I get asked by guys and teams about how best to go about getting sponsorship every once in a while. Honestly, I am probably not the biggest guru in that department. I am not lucky enough to have sponsors. I cannot just sit here and pump people a product if it is not something I would use or trust. You have plenty of guys on YouTube and Facebook for that already.

But, back on the topic of teams getting sponsorship. There are retailers that give what I call "chump sponsorships". That is "here are some free BBs and a crapy discount. Now wear our patch and fly our banner everywhere you go." That is for the local team that has not done anything of real value.

There is also what I call "chump marketing" by retailers or companies. That is the patches that get thrown out at events or you buy from companies and wear. Congratulations, they do not need to sponsor your team because you already give them what they want. Your team is giving them free advertising. You now have zero value to them.

Your team should look at itself as a commodity with value. Now it is up to your team to raise the value of its own stock, because, why should a company give a substantial sponsorship to your band of merry men? How do you raise your team's value and become a desirable commodity? Well, it is a bit of a popularity contest but those thousands of likes on Facebook are not the only key. Lots of likes do not change that you are a nobody to a company without something more.

A team that deserves substantial sponsorship is not a bunch of unorganized buddies with a patch, Facebook and YouTube. Yeah, I bet that hurts to hear. If you are going to put the effort into a patch, how about organizing your team to look and fight like a team. If you are going to have a Facebook page then use it to positively promote the sport and develop a good player community in your area. If you have a YouTube channel then why not put a little effort into your videos? Thirty minute continuous game play footage gets old. Rethink unique reviews and avoid boring unboxings and once again promote positive growth in the sport.

Here is the tough one for a lot of team and it is understandable. You have to travel to ops outside of your Tri-State area. You also need to do more than just one op producer to get noticed. The best way to get noticed is going to national ops and meeting the companies' reps there. Show the community a team that can be a real fighting force. Companies do not care about the nobody who emails them telling them how awesome their team is.

All this work and spending your own money is about building value in your team. You give them what they want for free and they do not need to bother. You build your team and work on being reputable in a positive way, then you will get what you earn. Note, I did not say that the world will open up and you will be showered with love. You will get what you earn.

Like I said in the beginning, I am by no means the sponsor-getting guru. I have spent a lot of time around good and deserving sponsored teams. I saw in all of them value, it was value earned and grown through real action. So, you can go the chump route and keep holding your hand out. Or you can put together a serious team, work at being worthy and start traveling.

I am sure plenty will disagree with me, but this is just one grunt's opinion.

Javier "Darkhorse"

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About The Author

Javier "Darkhorse" Franco, formerly from This Week In Airsoft, runs his own Airsoft Blog on Facebook called "One Grunt's Opinion." This article has been posted here with the author's permission.