Paying to watch GSL matches... Is it a good idea? - Page 25

If I can get billions of hours of free content(youtube, hulu etc) and thousands of hours of free starcraft2 content by paying 40$/mo for internet, I shouldn't have to pay 10$/mo for a few GSL games.

On February 01 2011 06:14 LagT_T wrote:

You can watch the games live for free. If you want the luxury of watching them whenever you want you have to pay. You are renting storage and web hosting. Was your hard drive free?

On February 01 2011 03:49 TheGiftedApe wrote:
The answer here is obvious imo:

Pay per View = Lower viewer counts, but Gom makes more profit in the short term.

Free per View = Higher Viewer counts, less profit in the short term, (more profit in the long term from sponsors and advertisers though)

obviously GOM is worried about making money right now, and has lost sight of the bigger picture imo.


Also, to those who say, 10$/month is nothing, I beg to differ, 10$/mo is a LOT. Especially for a broke college student, not all of us have great jobs, or have parents with deep pockets who like to spoil their kids rotten with whatever they want. 10$/mo is almost as much as I pay for my cell phone bill, It's 1/4 of how much I pay for my Internet. 20$/year sounds like a fair price to me but 10$/mo is ludicrous.(and isn't it 15$/mo for gom anyways?) If I can get billions of hours of free content(youtube, hulu etc) and thousands of hours of free starcraft2 content by paying 40$/mo for internet, I shouldn't have to pay 10$/mo for a few GSL games. GOM would do better in the long term if they get more viewers, and make them watch a couple advertisements rather than trying to make all the viewers pay a fee, This business model has been reproduced all over the internet. Saying that the only way they can do it is by charging a fee is just simply not true.

On February 01 2011 06:31 MasterFwiffo wrote:
Here's the deal.
I would love to watch the GSL. Really. I would. If the Stream aired at a reasonable time, I would watch it then.

The Stream does not air at a reasonable time. It airs at 2AM where I am. I love watching Starcraft - but I cannot stay up till 2AM to do so.

I can't afford to pay the money for GOMTV services. And if I could, why would I? Huk is free. Day9 is Free.

So I cannot watch the GSL. This is disappointing. I would like to watch the GSL. I would like to share the GSL with my friends, who might get further interested in SC2.

Look, all I'm asking for, at the very least, is the SQ to restream at a reasonable time. That or free SQ Vods.

I really would like to watch the GSL. But I cannot. GomTV will not get any money from me, nor will they get the word spread.

And that is hurting E-Sports.

On February 01 2011 05:36 Plaxy wrote:


Why doesent Blizzard pay for my heating and electric bill too so i can watch GSL? Blizzard is a company separate from GomTV. I cant believe you actually posted that.

On February 01 2011 06:31 MasterFwiffo wrote:
I really would like to watch the GSL. But I cannot. GomTV will not get any money from me, nor will they get the word spread.

And that is hurting E-Sports.

On February 01 2011 06:40 Djzapz wrote:

Consider this argument: Youtube is free because it's done right.

If I don't catch GSL late, I don't watch it - because of that I don't care so much about the results because usually, I can't see all the games. I don't even know how much it is - I just think it's silly that I'd have to pay.

On February 01 2011 06:42 Chill wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
Okay, but who is at fault here? GOM for not giving you a service for free in the name of ESports, or you, for not working a job equivalent of $10 per month in the name of ESports?

It's easy to demonize someone "in the name of ESports"...

On February 01 2011 06:39 Kralle333 wrote:
I did it once and i will never do it again.

-It lagged horribly, making it unwatchable.
-Even though its HQ, it still looks like shit. Often times i couldn't see important information

On February 01 2011 03:49 TheGiftedApe wrote:
The answer here is obvious imo:

Pay per View = Lower viewer counts, but Gom makes more profit in the short term.

Free per View = Higher Viewer counts, less profit in the short term, (more profit in the long term from sponsors and advertisers though)

obviously GOM is worried about making money right now, and has lost sight of the bigger picture imo.

On February 01 2011 03:49 TheGiftedApe wrote:
Also, to those who say, 10$/month is nothing, I beg to differ, 10$/mo is a LOT. Especially for a broke college student, not all of us have great jobs, or have parents with deep pockets who like to spoil their kids rotten with whatever they want. 10$/mo is almost as much as I pay for my cell phone bill, It's 1/4 of how much I pay for my Internet. 20$/year sounds like a fair price to me but 10$/mo is ludicrous.(and isn't it 15$/mo for gom anyways?) If I can get billions of hours of free content(youtube, hulu etc) and thousands of hours of free starcraft2 content by paying 40$/mo for internet, I shouldn't have to pay 10$/mo for a few GSL games. GOM would do better in the long term if they get more viewers, and make them watch a couple advertisements rather than trying to make all the viewers pay a fee, This business model has been reproduced all over the internet. Saying that the only way they can do it is by charging a fee is just simply not true.

On February 01 2011 06:44 Meta wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

Blizzard sponsors the GSL, they specifically partnered with GOM for this tournament. Michael Morhaime even gave a speech at the opening ceremony for season 1. Clearly there is an intimate relationship between Blizzard and GOM, and I personally think Blizzard should take some responsibility for this. They completely ignored BW when it was released and we got free VODs of pro games, free replays and even though it was mostly devoid of English commentary, at least it was free. I'd rather have that, but that's a personal opinion. It doesn't take a lot of knowledge of the game to enjoy it with no sound. That's how we had to enjoy e-sports in the first plays before youtube- with replays alone.

Blizzard needs to man up and respond, regardless of what GOM decides to do.

On February 01 2011 04:19 Chill wrote:

I think there's a lot of assumptions in that post that you're just glossing over. What are GOM's total viewership on their VODs? I'm at work but I'd assume a Ro16 game gets somewhere between 30,000 - 70,000 views. How many views do you think it would get if it was free?

Now, do you think the costs associated with streaming content for free to those users could be supported by completely untargeted, global ads? And do you think they would end up further ahead this year if they went that route, or stuck with the $10 / season model? At what point does the profit / season cross over that threshold? I don't think it's as cut and dry as "more profit in the long term".

The foreign market isn't even on a sponsor's radar, so we can ignore that. Advertising is of course something GOM is looking at. But I don't think you can just say "GOM, if you took a loss to provide free content now, you'd make a 50% return by 2012." It's not that simple. It's a pretty huge risk. I think GOM is playing it right.

On February 01 2011 06:45 Freak705 wrote:
To any college/university student: Take 1 night off from partying, BAM! 2 months of GSL right there. I'm a broke ass student too, I don't get handouts from my parents, but $10 is really not *that* hard to come by.. Volunteer for a psychology experiment, they often pay subjects $10-15 for an hour of your time :p

On February 01 2011 06:47 LagT_T wrote:


Youtube is free because it is another business model because it is another market. How much content was produced by Youtube when it was the size of GomTV? Please people...