MLG in 10 Years?

[Spazzo]

I certainly have my own ideas of what I'd like to see MLG evolve into, what future games they might have and the business direction they might go.

Will there even be an MLG in 10 years? Will it pass the audience and participation level of other Professional Leagues? Will Pros have status and endorsements as high as athletes in today's society?

Thoughts?

[chris_cr33p]

yes, no, no, and we already have seen that, red bull sponsors travis pastrana, redbull also sponsors SQ

[HEA7]

maybe in 50 years....

[RagingChickens]

yes, no, no, and we already have seen that, red bull sponsors travis pastrana, redbull also sponsors SQ

But not nearly the level sponsorships that most athletes get.


maybe in 50 years....

MLG has been around for 9 years and look what it has accomplished. If anything, I think 10 years is a little bit long for this to happen. MLG is going to explode and become huge very soon.

[Gruntly]

I'd like to see MLG on TV again...but live, not rebroadcasts. As far as passing other leagues in audience count...maybe Cricket. I think there will more sponsors than there are now, but not as much as other sports. There will be more players seen as pros than just the top 8-12 teams.

[pt ogre]

As far as passing other leagues in audience count...maybe Cricket

lolwut?

162 million viewers watched the first 40 matches of this year's cricket world cup.. 17 million alone were using their online streams to watch

methinks you underestimate the popularity of the sport

[WobblyJackMcFruit]

MLG will continue to grow in the short to medium term but they'll eventually hit the upper ceiling of a commercially-driven society. In order for a sport to grow in general popularity it needs some element of stability and consistency to allow the casual observer to gain an initial interest, identify with the sport, it's players and team and finally become a fan. However, in order to retain the support of the industry that it ultimately represents, MLG need to rotate the games on the circuit every few years at least which doesn't really allow this gradual acceptance to happen. This is a consequence of the consumer-driven culture of the countries in which MLG operates and at the moment that's limited to the US and Canada. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, just stating a fact.

This means that MLG will need to look beyond North America for its long-term future and that'll probably mean Asia since Western Europe would present many of the same problems as the US. Starcraft is practically the national sport in South Korea and I'd be surprised if MLG's inclusion of Starcraft 2 on the circuit doesn't mean they have at least one eye on the Asian market (probably both).

Look at it this way: MLG is currently dependent on the popularity of the Halo franchise. That's a precarious platform to build a business on and it makes complete sense for them to start to de-emphasise the Halo side of the circuit and start to look for more long-term sources of income. They need to do thins while not alienating their fan/customer base which is why some of their recent investments and acquisitions have been kept under the radar but it looks to me as though MLG may ultimately try to take control of their own destiny and become a games development themselves (or at least buy into a development studio).

So yes, MLG will grow but not in the way you might expect. In my opinion of course.

Gruntly, you know that cricket is almost a religion in some parts of the world (India, Pakistan, Australia), right? ;)

[Cheeky]

MLG will be around in 10 years....I will make sure it does!
- It will not pass the audience of Basketball, football, and baseball. But we can sure as hell come close!
- I Introduce MLG to basically anyone who talks to me. If you don't know about it before you meet me....You will definitely want to watch the next up coming event after talking to me!
- Pros will most likely never have as high as a pay as other pro atheletes nowadays, but it doesn't mean we can't come close. - In about 10 years I see average pro players making at least 50,000 - 60,000 a year if not more in a salary kind of standard. If see contracts coming back, and I see more and more sponsors signing on as long as MLG doesn't milk them..

[Fir3]

No halo :(

[mrkillboy]

There isn't going to be an MLG in 10 years. Calling it right now.

[Tidus]

In 9 years, MLG has gone from less than 100 people attending a cramped room with 1 TV per team. Four years later, it's broadcasted on TV and people are getting sponsorships from companies like Red Bull. Now, it's over thousands of people attending the events, hundreds of teams competing in 3 titles, and so many people watching the livestream, it crashes almost every time it's on. I think it's safe to say that in 10 years they will probably be making about as much as a league such as the NBA or the NFL, today. Professional video gaming is the world's fastest growing competitive sport.

[theBEAST385]

I think there will be an mlg in ten years and hopefully it will begin to explode by then. Wouldn't it be cool if we help make it big? I would really want to see it explode because I, and all of us, could say we were there from the beginning.

[Gruntly]

lolwut?

162 million viewers watched the first 40 matches of this year's cricket world cup.. 17 million alone were using their online streams to watch

methinks you underestimate the popularity of the sport

lol, I must have. I'll check my sources next time XD.

