EPTUPDATE: Some comments about Team Leagues, et cetera.
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When I posted, I thought people would flip out over the Arena-PPV stuff. I certainly guessed wrong there.
As I said:
If the truth of this statement is not self-evident, nothing I say will affect your opinion.
Now, practice partners. Tennis players need practice partners too. Some people did point out the importance of developing builds and strategies in secret. That's a good point, I didn't consider that. So there is a legitimate team or clan function in players working together.
Proleague or GSTL. Yes, I am aware of SKT1 and KT. I've been watching the VODs on-and-off for five years. I acknowledged the unique environment in Korea. But it works in BW because players stick with their teams for life, unless they join the military. Developing snipers for players on opposing teams, creating race-matchup specialists...like Sundance, I get it. It's interesting. But the central drama of the match is the match, which is one player against another. If you want e-sports to go mainstream, cut out the fat, and focus on that.
So, teams...still an awkward third wheel in SC2. It has its charm, but if you count up the time SC2 teams are mentioned, versus players, its wildly in favor of individual players. Players have fan club threads. People stay up in strange time zones to cheer players, not teams. Be honest people. Again, I freely acknowledge that BW is unique, and teams have carved out a unique role.
I'm not anti-teams. If SC2 teams survive and thrive, that's great. I'm simply pointing out that there is another way of organizing players and events, that has been very successful, and it's worth discussing, learning from, and copying.
Davis Cup. Um, does anyone really care about Davis Cup?
As I said:
Team leagues. In Korea, team leagues have had a chance to develop in a remarkably unique way, but it still seems to me like pounding a round peg in a square hole. In BW, players rarely jump ship, so players and teams can co-exist in a meaningful way. But ultimately, Starcraft is an individual game. Embrace it.
If the truth of this statement is not self-evident, nothing I say will affect your opinion.
Now, practice partners. Tennis players need practice partners too. Some people did point out the importance of developing builds and strategies in secret. That's a good point, I didn't consider that. So there is a legitimate team or clan function in players working together.
Proleague or GSTL. Yes, I am aware of SKT1 and KT. I've been watching the VODs on-and-off for five years. I acknowledged the unique environment in Korea. But it works in BW because players stick with their teams for life, unless they join the military. Developing snipers for players on opposing teams, creating race-matchup specialists...like Sundance, I get it. It's interesting. But the central drama of the match is the match, which is one player against another. If you want e-sports to go mainstream, cut out the fat, and focus on that.
So, teams...still an awkward third wheel in SC2. It has its charm, but if you count up the time SC2 teams are mentioned, versus players, its wildly in favor of individual players. Players have fan club threads. People stay up in strange time zones to cheer players, not teams. Be honest people. Again, I freely acknowledge that BW is unique, and teams have carved out a unique role.
I'm not anti-teams. If SC2 teams survive and thrive, that's great. I'm simply pointing out that there is another way of organizing players and events, that has been very successful, and it's worth discussing, learning from, and copying.
Davis Cup. Um, does anyone really care about Davis Cup?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/xeKpD.jpg)
Tennis should not really require any introduction. It's a massive international sport. My intent in this article is to show the parallels between tennis and pro-SC2, and why the Starcraft community should follow the tennis model more closely and intentionally. I am not affiliated with the business side of esports at all, this is purely an amateur's opinion.
Tennis and Starcraft as Games
1. Both are individual games. Unlike team sports, such as soccer or basketball, the game hinges on the performance of a single person, not a team.
2. Both are adversarial, personal fights. Unlike golf or bowling, you aren't simply playing to compare who is better at something. You are playing directly against each other. Unlike tournament poker, you aren't playing against a table of individual players (unless it's heads-up). It's a 1v1 sport.
3. You can play multiple games per day, many days in a row, many times a year. It's not boxing. Boxing is physically taxing in a way that Starcraft is not.
Tennis and Starcraft as Professional Sports
The nature of these games dictate how they are played as professional sports.
1. The individual player is the celebrity. In tennis, there are no teams, just individual stars. Tennis fans follow players like Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. In Starcraft 2, people follow players like MarineKingPrime, Nestea, and Stephano. The teams hardly matter in SC2. When MC jumped from oGs to SK, the MC fans followed him. Compare that to baseball. People are fans of the team, not the players. When a player is traded, they cease being fans of that player. In Starcraft, as in tennis, the fan loyalty is to the player, not the team.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WczJb.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/eoQVX.jpg)
Superstars of their sport
2. The sport is set up as a series of tournaments. Dozens of people enter the tournament, and are eliminated in a series of individual matches structured into brackets. The matches are played over the course of weeks or days. In broadcasted tournaments, there is no way to show them all. They show selected matches from the early rounds. Just as there is a "Main Stage" in IPL or MLG, there is a "Centre Court" at Wimbledon. Only in the final rounds do they show every match.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/y165n.jpg)
Centre Court
3. Leagues don't matter. While each tournament organizer will have their own set of rules, they don't have the marketing power to force players to commit exclusively to an individual league. The player brings the fans, and the money.
4. Each match between the players is set up as a best-of-X series. Due to the inherent randomness present in any given set, and the relative shortness of each set, tournaments generally arrange a best-of-3, best-of-5, or best-of-7 to make for a satisfying length for the viewer, and to give a fair test of strength for the individual players.
