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My big problem is the crying poverty for a situation 100% caused by themselves. OK, NYC is expensive. So why hold the tourney there? Flying players is expensive. So why are you doing that when there's no audience?
We’re at (and when I say “we,” I mean, teams, tournaments, content providers, everyone) an incredibly crucial moment in the lifespan of this industry. We’re at a point at which we, as an industry, need to become less reliant on third-party, outsider revenue (like corporate sponsors), and increase the percentage of our revenue that’s generated within the eSports ecosystem (direct-to-consumer revenue like subscriptions and merchandise).
An answer to this is the NFL. While they do make non-trivial money from ticket sales and merchandise, their big revenue source is broadcast rights. Indeed, network television, and even most cable channels, are incredibly dependent on third-party outsider revenue in the form of commercials. Radio too. Magazines and newspapers. Pretty much every major content provider except for movies and music (which is still dependent on radio, and thus indirectly) is dependent on 3rd party advertisement.
Those sports that have tried to go PPV - tennis for a time, horse racing and boxing - have largely become irrelevant. Those up and comers that are dependent on PPV - MMA particularly - are hampered by putting some of their biggest fights on PPV. UFCs big plus is that they offer some free fights (The Ultimate Fighter, fights on FOX, FX, Spike, formerly Versus). You can't build interest by requiring up front cash.
I disagree that history shows PPV as the future. I think EG is more on the right track with free low quality and ads with a premium service available. That was what MLG had before they added this secondary "Arena" league. Right now all the Arena league seems to be doing is stirring up resentment from paying customers (like myself) who bought Gold and now won't get all the MLG content.
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Really good post. Great insight, but I'll put down the pitchfork as soon as MLG loses the cloak and dagger. How it was announced is my main issue with it.
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Not going to pay 20 dollars on top of the 30 bucks gold membership.
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It's great we see a tourney like MLG forking out such amazing content, however before we " the poorest demographic " just throw out our money.. lets consider a few things
The GSL is Cheaper, and provides MUCH more content and has much better competition ...
Can we reasonably throw an extra $20 for only a weekend of content?
They've been giving us free content for so long, only to now turn around and charge a whopping $20.... Something like $5- $10 would be much more reasonable.. It's just a slap in the cock and very unprofessional.
There are other ways to offset the cost of there production/airline fees/ Prize pool... MLG has been continuously growing and each event continues to break the viewership numbers of the previous event. Why would it be so hard to attract more sponsors, or other less savory means to help pay for the event....
also.. the next slap in the cock... The prize pool, You guys are going to charge $20 and the first place prize is only going to be... 15k?
MLG is really an outstanding organization that has shown itself to be more then competent in the past and I hope/expect them too fix the glaring fallacies in their plan very soon.
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On February 14 2012 23:37 trebad wrote:
I get get a full season of GSL for $15. I bought a Gold Membership with the promise of great things to come. Almost seems like a Bait and Switch tactic.
However,
I don't think asking for $20 4 times a year is too unreasonable. You should get the MLG championship as well though. I don't know how many season the GSL will have this year, but Iook at what it costs to get a year of GSL.
If they offered a deal where you could order all four events for $60, I would do it. I am ok right now paying with $20 to watch the games live. However, I do think gold members should get a discount for their support.
Also, what if MGL has reasonable success with this tournment and is able to hold the event more often? Say 6-8 times a year. Then we are working our way slowly to a local version of the GSL. I think that would be awesome.
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On February 15 2012 02:54 VPCursed wrote:
It's great we see a tourney like MLG forking out such amazing content, however before we " the poorest demographic " just throw out our money.. lets consider a few things
The GSL is Cheaper, and provides MUCH more content and has much better competition ...
Can we reasonably throw an extra $20 for only a weekend of content?
They've been giving us free content for so long, only to now turn around and charge a whopping $20.... Something like $5- $10 would be much more reasonable.. It's just a slap in the cock and very unprofessional.
There are other ways to offset the cost of there production/airline fees/ Prize pool... MLG has been continuously growing and each event continues to break the viewership numbers of the previous event. Why would it be so hard to attract more sponsors, or other less savory means to help pay for the event....
also.. the next slap in the cock... The prize pool, You guys are going to charge $20 and the first place prize is only going to be... 15k?
MLG is really an outstanding organization that has shown itself to be more then competent in the past and I hope/expect them too fix the glaring fallacies in their plan very soon.
