Major League Gaming has dramatically reworked its annual Pro Circuit series, expanding its competitive video gaming events from six per year into a four-season structure that will at least triple the number of tournaments held each year. The '12 Pro Circuit calendar will be divided into four seasons -- winter, spring, summer, and fall -- with the winter season beginning Jan. 31. The exact number of tournaments to be held this year is not yet finalized. But MLG's broad goal is to have a Pro Circuit event held during the majority of weekends during '12, not unlike how tennis, golf and NASCAR schedule their events. "This is a really important transitional step for us," said MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni. "We had a huge run of growth last year, and the demand for more competition is clearly there." MLG ended its '11 Pro Circuit run with more than 3.5 million unique viewers for its competitions streamed online, 225% above the '10 season. The expanded schedule also creates a wide array of potential new corporate entitlements for MLG, and DiGiovanni said the property intends to sell naming rights for each of the four Pro Circuit seasons.
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