5. It's an unequal world. The best players get all the money, attention and sponsorships. The merely good only receive a small fraction of that. Even devoted fans of the sport might not know who they are.
Tennis Top Earners
1. Federer, Roger (SUI) $69,746,521
2. Nadal, Rafael (ESP) $46,789,842
3. Djokovic, Novak (SRB) $36,206,641
4. Roddick, Andy (USA) $20,228,866
5. Murray, Andy (GBR) $20,200,873
...
46. Isner, John (USA) $3,813,768
47. Seppi, Andreas (ITA) $3,674,402
48. Mayer, Florian (GER) $3,459,506
49. Gambill, Jan-Michael (USA) $3,455,425
50. Troicki, Viktor (SRB) $3,410,683
SC2 Top Earners
1. Jang "MC" Min Chul (KOR) $277,420
2. Jeong "Mvp" Jong Hyeon (KOR) $257,570
3. Lim "NesTea" Jae Duk (KOR) $238,620
4. Mun "MMA" Seong-Won (KOR) $158,630
5. Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (KOR) $148,480
...
46. FXOpenPavel "BratOK" Kuznetsov (RUS) $23,050
47. Park "Squirtle" Hyun Woo (KOR) $22,660
48. Kim "GanZI" Dong Ju (KOR) $22,340
49. Seung-Chul "sC" Kim (KOR) $21,960
50. Jian "Fenix" Carlo Morayra Alejo (PRU) $21,660
1. Federer, Roger (SUI) $69,746,521
2. Nadal, Rafael (ESP) $46,789,842
3. Djokovic, Novak (SRB) $36,206,641
4. Roddick, Andy (USA) $20,228,866
5. Murray, Andy (GBR) $20,200,873
...
46. Isner, John (USA) $3,813,768
47. Seppi, Andreas (ITA) $3,674,402
48. Mayer, Florian (GER) $3,459,506
49. Gambill, Jan-Michael (USA) $3,455,425
50. Troicki, Viktor (SRB) $3,410,683
SC2 Top Earners
1. Jang "MC" Min Chul (KOR) $277,420
2. Jeong "Mvp" Jong Hyeon (KOR) $257,570
3. Lim "NesTea" Jae Duk (KOR) $238,620
4. Mun "MMA" Seong-Won (KOR) $158,630
5. Lee "MarineKing" Jung Hoon (KOR) $148,480
...
46. FXOpenPavel "BratOK" Kuznetsov (RUS) $23,050
47. Park "Squirtle" Hyun Woo (KOR) $22,660
48. Kim "GanZI" Dong Ju (KOR) $22,340
49. Seung-Chul "sC" Kim (KOR) $21,960
50. Jian "Fenix" Carlo Morayra Alejo (PRU) $21,660
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/v0WlN.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/CNRY0.jpg)
Winner takes all.
The Pro Tennis model as the future of SC2
1. A worldwide ranking system. The ATP assigns point values to tournament placements that players hold for a year. The point totals determine your ATP ranking. Starcraft should develop a similar ranking system. This has several advantages. It allows for proper seeding of brackets, to make them more fair. It encourages players to attend tournaments. It gives casual fans an immediate and easy way to determine underdogs in an match. It provides some tension and significance to tournament results over a year. Rather than a collection of individual events, we can talk about the rise and fall of a player.
To some extent, we already do this...have Nestea and MC already peaked? Are their glory days behind them? We can argue back-and-forth, but a ranking system, recognized by both players and tournaments, would give some structure to these stories. And stories are the lifeblood of sports commentary.
2. Focus on individual rivalries. Again, we already do this. Polt-vs-Stephano. MVP-vs-MMA. TLPD and Liquipedia provide an invaluable service in giving us the stats for matchups. Hopefully, Starcraft can develop epic rivalries like Nadal-Federer. Stories make sports more compelling.
3. Sponsorships should focus on players and tournaments, not teams. I don't have expertise in this, but it seems that team sponsorship is putting a round peg in a square hole. The dominant personalities are the players, not the team. The dominant media environment is the tournament, as there is no home court, no home team.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEnFrS18xkc
4. Teams should be sports agencies, not teams. To some extent they already are. They handle money, media, sponsorships, branding, PR. Starcraft 2 players need practice partners, sure, but again, it's not a team sport. Did anyone really care when Huk went from Liquid to EG? Or MC from oGs to SK?
5. SC2 Tournaments should be run like tennis tournaments. Revenue from sponsorships, ticket sales, and broadcast rights. I don't want to go into the Arena-PPV debate, but I'll simply observe that tennis as a pro-sport grows by allowing casual viewers to watch for free. Then, as they get more into it, they pay to attend tournaments. PPV is not part of the equation.
6. Team leagues. In Korea, team leagues have had a chance to develop in a remarkably unique way, but it still seems to me like pounding a round peg in a square hole. In BW, players rarely jump ship, so players and teams can co-exist in a meaningful way. But ultimately, Starcraft is an individual game. Embrace it.
7. The "small" things. In tennis, the player is given a great deal of space. The players prep their minds in their private locker rooms, walk out, and get ready, and start playing. They decide, within certain time limits, when to serve. They don't do pre-game interviews. They have a press conference hours or days before the match, and an immediate post-game interview.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mwATA.jpg)
Hell, we even call them "Opens", just like tennis.
