Pro Gaming Structure

tenringer

United States31 Posts

January 09 2007 04:55 GMT

While StarCraft was my first love, over the years I turned into more of an fps player and my main game currently is counter-strike. There's been a lot of turmoil going on in the cs scene lately, including the announcement of a league to be run by DirecTV. It's possible that they will end up running a draft, making new teams, and paying the managers directly. While not very many people seem to be very happy about this league structure it hasn't occurred to anyone to look at the pro gaming structure which already exists.

Now I still follow the starcraft scene but I guess I never really understood the exact structure, so I have a few questions:

Who puts on the tournaments? TV stations or independents or what?
Who pays the teams besides prize money? I know they have sponsors and some teams have more money than others but is this their only source of income?
How would a new team become professional?
How does an average gamer make it to professional status/get on a pro team?

il0seonpurpose

Korea (South)5638 Posts

January 09 2007 05:01 GMT

1. mbc is mostly the starcraft channel, there are others that just show starcraft
2. yeah, big sponsers i guess, like samsung and skt1, so much money
3. idk
4. its suppose to be a secret but if ur rreally good, then i think they ask u to play some games (like draco and suncow) and basically draco had good manner and suncow was being a retard.
then u sign a contract lol idk something like that

QuietIdiot

7004 Posts

January 09 2007 05:03 GMT

I think for the last one, you have to gain membership as a practice partner, work your way up, just like Nal_keke did or Nal_draco. However, a team can only grant 2 licenses a year for a guy so you have to have exceptional skills. Or you could try your luck at the massive Courage League where everyone has like a 2% chance of winning -_-

thedeadhaji

39489 Posts

January 09 2007 05:10 GMT

Two Individual Leagues, MSL and OSL, aired by MBC game and Ongamenet, respectively. 3 seasons per year, winter, summer and fall. Each season is sponsored by a corporation.

Their is also Proleague, which is a team league.

Prize money is given to the top finishers, but on top of that, gamers are paid a certain amount per match. Sponsors provide the team with living accomodations and salary.

cYaN

Norway3322 Posts

January 09 2007 05:11 GMT

I assume you're speaking about the korean scene.
MBCgame and OGN put on all the Korean tournaments/league (with very few exceptions, in which case it's the pro teams themselves. Superfights (CJ) and KT KTF.
Sponsors. Pretty much every team is named after their main sponsor. OGN Sparkys is obviously mainly supported by OGN.
A new team become pros? put enough money into it and i'm sure KeSPA would ackknowledge it.
An average game has to make himself a mark in the scene.... then join a team as a training partner, win (or do very well) in a courage tournament and then official sign for a team as a progamer (in viture of his winning the courage)

thedeadhaji

39489 Posts

January 09 2007 05:15 GMT

I just remembered that teh proteams must pay Kespa a certain sum every year... i think it was $20K?

I remember Samsung was squabbling about this with Kespa a month ago.

tenringer

United States31 Posts

January 09 2007 05:16 GMT

thanks for the help

i guess i worded my first question wrong. Do MBC and OGL run the msl/osl/starleague or are they run separately and work together? Example, the nfl is run on its own and works together with different tv stations (cbs, fox, espn etc) for broadcasting. In this new DTV league for cs the station would also own the league.

also what is kespa?

alffla

Hong Kong20321 Posts

January 09 2007 08:55 GMT

On January 09 2007 14:16 tenringer wrote:
thanks for the help

i guess i worded my first question wrong. Do MBC and OGL run the msl/osl/starleague or are they run separately and work together? Example, the nfl is run on its own and works together with different tv stations (cbs, fox, espn etc) for broadcasting. In this new DTV league for cs the station would also own the league.

also what is kespa?

they run seperately and its OSL not OGL hahah "OnGameNet StarLeague
they are basically 2 different SC channels, 2 different sets of leagues.

kespa is the Korean e-sports players association

tenringer

United States31 Posts

January 09 2007 11:57 GMT

yeah my bad ogl was a muscle memory typo. thanks for the help

HonestTea

5007 Posts

January 09 2007 12:32 GMT

#10

There are four interrelated parties to the progaming scene.

1. KESPA - the overseeing organization.

The Korean E-Sports Association oversees all progaming in Korea. To run a tournament, the broadcasters need Kespa approval. This means the games follow Kespa rules, there is always a Kespa referee present, and the players and teams must be registered with Kespa to participate.

2. The Braodcasters/Leagues

Currently, there are three leagues, each with their own structure.

a. MSL (and Survivor League). The MSL is organized and funded by MBCgame. MBCgame is a cable channel that specializes in game-related programming. They fund and organize their own tournament as original created content for their channel. The MSL has the approval and supervision of Kespa. Only Kespa-registered progamers can participate. This model is the same as the DirecTV/Counter-strike model you mention.

b. OSL (and Dual League). Up till last year, OSL was also organized and funded by the cable channel it was broadcasted on - Ongamenet. However, beginning this year, Shinhan Bank stepped in to co-sponsor the funding duties. The Current OSL is under the funding of Shinhan Bank. Ongamenet's responsibility is to run and broadcast the thing. It's sort of like the NFL - ESPN relationship, except Ongamenet is more invovled in the actual running of the tournament. Like the MSL, the OSL is Kespa-approved.

c. Proleague. The proleague is entirely run by Kespa, and broadcasted on Ongamenet and MBCgame. The relationship between proleague and the TV channels is exactly like NFL and network television.

