Canada and USA semi-pro league? - Page 3

On December 02 2011 02:39 Complete wrote:
I meant in terms of lying about location.

On December 02 2011 04:38 mizU wrote:
$15 entry fee is STEEP for an online emerging league. Why should people pay it? Is it just to cover prize pools?

On December 02 2011 04:47 LuckyFool wrote:
Typically Washington DC is a fringe northeast city not south... Maybe better for regional balance that it's included in the south here...

On December 02 2011 05:43 mizU wrote:
Yeah... having an online tournament where the entry fee covers the prize pool doesn't really help your case. Get sponsors or don't charge an entry fee.
It's fine at a LAN, but no online unless you're offering wonderful production or something.

On December 01 2011 06:48 Masamune wrote:
US Northeast is imba.

Cool initiative btw, would definitely join if I played SC2. Gogo Ontario!!!

On December 02 2011 09:39 DreamChaser wrote:


We are? The only pro i know is Pokebunny.

But this does sound pretty awesome. Now we will know which regions are really holding back the NA servers lol

On December 02 2011 14:00 3clipse wrote:
Joining Manitoba with Alberta and Saskatchewan would make much more sense than keeping it with Ontario, both in terms attempting population equality and in terms of what Canadians commonly think of as distinct regions.

On December 02 2011 13:37 Drogith wrote:

The are a few other players that are on pro teams in the NE or could be. coL.Ryan and tGensulitor and epBoyo to name just 3. And technically GGLastShadow, but he's in Korea atm.

On December 02 2011 14:37 Saraf wrote:
U.S. West here, and I'd love the opportunity to cast some games for this league (if it gets off the ground); I'm just getting started but my early casting samples are online at twitch.tv/sixwings and youtube.com/sarafsc2.

Hiltonizer
I've thought about this, and concluded this is really the only reason professional sports work.

By having teams of a certian area, people of that area have a built-in connection. Lessof the drama/personality crap of supporting current pro SC2 teams and players, and more of allegience to your people from your area. Who here wouldn't love to see local boys going up against some fruitcakes from California? What fruitcake from California wouldn't love to see battles of some surfer douches against some Texans?

Boston/New England vs New York? There's 30k viewers at least right there.

New England (photon) Cannons ftw.

Drogith
See, your on par with what I was thinking about. When you think of professional sports teams, you think of cities. Areas that people can connect to. Right now you can either connect as Korean, or foreigner. There is no real closer entity, yet you look at the local scenes, and you find a following: Boyo, Ryan, ducky... even Rob has a cheer section. And this is at the no-pro level. Now if you look at minor league baseball, like the Manchester, NH Fishercats. Even at that level there is HUGE support. Less drama from big teams and all the BS cut out. But those players still get moved up into the Pro scene. We don't have that in E-sports. Not even if you think about Korea and Code A/B. Most of those guys are already on teams... and that goes back into the drama and BS.

Hiltonizer
I'm with you 100% brohan. People watch Playhem tournaments for example, not to take away from them... but why? You can be better served learning strats watching VOD's of higher level play... you have no rooting interest generally, and the production is average to slightly above.

I think if it was run sort of like the AHGL where there were inter-company tryouts like Microsoft had (only the company being a region/city/metro/state), and then had team based competition, you'd have a good following on your hands. As a business model, you could go with the traditional sponsorship route, but with a local rooting interest that opens up other opportunities like branded swag and fee based event (similar to a pro sports team).

EDIT: After more consideration, this opens up new sponsorship opportunities for local/regional businesses. Papa Gino's for example would have no reason to sponsor Team Liquid, but they might have a business case for sponsoring the New England Bunkers Hill

SanteClaws
I know that the idea behind this is to get that intermediary step between amateur gamer, and pro gamer, but is the idea to get semi-pro regionally based teams setup, and competing against one another? Or, to get a NA system that would allow for consistent competitive play to allow NA players to get tourney experience and grow as players, and teams be damned?

Drogith
To put it in your words, "teams be damned". I'm looking for consistant competitive play. If people end up getting picked up for teams while doing so, fantastic! But that is not a primary objective.

SanteClaws
Perhaps I should clarify "teams be damned", but it seems like you knew what I was saying. The idea is not "Team Midwest" vs "Team New England"for set tourney, correct? Obviously, people are going to root for their local guys (much like we did at MLG), which is fine and should be encouraged. I just would be less interested if the region vs region idea was the goal (obviously, for finals having the match-ups be determined by region would be expected).

Drogith
Well, like you alluded to, region vs region gets a lot more people interested in it, as they can root for their own guys. But what that effectively does is keeps the interest. SC2 really does rely on community, and that sustains that community. It also gives a good breeding ground for future gamers.