Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a video game or a live sport?	TACSCOM is a live sport played by real people on an actual battlefield.
Who can play in the TCL?	TACSCOM is a professional sports league. Like any other pro league, not just anyone can play. TACSCOM is intended to primarily focus on and feature tactical athletes who are military veterans, especially those with special training. Because of the tactical nature of the league, this kind of experience and expertise will translate best to our athletes. Plans for Season One of TACSCOM include a requirement of military veteran status in order to be considered as a founding player in the league.
Is there a draft?	Operators for Seasons One, all of whom have the requisite military and tactical experience, will be hand-picked by the military members of TACSCOM’s management team. Those operators will then be eligible for the first draft in the off-season between Season One and Season Two. Others who meet the minimum requirements may submit applications for the draft when it is announced. Selectees will be required to attend a combine to showcase their skills and to be rated prior to the draft. Subsequent drafts will pull from military and law enforcement ranks.
How can you say you use real weapons?	All TACSCOM weapons start as real firearms, as real M4 rifles or M9 sidearms. Those firearms are then converted to accept only non-lethal proprietary marking ammunition; the rest of the firearm is left unchanged.
Are these marking rounds accurate?	Data shows that the marking rounds are accurate to within two inches of a real projectile at up to 25 meters. By contrast, regular paintball rounds in a paintball marker or airsoft BB’s in an airsoft replica firearm at the same distance would have a 4 to 12-foot error arc.
Is this a spectator sport with live fans at a stadium?	TACSCOM fans will be able to enjoy live game-day experiences with their friends in the same manner as any other professional sport. Fans will be able to go to a local stadium where all the action will be live on the field in front of them as well as on a Jumbotron monitor, with live commentary.
Can TACSCOM cameras follow the action even when the operators are hidden, such as behind obstacles?	Thanks to the VR Cameras enabled by the combination of haptic suits, 3D player scans and LIDAR environmental cams, fans will be able to follow the action as players take full tactical advantage of every situation possible.
Can you tell if a player has been hit?	TACSCOM has a redundant system to register player hits in real time. First, the marking rounds leave a visible mark which will show that a player has been hit. Second, players will be wearing impact sensors that will register hits, where on the body they occur and with what level of force. Cameras will record the visual marks of the hits, whereas the impact sensor data will be transmitted wirelessly. All of this data will come back to Mission Control for the referees to monitor.
Won’t teams just memorize the layout of their home field, giving them an unfair advantage?	The layout, typography, and composition of each and every TACSCOM Battlefield will be changed every week by League personnel. Further, League personnel will also change certain features on the Battlefield during the Ceasefire intermissions in between individual Skirmishes during a Battle. For example, wrecked tanks or crashed helicopters may be moved, or old craters, foxholes, or trenches may be filled up while new ones may be created. That way, every week, every Battle is on a new field and from Skirmish to Skirmish many features will change during a Battle.
Is playing in the TACSCOM dangerous?	TACSCOM takes seriously the safety of its players. Nothing is more important. There are multiple safety and security checks before any firearm is allowed on the battlefield, and all firearms are kept under strict control when not in active use. That being said, some pain can be a part of any professional-level sport, including TACSCOM. For example, the marking rounds are traveling at paintball speeds, which can leave a welt if they hit bare skin. However, all TACSCOM operators will be wearing layers of clothing to minimize this, including their haptic body suits and camouflage fatigues, not to mention plate carriers, helmets, and ballistic goggles. TACSCOM is a sport that is played by highly skilled and highly trained professionals under strictly controlled circumstances. While fans are encouraged to play other simulation games at paintball fields to enjoy the same kind of tactical thrill themselves as their favorite operators in TACSCOM, all such activities should only happen at appropriately licensed venues and with full safety gear. Under no circumstances should any TACSCOM fan ever handle a real weapon in the same manner as TACSCOM operators do on the TACSCOM battlefields.
What about Coronavirus?	All professional sports must be cognizant of COVID-19, and TACSCOM is no exception. Luckily, TACSCOM is designed from its very DNA to be social-distancing compliant. Given the range of the converted firearms used in TACSCOM, if you’re within 6 feet of another operator, you’re too close. Moreover, all operators will be wearing not only full-face masks but, indeed, full helmets that cover their entire heads. Therefore, TACSCOM games will be able to be played even during the pandemic. However, fans attending a game live at a stadium will have to obey and maintain all social distancing and masking requirements as set forth by their local jurisdictions at the time.
What happens in the Command Post?	Coaches and other staff will be watching the battle via feeds from their team’s helmet cameras. They will assemble data and be able to coordinate via comms with the on-field operators to vector them to certain goals, such as directing an operator who just opened a treasure chest with first aid kits to find the Corpsman to deliver those kits so that the specialty role can be activated. Comms between the CP and the operators, as well as comms between the operators, will be part of the TACSCOM broadcast for fans to enjoy.
Paintball and Airsoft have not yet succeeded as professional sports; what makes TACSCOM different?	The people and the technology at the core of TACSCOM are a major difference. TACSCOM is designed to be played by professionals, primarily military veterans, especially those with special training. Thus, TACSCOM brings with it a significant cache and audience that other sports do not. Second, both paintball and airsoft have difficulty with accuracy. Because of the military marking rounds, TACSCOM operators will be almost as accurate as real ammunition. Third, both airsoft and paintball have problems with accurate reporting. TACSCOM will have redundant proprietary technology-based reporting systems to ensure that hits are properly recorded and employ the use of trigger locks to ensure compliance. Fourth, the camerawork in TACSCOM will be exemplarily developed from over 100 cameras deployed per event. There will be a wide swath of Point of View, Broadcast, and 360 cameras covering all aspects of the playing surface. Tactical advantage will not be ascertained from camera operators running alongside players on the field. Indeed, TACSCOM has no one on the battlefield other than the operators fighting the battle; even the referees are remote.