[edit]
d. forgot to mention SuperFights. Superfights are also organized by a cable channel: CJ Media. So the structure is alike to MSL - organized and funded by the same channel that the games are shown on. And with the Kespa stamp of approval.

3. The Teams.

To become a proleague team, you must register at Kespa. There are a few requirements, namely a minimum required number of players, a registered coach and assistant coach, guaranteed practice facilities, and a yearly payment to the Kespa fund.

Currently, all 11 progaming teams are being sponsored by parent companies. These companies range from non-gaming-specific household Korean brands (SKT, KTF, CJ) to smaller gaming-specific companies (MBCgame, Hanbit Sotfware, E-Stro). Why do companies pay yearly salaries to progamers? Mostly for the advertising effec (think of F1 racing). Also, companies that sponsor progaming teams get some tax breaks for their contributions from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

4. Players.

Kespa rules offer a few specific ways to earn progamer status. You can pass the Monthly Courage Tournament (I guess it's sort of like passing bar to be a lawyer). You can place high in a minimum number of amateur tournaments to get semi-pro status. Or one of the teams can use their exceptions (each team has 2 per year) to select you to their roster. Of course, you must be very skilled to get a team to use their exception on you. (such as a prominent practice partner)

How does the money flow?

Kespa gets money from each of the proteams. It also gets money from the Ministry of Culture and Education (Or was it the Ministry of InfoTech... can't remember. Either one)

The Tournaments get money from their sponsors. For examply, last MSL was called "PRINGLES MSL." P&G Korea paid good money to MSL to have their name there. In turn, they dish out appearance fees and tournament winnings.

The Broadcasters get money from the advertising revenue that they get while showing the tournaments. In theory, they should pay the tournament organizers for the rights to show their games. But, in the case of the MSL, and OSL, the tournament organizers ARE the broadcasters.

The Teams get prize money from winning tournaments, plus an appearance fee for each game they play on TV. Teams also get much money from their corporate sponsors. At the same time, each team must pay a tax to Kespa.

The Players get prize money and appearance fees as well. Players on sponsored teams also receive fixed salaries from their parent companies. In many cases, there will be incentives written into the players' contracts, so they will get extra money for winning tournaments or MVP awards and such.

siro)

Australia848 Posts

January 09 2007 12:38 GMT

#11

HT wins

tenringer

United States31 Posts

January 09 2007 12:44 GMT

#12

i love you HT

HonestTea

5007 Posts

January 09 2007 12:48 GMT

#13

Anyway, for what its worth, the DirecTV - CS model would look a lot like early progaming in Korea, like around '98, '99.

Back then, it was one channel (not even a gaming-only channel; it was the anime channel Tooniverse) that decided to show competitive gaming on TV.

Tooniverse played the roles of Kespa, the broadcasters, and the tournaments all at the same time. They decided the format/rules of the tournament, and who would play, and then they showed it as original content to get viewers. And of course, viewers = advertising money.

There weren't even teams back then. It was just Tooniverse and the players.

I guess that grew into the institutionalized monster that we have now.

Regardless, glad to be of your service. ^_^

Liquid`Jinro

Sweden33719 Posts

January 09 2007 12:56 GMT

#14

EDIT:
Just saw honestea's post - it probably covers everything I mentioned and with far greater accuracy most likely (I haven't read it yet)

If anything I said contradicts honstea's post it's probably best to assume that he's right!

On January 09 2007 14:01 il0seonpurpose wrote:
1. mbc is mostly the starcraft channel, there are others that just show starcraft
2. yeah, big sponsers i guess, like samsung and skt1, so much money
3. idk
4. its suppose to be a secret but if ur rreally good, then i think they ask u to play some games (like draco and suncow) and basically draco had good manner and suncow was being a retard.
then u sign a contract lol idk something like that

MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, nonono.
1) MBC and Ongamenet are the main starcraft channels, they host the biggest leagues, but the sponsors are generally big corporations.

2) Teams are sponsored by, again, big businesses for the most part. And yea, this is the players main source of income, they have a set salary.

3) I don't know how exactly, but presumably they'd need to register with the KESPA (korean esports association, formerly KPGA I think?) somehow? I have no real idea actually, but I guess they'd have to be recognized by them, as they are the governing entity of progaming in korea I believe?

4) You have to acquire a sem-pro license at first (at least I think they still make the distincton between pro and semi pro), which is primarily done by winning the Courage League which takes place once a month.

There's also Elite (unsure about details), and various other events that happen a few times a year in which you can be gain the status of semi-pro.

Teams can also grant a certain number (unsure how many) of players pro-status. EDIT: Honstea says 2 so there it is!

To become a full pro I believe you have to be drafted by one of the teams, I'm not sure how often there's a draft - monthly?

In order to play in the OGN and MBC offline prelims I think you have to hold a semi-pro license.