 entries because these 10 teams will enter just for the chance to see them and play against them (because they are sniveling fan-boys). Problem was, if you had a free entry, you still didn't make enough money to cover flights and hotels even if you won. The key is not to pay for the yanks, it is to have a high enough prize packet to get them to play. Money-hungry adolescents that they are, the top 5 teams would switch league anyway if the prize-money was right.
Plus, this way the euro's still get a chance to win the cash, which is only fair.
As for the European market, I don't think its any more viable than it was before. National have partially retreated, and merged with PMI anyway. Its the US market being SO down that actually makes Europe seem more attractive. Its like the Industry had 5 pints of Stella, and now think Europe looks pretty tasty. The European paintball market is, and always has been, the US industries version of 'Nam. They keep on bombarding the Euro's and making thier high profile invasions, then they realise 'why are we here' and retreat under cover of darkness back to thier fastness of capitalism and xenophobic bliss.
There's no point being all specific at this stage. Its easier to agree on some fundamentals. I believe there will be one league in the US at the end of the year. I hate to be the one to say it, but this time it will happen.