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Recently while looking on the London Barcraft facebook page I came across this. It's a very professionally done look at the last barcraft (MLG Providence) that took place in London. It makes some of the better points for why bars/pubs should be interested in showing starcraft. Specifically the length and generally well natured fans - the comparison is against football (soccer) fans, but i'm sure it compares reasonably well across most sports.
They mention in the story how the organisers went through aproximatly 40 bars before they found one willing to show starcraft. I know from being there at almost all events that its grown hugely in propularity and the bar is making alot of money from the events. This in turn has been shown by how much more the bar has supported the organisers as each events progressed.They went from one small tv in a corner the first day up to the latest settup at this dreamhack with multiple tvs and 2 huge progection screens.
I think that anyone who is having trouble persuading places to show Starcraft could do well to point out the points raised in this, or even use it as a presentation to perspective places. The quality, and more mainstream feeling of this would probably be more palatable to people who have never heard of esports and the like.
Other then that its a nice look at the people involved in some really well run events. Hope you enjoy 
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/barcraft-lets-you-watch-pro-gamers-in-your-local-boozer-50006245/
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It's pretty incredible.. I still haven't heard of a BarCraft not turning out to be a huge success. There's money to be had by the bars that host these, and as soon as they realize that others are making bank from this, they'll do it too.
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Exciting how much mainstream coverage StarCraft/BarCraft has been receiving. Here's another recent piece on London BarCraft from Bit Tech.
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pretty good report actually ...thnx for sharing
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"Football and rugby could be living on borrowed time", haha. What a prediction he ends with.
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This is really good to see. Thanks for the link,
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So cool to know how popular barcraft has gotten, and how it might put E-sports into the mainstream.
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Love it, and they make some pretty solid points about why Barcrafts could increase in popularity. I might have to attend a local one myself. I don't drink, but, buy a little food, socialize with some like minds. It's a good way to get out of the house and still do something I love. :-)
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Great video/article! Can't wait to barcraft one day soon. "Football and rugby living on borrowed time" lol
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That's awesome great video and really well done. Well done cnet
Have to give a cheer out to the guy with the TL shirt as well!!
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The girl sitting between the guys and laughing at 0:55 look like Jena Malone. It's nice to see more exposure of esports and barcraft.
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The publicity is really nice. Someone pointed out that Losira, the player filmed whilst the voiceover talks about pro players being like pianists, can actually play piano. :3
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Good article, but not all football fans are bad! I love football and I love starcraft 
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Nice article hope this spreads
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@Trowa127 I love football and I love starcraft
Great video, need to go to one of these someday.
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They were also featured on bit-tech.net, which is quite cool because while they like games, they aren't huge on the ESPORTS thing.
Finally something I like taking over the world.
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I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance.
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On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft.
It's hard, the article mentions that Assembly House was the 40th pub approached, but think how much cash this generates for the bar. 200 SC2 fans in a pub for several hours, each one buying dinner (maybe even lunch) and multiple drinks. We're also less likely to start anything violent akin to football hooliganism.
For the bar's side of things, it's a hell of a lot more profitable that an hour and a half long football match.
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On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance.
BarCraft Netherlands
It took a while, but we're breaking the social stigma. Once you show bar owners that you can bring in a hundred paying customers, any doubt quickly disppears.
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Wow that was a good report I enjoyed it!
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I think BarCraft might be the revolution e-sports needed to popularize itself in the west. There's been countless discussion on how socially awkward gaming is, and it really is, and we all know in normal circumstances it would never be accessible to your regular dude.
Alcohol and a "chill" environment, however, can turn ANYTHING popular. If young adult society sees gamers just, hanging out and being social instead of "lurking in basements", it's suddenly much more normal and something people can relate themselves with.
I cannot express how fucking genius the concept of barcraft is.
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This is awesome, glad Esports is finally getting good publicity by news sources
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On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance.
Also, most bar owners prefer to please the mainstream customers than some geeks watching little soldiers on TV. The only barcraft hosted in Spain was in Barcelona last weekend for DHW, and the owner just said on the main announce "I'm sorry but the Barcraft will close at 8 Pm on saturday because it is saturday night and we can't let the "soldiers and martians" to be there all night.
Most of the people I know that were interested didn't go because of that mocking sentence.
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On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
While you raise good points, I dispute this. While football fans probably drink more, barcraft events go on longer. A football fan is gonna be in the pub for a few hours tops. MLG goes on all day. Also, I don't speak for everyone else but last few barcrafts I got verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry drunk
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I loved the Losira plug. I wonder if he actually knew the connection between what he said
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On November 29 2011 01:46 Eviscerador wrote:Show nested quote +On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance. Also, most bar owners prefer to please the mainstream customers than some geeks watching little soldiers on TV. The only barcraft hosted in Spain was in Barcelona last weekend for DHW, and the owner just said on the main announce "I'm sorry but the Barcraft will close at 8 Pm on saturday because it is saturday night and we can't let the "soldiers and martians" to be there all night. Most of the people I know that were interested didn't go because of that mocking sentence.
loooool. soldiers and martians. ya i would have been pretty offended aswell.
