A picture from behind the set at the CGS US Playoffs (thecgs.com)

The European Combine is done, the Draft is done and BSL's Allianz-team and Sujoy's Mint-team battled their way into the CGS World Championship Finals as winners of their respective regions. While the players and teams have now done what they should, it is actually Championship Gaming Series which has the biggest challenge.

To conquer Europe might be a bigger task than first expected. The diversity between the countries is quite big and it may prove to be a stumbling block for what could potentially be the biggest change for e-Sport so far.


I remember the first "pro gamers" in CounterStrike 1.6, SK.swe, and the media hype it created. Back then it was a big thing that you could actually make a living out of video games. Since then, things have developed even further, and with the creation of the CGS, we are now entering a time where video gamers will earn a "normal" monthly salary. They will no longer depend on the prize money to actually make four figures a month, and they will be treated like real athletes. So why is this possible? Because DirecTV has hit a potential goldmine.

Centralization has pros and cons

	A spot in the limelight, CGS UK Finals (thecgs.com)

What is it exactly that DirectTV wants to do with Championship Gaming Series? Actually they are trying to do the same as NFL has done for quite some years now; centralize the teams and players in one dominating league so there's no opposite interests.

Everybody is in the same boat: the sponsors know that the league won't change, the teams know that the league will pay out prizes and the players will be banned if they just leave or hop between teams. The centralization of a league will ensure bigger revenues from sponsors and media, more exposure and it will support an easier overview.

As one would expect there is not only pros in this model. While 20 teams, or whatever number of teams the league will end up supporting, will be granted a bigger part of the cake, the rest of the community will be left out in the cold. Even if there are still going to be big events throughout the year in which the teams are competing in, the Direct TV-league will gain income high above the one possible for teams out of the league.

As seen in modern football (soccer for you Yanks!) this will create an abysmal difference between the teams which won't allow teams outside of the CGS to keep their best players.

So if we are going to compare the teams in and outside of the CGS with the NFL today, there will be NFL- and college-teams. Every year, players outside CGS will be drafted into the league by teams, but as we aren't speaking about 53-man squads as in NFL, the number of new players in the league will be very limited. The point? No new blood, no development in the community outside CGS and an abysmal difference between the teams. This could mean the end of E-sports as we know it.

Championship Gaming Series IS pro gaming

Up until the last couple of years have seen very few pro gamers in the western hemisphere. Most of the gamers that can live of their salary are located in South Korea, where the best players earn over $100.000 a year.

Before MLG introduced their concept, Fatal1ty was one of the only people outside Asia to earn a salary equal to what a "normal job" would give. For the rest of the so called "pro gamers", monthly wages of $1000 to $1200 is considered to be "very good".

In the CGS, players will be handed $3,000-$5,000 on a monthly basis – before tournament wins and sponsorship deals. This has already instigated established organizations and teams like compLexity, Team 3D and Made in Brazil to change their focus and play CS:Source instead of CS 1.6.

So far, the CGS has proved that they actually treat their players like professionals. Accommodation and money for food is given by the CGS, and the players have decent training facilities. Even more, they have taken a serious approach to the matches; delays will be punished, attempts to ruin the competition will be punished.

The use of the Playboy Mansion for the American draft was nicely done from a PR-point of view. CGS have maximized the media coverage and they might actually be able to build up the players as superstars. Will they be able to repeat the success in Europe?