Zac Electrifly

They announced a new jersey that can tell when it has been hit by a dart. They also showed off a new ball, a new net, and new barriers. Currently the only thing to purchase is still the Nerf Pro Styfe X. They also announced the gameplay and rules. Starting off with the jersey, I am not a big fan of it. It looks like a paintball jersey which is fine and the overall design is fine. The technology is where I am not a fan of it. The jersey has smart foam inside of it that can tell when it has been hit by a dart. In a five on five competition it should be fairly easy for officials and players to determine who has been tagged. I think it is more of a novel than a practical idea. There is going to be issues with it in competitive matches. For a good comparison the robot umpires in baseball have had a lot of issues. Since the tech is a part of the gameplay it is restricting on what players can wear during games. I almost guarantee that in whatever competition they end up doing they will force people to wear these jerseys. Not letting teams source or have creative input on their jerseys hurts this as being a sport. There is a lot of money is ports jerseys (just look at soccer) and Hasbro is seemingly cutting all of that out for future teams if those jerseys are implemented in Nerfball.

Moving on from the jerseys. The ball looks kind of big. It is not a traditional ball. The ball looks like it is rubber and plastic with groves in the ball. It looks like it has a ball inside of it which could lead to balance issues. The ball might not float properly in the air. The groves in the ball could also cause injury as the groves look deep enough to get fingers caught on them. My biggest complaint here without seeing the ball first hand is that it looks heavy. A basketball is heavy compared to a soccer ball or football. Holding the ball and blaster while trying to shoot the ball in a net will cause the weight and flight of the ball to become a big issue. The goal for Nerfabll is pretty much a basketball hoop. It reminds me of korfball. The Nerfball hoop is basically like a square basketball hoop without a backboard and the hoop angled forward. The base of the goal is kind of odd but I get why It is that way. It has a long net in the back as well. The best part of this is that there are new barriers that I really like. They are basically blow up walls.

Gameplay for Nerfball is fairly simple, both teams are trying to put the ball in the other teams goal. The way the game is with the goals it reminds me of basketball mixed with Nerf. It is also structured a lot like how Dart Tag was. In the rule book it says games are five on five with four minute quarters. Teams score points by putting the ball in the hoop or by tagging and opposing team player. Scoring a goal is six points and tagging another player is one point.

The field has two respawn zones at either end of the field. There is a goal area at both sides of the field as well. There are barriers throughout the field. They recommend a field that is eighty five feet by one hundred and fifty five feet. That is the same width as a National Hockey League rink. It is five feet shorter than a national hockey league rink. They also said that the field of play can be scaled based on “execution and environment”. The field is made up of three areas, the centerfield, the midfield, and the midfield, and the backfield.

Each player gets one Nerf blaster. Each player is limited to sixty Nerf darts. Players are not allowed to pick up Nerf darts off of the field. Players are also not allowed to share darts. Players have to wear protective eyewear. Player substitutions can be made at any time (like in ice hockey) but have to be made in the respawn zone. If a players blaster is not working they do not have to leave the field of play at the respawn zone. They can exit the field anywhere.

The ball starts in the center of the field with teams starting at their respawn zones. When a player is tagged they have to go back to their respawn zone. It does not specify in the rules that a player is not allowed to continue to play before respawning but I m pretty sure they have to respawn before continuing to play. If a player is tagged while holding the ball, they have to place it on the ground where they got tagged. The game resets every time their is a goal. Unsportsmanlike conduct, intentional physical contact, exceeding the set number of players on the field, firing the blaster while out of bounds, intentionally moving barriers or goals, interfering with gameplay, moving the ball after being tagged, sharing or refilling darts during gameplay, goal tending, are all penalties. The ball also has to be in motion every twenty five seconds. If a penalty is called on a player that player has to go to respawn.

If the ball goes out of bounds, both teams reset back to respawn with the team not causing the out of bounds starting with the ball. Each team gets one thirty second timeout per half. Both teams reset after the timeout with the team calling the timeout starting with the ball.A team has to have possession of the ball to call a timeout. Overtime is an additional four minute sudden death period with no respawning.

