There is lots of information in the gaming group subforums. I would recommend reading up there.
I'll chime in with some more detailed insights. Yes, it's a long read, but readers can scroll to the end and then figure out on their own what I am writing.
Leagues are very fun, but it is going to require a lot of work, and someone will need to be the main contact. At one time there were about 5 pinball clubs throughout Florida. FLiPS was a very successful group with a lot of great hosts and people with a 5+ year monthly meeting schedule. That was an amazing run! (Thank you to the FLiPS OG's who made that happen! You know who you are-and if you don't know, I do!)
There are 2 fundamental things to consider for any Pinball Group/Club:
1) Determine the purpose of the club/league (For fun or for WPPR Points)
2) Have a base of hosts with games When contemplating running a league, the first thing to decide is what is the purpose, meaning is it group playing for fun or for IFPA WPPR points. If the purpose is IFPA points, that will open up a set of requirements such as registering the tourneys with IFPA and making sure that the tourneys are open to anyone, meaning the participants can't be cherrypicked or just close friends. As such, there is a possibility strangers will show up, which may not be appealing to some hosts.
If it is for fun, then of course the hosts are free to do whatever they choose, and invite as many or as few people as desired.
The most critical aspect of any home-based pinball group or league is having a set of hosts with games. There will be NO PROBLEM finding people who will show up at every single home event advertised online wanting to play pinball and eat/drink. So the hosts are the key. The hosts should have enough games to accommodate the group. Nobody will want to be standing around forever waiting for a machine to free up.
A successful club will naturally keep growing as more people discover it and enjoy its perks, one of which is playing awesome machines for free (FLiPS never charged dues) which often include rare CQ games or the latest released games in a home environment.
This is where one potential issue develops. More and more people will want to be involved, which on the surface is great! However, in a home-based league there is only so much room available and this is a function of who is hosting. Ron Donohue, for example, hosted one of the most successful FLiPS events each year and the amount of people showing up was akin to a small pinball show numbering about 80 people or so. (Mega-thanks to Ron for all of the great times!). Most hosts can't (or don't want to) accommodate that many people.
So there will be times when someone hosts and there are going to people who want to come but cannot be accommodated. Unfortunately, some people are going to have their feelings hurt because they weren't invited, or are told they can't bring their spouse, kids, a friend, guest etc. This can be due to space limitations or in some cases the host may not care to invite certain people. (If it is an IFPA event, then the host will have a conundrum, because the event has to be publicly announced. Yes, there are ways around having certain people come to an open event, but that is another conversation).
The next thing that inevitably arises is the debate over dates to have the events. (This can happen even in the smallest of groups of 2-3 people). Weekends are the most popular time for EVERYTHING. One of the things I always told FLiPS hosts is to pick a date that works for them. It is a fact that someone on the guest list will have a prior family obligation, or prefer a different date, or be blown out from work, or there is some other pinball function happening, or is not feeling well, etc. Scheduling can be annoying. There is never going to be 100% consensus. So the host should make a decision, and figure out based the response if it makes sense to keep the date or not.
When people get together for a period of time, they will want to eat and drink. That can be its own long discussion, but consideration will need to be given to that. Will the host provide for everyone? What is being provided? Will everyone chip in a few bucks or bring pot luck, BYOB, etc.?
When people get together for pinball events, even if for fun, there will likely be some competitive aspect. Running tournaments, even if just for fun, is yet another long conversation. Someone will need to organize and run the tourney no matter what. If it is an IFPA event, then of course there are rules governing how that is handled. Again, running tourneys is a longer topic, but is something that needs to be considered if the purpose of the club is to run sanctioned IFPA events.
I think I've covered the main ideas. The above is not to discourage anyone from getting involved in forming a pinball club. Even though it does require work, it is a lot of fun. There are lot of fantastic people in the community and I have made many friends. I really enjoyed my time with FLiPS.
Anyone reading can feel free to reach out to me on here or via PM if there are any questions.
So for the TL; DR crowd the 2 most important aspects of a Pinball Club/League
1) Determine the purpose of the group/league (For fun or for WPPR Points)
2) Have a base of hosts with games Good luck and enjoy!
-Jeff
corpse
