MLG in 10 Years?

[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?