Pretty sure it would be very similar here in Belgium. There was maybe one barcraft (and 1 or 2 that got canceled) and it was in flanders :/
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On November 29 2011 02:09 Nizaris wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2011 01:46 Eviscerador wrote:On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance. Also, most bar owners prefer to please the mainstream customers than some geeks watching little soldiers on TV. The only barcraft hosted in Spain was in Barcelona last weekend for DHW, and the owner just said on the main announce "I'm sorry but the Barcraft will close at 8 Pm on saturday because it is saturday night and we can't let the "soldiers and martians" to be there all night. Most of the people I know that were interested didn't go because of that mocking sentence. loooool. soldiers and martians. ya i would have been pretty offended aswell. Pretty sure it would be very similar here in Belgium. There was maybe one barcraft (and 1 or 2 that got canceled) and it was in flanders :/
Last 2 weekends we had 4 in Flanders ( 2 Ghent, 1 Antwerp , 1 Leuven ). Most of them, around 30 people showed up.
If you want Barcrafts in the Walloons you should try and contact some local bars there. The difference between the 2 parts of Belgium is just ... enormous. Language, mentality, ... No way you can host a barcraft for both of them.
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On November 29 2011 01:46 Eviscerador wrote:Show nested quote +On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance. Also, most bar owners prefer to please the mainstream customers than some geeks watching little soldiers on TV. The only barcraft hosted in Spain was in Barcelona last weekend for DHW, and the owner just said on the main announce "I'm sorry but the Barcraft will close at 8 Pm on saturday because it is saturday night and we can't let the "soldiers and martians" to be there all night. Most of the people I know that were interested didn't go because of that mocking sentence.
Yeah i dont think the bars are places to take it to the next level. I'd really like to see a barcraft held in a cinema, its a perfect place in my opinion. They have superior technology, capacity and marketing to work with. Also there is no risk of alienating customers that have no interest in watching starcraft.
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On November 29 2011 02:39 ikona wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2011 01:46 Eviscerador wrote:On November 28 2011 00:16 Markwerf wrote:
I still can't understand that a bar would actually be interested in showing starcraft. In most european countries that would still be incredibly difficult . Gaming is still socially not cool and many people including me will not say there are gamers just because it sounds stupid, for that reason it simply wouldn't attract big crowds. Also the fans don't seem like the lucrative crowd for a bar because they don't drink much, football is simply way better to show.
In holland watching sports in a bar is unusual anyway compared to other countries and I don't see this becoming big anytime soon. I guess it could work on the days when there is nothing else going on like monday evening etc. but on friday and saturday night this just has no chance. Also, most bar owners prefer to please the mainstream customers than some geeks watching little soldiers on TV. The only barcraft hosted in Spain was in Barcelona last weekend for DHW, and the owner just said on the main announce "I'm sorry but the Barcraft will close at 8 Pm on saturday because it is saturday night and we can't let the "soldiers and martians" to be there all night. Most of the people I know that were interested didn't go because of that mocking sentence. Yeah i dont think the bars are places to take it to the next level. I'd really like to see a barcraft held in a cinema, its a perfect place in my opinion. They have superior technology, capacity and marketing to work with. Also there is no risk of alienating customers that have no interest in watching starcraft.
I remember someone in Canada setting up an event in a movie theater for MLG or GSL and it was a big success. The problem is how are movie theaters going to monetize this? A movie runs for 2 hours with 6 showings a day x $10/ticket x 100 = $6,000. An MLG runs for say 10 hours a day, with 100 people in the theater, the movie theater has to charge $60 to break even. Kinda steep for people to spend $60 in a theater when they can go to a bar or watch at home for free.
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For the BarCraft doubters:
1. BarCrafts last all day long, that's people buying food and drink all day, not just for a 90 min football game.
2. When you show a football game (or other sport) as a venue you have massive license fees to pay the broadcaster/rights holder, streaming a SC2 tournament is free.
3. SC2 tournaments like MLG often happen on a Sunday, a day when otherwise your venue would be near empty.
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Barcraft definitely works
In switzerland we only had one half of the pub, while in the other half they were showing a football match
Guess which half was freaking crowded 
And saying that gaming isn't popular is just a bad excuse
Manner the fuck up
Btw i don't think football fans necessairly drink more than esports fans ^^
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More bars and pubs will warm to BarCrafts due to the pure economics. We can help them double/triple their normal dead Sunday takings.
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I thought that was a pretty terrible report in that there were a couple of terrible terrible assumptions as well as maybe being seen as rude.
This attitude that violence follows football really needs to be dropped, sure 30 years ago it was a problem but the way the reporter and some people in this thread are acting it would seem violence erupts every time a match is shown..
Secondly saying that a starcraft 2 player puts a concert pianist to shame is ludicrous and I think that takes away anything valid that guy has to say. He was clearly biased. terrible reporting.
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EPT