Compairing this to GSL is a bit silly. GSL does not fly anyone anywhere. They also only have the cost of the studio and stream to deal with. They have the infastructure to provide more content. If this were successful, maybe MGL could provide more events like this and more content.
Also, MGL provides more content for free that the GSL. Everything up to the finals is free and the VODs are free after the fact. None of that is true for the GSL.
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On February 15 2012 02:56 Plansix wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2012 23:37 trebad wrote:
I get get a full season of GSL for $15. I bought a Gold Membership with the promise of great things to come. Almost seems like a Bait and Switch tactic.
However,
I don't think asking for $20 4 times a year is too unreasonable. You should get the MLG championship as well though. I don't know how many season the GSL will have this year, but Iook at what it costs to get a year of GSL. If they offered a deal where you could order all four events for $60, I would do it. I am ok right now paying with $20 to watch the games live. However, I do think gold members should get a discount for their support. Also, what if MGL has reasonable success with this tournment and is able to hold the event more often? Say 6-8 times a year. Then we are working our way slowly to a local version of the GSL. I think that would be awesome.
At that point I feel like the tournament scene would be somewhat too big. GSL had a tournament nearly every month which made the tournaments feel rushed and not as important, which is what might happen, and the funding required for all those tournaments would lead to more ppv events, decreasing the viewership, not to mention teams couldn't possibly afford to fly out their players around the world when MLG alone has that many tournaments.
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On February 15 2012 02:59 Plansix wrote:Show nested quote +On February 15 2012 02:54 VPCursed wrote:
It's great we see a tourney like MLG forking out such amazing content, however before we " the poorest demographic " just throw out our money.. lets consider a few things
The GSL is Cheaper, and provides MUCH more content and has much better competition ...
Can we reasonably throw an extra $20 for only a weekend of content?
They've been giving us free content for so long, only to now turn around and charge a whopping $20.... Something like $5- $10 would be much more reasonable.. It's just a slap in the cock and very unprofessional.
There are other ways to offset the cost of there production/airline fees/ Prize pool... MLG has been continuously growing and each event continues to break the viewership numbers of the previous event. Why would it be so hard to attract more sponsors, or other less savory means to help pay for the event....
also.. the next slap in the cock... The prize pool, You guys are going to charge $20 and the first place prize is only going to be... 15k?
MLG is really an outstanding organization that has shown itself to be more then competent in the past and I hope/expect them too fix the glaring fallacies in their plan very soon.
Compairing this to GSL is a bit silly. GSL does not fly anyone anywhere. They also only have the cost of the studio and stream to deal with. They have the infastructure to provide more content. If this were successful, maybe MGL could provide more events like this and more content.Also, MGL provides more content for free that the GSL. Everything up to the finals is free and the VODs are free after the fact. None of that is true for the GSL.
By sacking all their content production team at the end of last year?
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People must be really poor ;P 20$ is nothing ^^
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I won't be near a computer for 2/3 days of the Arena. I don't want to spend $20 for one day. This is probably an uncommon complaint, but a valid one, I feel. Some sort of cheaper one-day option might work well, especially for finals day.
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On February 15 2012 02:39 RvB wrote:Show nested quote +On February 15 2012 02:25 TUski wrote:
Are you guys serious? There were just as many people who aren't willing to pay at all as there were who would shell out $10? If you honestly can't afford $10 for 20 hours of gameplay and content, you seriously need to take the metaphorical stick out of your ass and think about what you're conveying to MLG and other tournaments. You're not willing to pay a dime because you're entitled to free content 100% of the time? How many tournaments do you think will aim to please the fans as much as MLG has if you idiots aren't willing to pay at all for the content they provide? $10 is a solid, reasonable amount for a weekend of starcraft, not to mention the amazing production quality that MLG provides us every tournament. Look at how far they've come since Columbus last year, then think about where they can go with $10 per viewer for each event.
MLG is headed in the right direction. I hope you guys who think you're entitled to herp derp free content wake/grow up. Why dont you grow up yourself, i just dont think mlg is worth 20 bucks. Its at night, their stream always sucks for me and their are better alternatives that are cheaper (gsl). Plus the only thing that makes mlg worth it for me(the crowd) isn't even there this event. No need to be such an ass because people dont agree with you
Look at the second sentence of my post again. Then look at yours.
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On February 15 2012 03:00 Aakoz wrote:
People must be really poor ;P 20$ is nothing ^^
Or most starcraft players are young ppl like students or ppl with minium wages who have thight budget anyway.
