Editing Bob Long's Assassins (section)

== 2005 season standings ==

=== Overall result ===

Bob Long's Assassins finished second in the NPPL semi-professional season standings.

WARPIG's contemporary 2006 Huntington Beach coverage explicitly identifies the team's second-place finish and subsequent promotion.[3]

The team was one of three semi-professional organisations promoted to the professional division.

=== Promotion system ===

During 2005, the NPPL introduced a closed professional division.

Professional status depended on season performance rather than unrestricted entry.

At the conclusion of the season, the lowest-ranked professional teams were relegated to semi-professional competition.

The highest-ranked semi-professional teams earned promotion.

The system was intended to establish a competitive qualification pathway into professional paintball.

=== Promotion to professional competition ===

Bob Long's Assassins qualified for professional competition in 2006.

The team changed its name to Philadelphia Assassins.

This was a documented change of team identity rather than a separate team coincidentally using the Assassins name.

The transition is confirmed by contemporary WARPIG coverage.