The launch of the Professional Esports Association this past week adds a new layer to the eSports world as the organization looks to shore up the involvement of players and teams into the business with perks that include a 50/50 split in revenue distribution. Team SoloMid, Cloud9, Team Liquid, Counter Logic Gaming, Immortals, NRG eSports and compLexity Gaming are all on-board as partners in the new league, which also offers the likes of health care, shares of Casters and more. Commissioner Jason Katz told Cynopsis that he hopes the new approach will extend career lives and open the doors for better ties with industry sponsors as the sport moves past its “wild west” stigma.
“There is a fairly established architecture for major professional sports leagues as a business the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, etc. which all operate under an architecture of team organizations owning the league with players sharing in the profits with the owners,” Katz said. “Broadcast deals and sponsorship deals run through the league directly. In eSports, we’ve had a history of tournaments being run by entrepreneurs who were essentially mom-and-pop shops and didn’t have the financial resources or business background to step up and handle the operation of leagues and mediate between a dozen team owners. There were a number of tournament organizers who came and went and there was no reliability for the fans, sponsors or media partners.”
The organization will launch with a CS:GO league in January that offers weekly matches during the ten week season and a prize pool of at least $1,000,000 during its first year and $500,000 for season one. Meanwhile, the league is hosting conversations for a media partner and sponsors for the inaugural tournament.
“People would get very short notice of when leagues are going to start play and who was going to participate and it is almost entirely because the people who are offering that product don’t have a close working relationship with the teams and players,” he said. “They don’t share the profits and they give as little as they can. What the PEA brings are true team franchises where we are making an indefinite commitment that they will be around for many years playing in PEA leagues. That creates benchmark stability for players, sponsors, broadcasters, fans and team organizations themselves.