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On February 15 2012 02:59 Plansix wrote:
Compairing this to GSL is a bit silly. GSL does not fly anyone anywhere. They also only have the cost of the studio and stream to deal with. They have the infastructure to provide more content. If this were successful, maybe MGL could provide more events like this and more content.
Also, MGL provides more content for free that the GSL. Everything up to the finals is free and the VODs are free after the fact. None of that is true for the GSL.
It is not silly to compare it to the GSL, they are different tournaments offering the same product (sc2 tournaments) and now both are charging for the games. This is why I am not going to pay, why should I when I can pay for the GSL and get more content that includes games by the very best players in the world, the best casting team in the world AND much more content (you seem to be forgetting that with a GSL season ticket you get Code A and Up/Down matches as well.) The comparison is valid and pertinent.
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Well i think im gona buy it for 20 dollars but it really obt to be 10 dollars, 20 is so much.
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I am a current Gold member as well. I can't wrap my head around why Gold members should, at the very least, get a 50%+ Discount on this Winter Arena. Just because you name something in a way that could differentiate itself from the normal content you provide does not mean that you can price it as a package and sell it (for a ridiculous price at that) and then claim it is completely separate from the content we provide for free to our Gold Members.
They just let go alot of employees at MLG, canceled shows, parted ways with SOTG, and yet they still have these OBVIOUS money making schemes. I just don't get their mindset
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On February 15 2012 03:03 Calyeah wrote:Show nested quote +On February 15 2012 02:59 Plansix wrote:
Compairing this to GSL is a bit silly. GSL does not fly anyone anywhere. They also only have the cost of the studio and stream to deal with. They have the infastructure to provide more content. If this were successful, maybe MGL could provide more events like this and more content.
Also, MGL provides more content for free that the GSL. Everything up to the finals is free and the VODs are free after the fact. None of that is true for the GSL. It is not silly to compare it to the GSL, they are different tournaments offering the same product (sc2 tournaments) and now both are charging for the games. This is why I am not going to pay, why should I when I can pay for the GSL and get more content that includes games by the very best players in the world, the best casting team in the world AND much more content (you seem to be forgetting that with a GSL season ticket you get Code A and Up/Down matches as well.) The comparison is valid and pertinent.
I would point out that MGL provides almost all of it content for no charge at all. You don't need to watch the event live and can catch the VODs a week later. MGL is also flying the best players from around the world and housing them for the lenght of the event. All and all I think they are putting a lot of money down to run a high quality event and I am willing to risk $20 bucks to see it live.
And to be clear, I have subscribed to GSL since season 2. I used to watch it every morning before work live, now I catch the VODs when I can.
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Why is it that MLG are forcing you to buy HD streams? The internet in my area is terrible and so having no use for HD i feel like im paying the same amount and getting less out of it. Also the fact that as a european half the matches will be played in the middle of the night makes me feel like unless I ruin my sleeping pattern and watch as much as possible I would be wasting my money.
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The price point of $20 is way too high. What we're getting for $20, considering the length of the MLG, how much content, if the "look" and feel of the event is similar to what's been hosted in the past...that's expensive.
I think it's important to look the competitors and what they offer for free, and compare that against what MLG is charging. Only if MLG is incredibly, that much better, and some "value add" items such as release of replays and so on.
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On February 15 2012 03:00 Aakoz wrote:
People must be really poor ;P 20$ is nothing ^^
It is the principle of the thing that is the problem, not a 20$ bill. We, as the consumer, must hold the producer liable for outrageous prices or products.
As an example: Gold membership is 30$ a year, and last year we received 5 weekends of entertainment.
(Not to mention the other perks provided by the Gold membership)
And now we are expected to pay 20$ for 1 weekend in which the prize money is the only objective for the players.
By that I mean it is not a circuit event where the winner gets a spot in the Championship i.e. Providence.
There is a need for consistency
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On February 15 2012 03:02 Roynalf wrote:Show nested quote +On February 15 2012 03:00 Aakoz wrote:
People must be really poor ;P 20$ is nothing ^^ Or most starcraft players are young ppl like students or ppl with minium wages who have thight budget anyway.
plenty of young people/students shell out $30-50 on a given night to go drinking. it's not about whether people are poor asses, it's just where they prioritise their money. $20 for MLG isn't one of them because there are so much free content out there.
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EPT