Four minute quarters seems kind of short for a sport but shorter gameplay would make sense for a tournament style competitive structure. The field is almost identical to an ice rink. That means it will fit on every baseball field, football field. soccer field, and ice rink. It will fit in most arenas and all stadiums. The rule book specifies “Nerf blaster” therefore not allowing other brands. The rule book specifies “Nerf darts” therefore eliminating all other types of ammo from use. With players not being allowed to pick up or share darts from the field, I imagine that they have to sub out when out of ammo or there is extra ammo in the respawn zones. One of the things I did not see in the rule book is specifications on players “camping”. Camping being when players stay in or near the respawn zone while still in play to remove or limit the amount of time needed to return to play. There is nothing saying that a player can’t stay in the respawn zone and tag a player out while not being able to be tagged out because they are already in the respawn zone. The current rulebook is intentionally vague and does not go into detail about a lot of things. I hope a more detailed rulebook and updated rules come in the future but they might not.

The full rule book can be seen here.

Nerf and Hasbro have not announced a competitive structure yet. there is nowhere for teams or players to sign up yet. There is nowhere for anyone to sign up to become an official. If they are looking for franchises or are starting a league they are currently doing that behind closed doors. I don’t think they are doing any of that currently though. With how it is being rolled out now, it makes me think that they will have some kind of structure that will allow anyone to have a team. At this point I think they are going to do something like what the Pro Foam Tour does where their are regional qualifying tournaments that lead to a national tournament. That did that with the Nerf Dart Tag League in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 the NDTL had a drat tournament that was more like reality tv than a real sporting event.

My biggest problem with all of this at this point is that it very restrictive. What I mean by that is that it is going to be impossible to replicate this game without buying the equipment from Hasbro and Nerf. Ten years from now will this stuff still be available? Sports live and die by how easy it is to replicate the game. Not having a goal that can be easily replicated, not having a standard size ball, excluding other brands, and excluding other ammo types in the rules will limit the growth and popularity of Nerfball as a sport.

From a retail perspective I don’t think the casual Nerf consumer will be interested in buying all of the equipment required to play the game. I don’t see Hasbro trying to sell Nerfball in a bundle to sports facilities and schools. Getting sports facilities like indoor soccer fields to start their own leagues would be the best way though to get it out there. I don’t see Hasbro pushing it like that. I think they will want to push it like they do the rest of their products where they don’t have bundles or a single purchase with everything you need but put it all out as individual products. I also don’t see schools buying into this as a sport. Because of the blaster aspect I think a lot of school will decline to have this as a sport or decline to allow their facilities to be used for it. This is already seen in the lack of already existing paintball, airsoft, archery, shooting and nerf school leagues and teams. Having new players joining a sport is key to its success. Not being able to have widespread high school or college teams will limit the growth of the sport.

What I would like to see is allowing different types of ammo and a more standard ball that any manufacturers can make. It would be nice if the net was different but that is not the end of the world. It should be like other sports where anyone is allowed to make player equipment, field equipment, and balls. That would allow for a lot more money to come into the sport. If they force everyone to pay for a nerf jersey then no one will be able to get a multi million dollar Adidas jersey deal no matter how popular the sport becomes. As far as a competitive structure, I think there should be multiple levels of the sports with anyone being able to have a team or league if they meet the requirements. The top level should be professional with players making about what ECHL players make. The pro leagues should be like the USL2 or UPSL where anyone who meets the ownership and facility standards can have a team. There should be an amateur level where anyone who signs up and pays an annual fee can have a team. But I do not see that as likely as Hasbro will try to have as much control over this as possible.

In the end I am trying not to be as negative as possible. I am excited for this. I think it will be interesting to see what happens with Nerfball but at the same time Hasbro does not have the best track record when it comes to delivering on products. The moment the National Dart Tag League and the Dart Tag line wasn’t making the money they wanted they pulled it. I fear that facilities, teams, and individuals, will invest in Nefball just for Hasbro to pull the plug on it. I also fear that if other Nerball leagues start to pop up or individuals try to revive Nerball after Hasbro pulls the plug, Hasbro will start to sue and do other things like that. At the end of the day it is a toy line and not meant to make Hasbro money any interest in Nerball if it does not make them money. Sports (especially when starting new leagues or sports) need time to grow before they make money.