Prize Money and Sponsorship in Professional Electronic Sports
There are a number of titles that support a professional gaming scene. Sometimes game developers will use e-sports as a marketing outlet for their games, providing prize money for competition directly. In other cases, sponsorship extends well beyond the developers of the game in question. This commonly includes tech companies and companies selling computer hardware or energy drinks. For some games, total prize money can amount to millions of dollars a year. Popular tournaments include those run by the World Cyber Games, the World e-Sports Games, and the Electronic Sports World Cup.
Besides direct prize money earnings, players may also receive money through direct sponsorship of themselves or their team. A team sponsorship usually includes travel expenses and sometimes free hardware specific to that company. Although sponsorships have evolved over the years, the first all inclusive team sponsorship was given to Team Abuse in June 2000. Team Abuse was a well-respected Quake II team led by Doug 'Citizen' Suttles and a gamut of talented players . Upon their hosting of a grass roots event called Lansanity in Portland, OR, Team Abuse was offered a complete sponsorship, setting precedents for many gamers to come. The Speakeasy sponsorship included a fully leased gaming studio in Lake Oswego, OR, with a Speakeasy.net T1 connection. Additionally Team Abuse was sent to many CPL events, Quake Invitational League events, hosted Lansanity 2, and also found itself sending Marc 'pureluck' Naujock to the XSI Invitational in London as part of the Top 10 USA players vs the Top 10 European players tournament. Speakeasy paved the way for fully immersive corporate marketing sponsorship for professional gaming by applying merchandising, PR, grass root events, and a serious interest in the gaming community.
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—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 87 (June 17, 1991)