[Xzwolf]

I just hope MLG airs on TV!! :D

[slippyal2]

Pros will still split $20,000 for an event win in 10 years. MLG needs to have more money on the line, it embarassing that it's the same payout from 5 years ago. I think MLG if it's still around, will probably be out of the console business and have pc games only.

[zig8]

i think in 10 years hopefully pro gamers will be making salaries for competing from the leagues they compete in, along with teams having contracts on players so they can't switch up rosters every tournament and there is more longevity. i'd like to see actual player drafts, and just more overall professionalism as it should really be treated like a sport rather than a carnival.

i'd also like to see more games that are made specifically with competition in mind, and maybe a franchise that is like Halo but has official tournament support and LAN capabilities that are built for the competitive aspect of the game, rather than the game being made for casual enjoyment and entertainment.

[Cinderella_Man]

I would like to see gaming become more popular than sports, and MLG becomes larger than ESPN. That would be awesome, haha. Just imagine, there is limitless possibilities.

[Gruntly]

i'd also like to see more games that are made specifically with competition in mind, and maybe a franchise that is like Halo but has official tournament support and LAN capabilities that are built for the competitive aspect of the game, rather than the game being made for casual enjoyment and entertainment.

I'd also like to see a game like this. I remember seeing a game that was supposed to be like this...looked like Borderlands, I forget waht the name of it is.

[itzcritty]

In 9 years, MLG has gone from less than 100 people attending a cramped room with 1 TV per team. Four years later, it's broadcasted on TV and people are getting sponsorships from companies like Red Bull. Now, it's over thousands of people attending the events, hundreds of teams competing in 3 titles, and so many people watching the livestream, it crashes almost every time it's on. I think it's safe to say that in 10 years they will probably be making about as much as a league such as the NBA or the NFL, today. Professional video gaming is the world's fastest growing competitive sport.

You will never see MLG even in the same vacinity of professional SPORTS when it comes to salary. To be a professional athelete takes unparalleled commitment and determination which is why they make "the big bucks" Its alot easier to compete with someone in a video game than it would be to play LeBron James 1 v 1. Playing video games is awesome and fun but it will never compete with actual sports.

Also on a side note MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and Im not even sure competetive gaming is considered a sport.

[Fir3]

You will never see MLG even in the same vacinity of professional SPORTS when it comes to salary. To be a professional athelete takes unparalleled commitment and determination which is why they make "the big bucks" Its alot easier to compete with someone in a video game than it would be to play LeBron James 1 v 1. Playing video games is awesome and fun but it will never compete with actual sports.

Also on a side note MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and Im not even sure competetive gaming is considered a sport.

I wouldn't say never. Also, being a professional gamer might take unparalled commitment and determination, but I wouldn't know.. I'm not a professional athelete or gamer.

[Antidote]

You will never see MLG even in the same vacinity of professional SPORTS when it comes to salary. To be a professional athelete takes unparalleled commitment and determination which is why they make "the big bucks" Its alot easier to compete with someone in a video game than it would be to play LeBron James 1 v 1. Playing video games is awesome and fun but it will never compete with actual sports.

Also on a side note MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and Im not even sure competetive gaming is considered a sport.

It's not really considered a sport here in America. In other countries however, that's a whole other story.

Plus for the MMA thing it's only growing so fast because American men somehow find it appealing to watch people beat the crap out of each other. . . Good old 'merica. Sometimes I'm just quite disgusted.

[itzcritty]

It's not really considered a sport here in America. In other countries however, that's a whole other story.

Plus for the MMA thing it's only growing so fast because American men somehow find it appealing to watch people beat the crap out of each other. . . Good old 'merica. Sometimes I'm just quite disgusted.

Well you might not fully appretiate MMA just as most people do not appretiate competitive gaming.

[uiusorro]

Competitive gaming is a niche market and there is only so much room it can grow. It will be around but marketing and advertising is what keeps the major sports alive and unfortunately that is an extremely tough area for MLG to grow. Pareto's Law is in full effect on this subject. (80% of revenue comes from 20% of the market)

[Havoc]

Well, think about how fast technology is growing, Video games are going to step up to a whole new level pretty soon and MLG will rise with it.

[Robbo]

Its got to be Europe man, thats what im looking forward to in general.

[Fatalisttttt]

I'd like to see MLG on TV again...but live, not rebroadcasts. As far as passing other leagues in audience count...maybe Cricket. I think there will more sponsors than there are now, but not as much as other sports. There will be more players seen as pros than just the top 8-12 teams.

This would be awesome to see it on TV but the problem is the language. It would be very hard to edit it out to make it okay to broadcast and players certainly can't be told not to swear. As hard as I can try, I can't keep from dropping the f-bomb at least 20 times a game, lol.