Here’s something crazy: eSports top tournaments pay their champions more money than most conventional sports personalities earn in a given competition! The earnings top tournaments pay for top teams will make you wonder why you are still breaking a sweat in the field instead of getting in front of a monitor for some gaming experience. Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Fortnite all hold tournaments, which pay top winners figures that put to shame what some conventional sports pay.
Valve Corporation recently held the The International Dota 2 championships, in which the winning teams took home whopping figures. The pool prize for 2019’s The International Dota 2 was the mind-boggling $34,292,599, with the winning team taking home a breathtaking $15,603,133. This year’s winning team OG also won the tournament in 2018.
OG team has five members, and an equal split of the prize money would result in each member getting $3.1 million according to a leading esports consultant. This estimated earnings for each OG team member make what Tiger Woods earned in the 2019 Masters ($2.09 million) look rather modest. On the other hand, Simona Halep and Novak Djokovic, both Wimbledon singles champions each earned $2.9 in 2019 which pales significantly when compared to the competitive gaming earnings.
eSports Are Not So Rosy, after All
But despite their impressive earnings, eSports champions are not household names like their conventional sports counterparts. They are not referred to by their real names while participating in sports gaming, so knowing them well can be difficult. eSports careers also tend to be sensationally short-lived. The reason why these careers last only a short time is that it takes being hyper-fast while gaming to remain competitive in eSports. Speed while in front of the monitor tends to last a relatively short time.
Another plus for conventional sports over eSports is that there are always other opportunities to compete. There are three different grand slams beside Wimbledon, while The International is just one competition. But even with such considerations, competitive eSports now involve large amounts of money that you cannot just ignore.
Team Liquid was the runners up team in the 2019 edition of The International. The total team prize was $4,458,038. If this were to be divided amongst the team members equally, each would take home close to $892,000. OG defeated team liquid in the grand finals 3-1. The International 2019 games were held at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China from August 20-25.
The tournament was covered via live streaming on Twitch Tv. The popularity of eSports is catching on fast as, during some peak hours of the games, over 1 million views were recorded on the live stream. Maybe the vast sums to be made in competitive gaming are also an attraction that is drawing the attention at large of many enthusiasts.
So, Who Makes Up the Winners?
The International 2019 winners OG was the first team to win the tournament two years in a row. OG is Europe-based and was formed by Dota 2 professional players. Some of the players in the team were originally from Team Secret. The team also presents players in other games such as Super Smash Bros Series.
As expected in eSports, the team changes its members a lot. Some members have been in the team since its inception in 2015, though. The winning 2019 team had members that were not in the 2018 team. Current team members are from four different nationalities, namely Australia, Denmark, France, and Finland. The team has had a winning streak since it was constituted to compete in Dota 2.
The runners up, Team Liquid was founded in the Netherlands in 2000 as a Brood War Clan. Team Liquid formed a Dota 2 division towards the end of 2012. The team has a strong leaning towards North America with more of its members being from the region. Competitive gaming fans associate Team Liquid with its website, which is one of the most browsed sites in the gaming niche. The site was launched on 1st May 2001. Team Liquid has maintained most members from its earlier lineup.
For gaming lovers, considering entering competitive eSports and winning the huge tournament cash is perhaps a pie in the sky. You can still get a piece of the action, though. According to the highly authoritative catalog of online bookies – allbookmakers.com, BUFF.bet offers the best Dota 2 bets, which are an excellent way to make a little cash from your favourite eSport.
The bottom line, however, is that we are going to see eSports go from strength to strength. Watch this space.