They have int'l tournaments, "prize money worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, team managers, sponsors, coaches and millions of fans," according to Barney Thompson of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Now "competitive computer gamers have set up their own" FIFA-style world association to further professionalize the world of esports.
ESL, the world’s largest eSports company, and some of the top franchises such as Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas, have formed an association to set "the global benchmark for industry-wide standards" in areas such as player representation, regulations and revenue sharing, as well as settle disputes over contracts and game rules. The World ESports Association "will have a commissioner, Pietro Fringuelli, a partner and digital media specialist at CMS, the law firm." He "has advised other sporting organisations including the Bundesliga for German football." The announcement on Friday came as London hosts the finals of the ESL Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League, a competition involving the world’s top players of a "first-person shooter" team game with a top prize of £140,000 ($200,000). The various video games that are counted as eSports "have huge followings, with several million watching games on websites such as Twitch" -- bought by Amazon in '14 for £671M. Revenue from esports -- including media rights, merchandise, ticket sales, online advertising and money from game publishers -- is projected to reach £322M ($461M) in '16, up from £226M the previous year. The figure "is expected to more than double during the next three years, Newzoo predicts." ESL co-Founder & Managing Dir Ralf Reichert said that the association was "a critical milestone on our way to grow esports globally" and would help it become "the leading source of entertainment of gaming fans around the world." However, "it is not clear that ESL’s rivals around the world, such as DreamHack, MLG and FaceIt, will want to join" (FT, 5/13). WESA will offer the chance to bring all eSports stakeholders -- players, teams, organizers and broadcasters -- to the discussion table in order to bring much needed structure, predictable schedules and transparency to the scene. Eight of the world’s biggest multi-gaming brands have contributed to the founding of WESA, with the association aiming to add more members and negotiations continuing with various organizations.
The founding teams are Fnatic, Natus Vincere, EnVyUs, Virtus.pro, G2 Esports, FaZe, Mousesports and Ninjas in Pyjamas (ESL).
