first, let me preface this by saying that I respect EVO and the people behind it that work tirelessly to give us an amazing event. no disrespect is meant with this thread.
with that being said, I have to ask, what happened to the prize money? Xian and Flocker are both EVO champions and yet both reportedly made less than $6000 this year? I mean, with EVO growing exponentially every year, and a stream that provides great exposure, why are this year’s players getting way less than previous years? I understand the cost of expansion and that there are now costs that have to be considered that weren’t before (larger venue, streaming, commentary), but we also had a record breaking year in terms of participants,stream viewers and paying observers. so why did Daigo make more in 2009 than both MvC and SFIV champions combined? we had 30,000 viewers that year and a total of 1700 entrants across all games, with no paying observers, but more money?
now, I know that I shouldn’t worry about other people’s money, but the concern this brings up, if this will continue to be a trend, is the potential for top players to choose greener pastures over EVO will probably increase. EVO is it right now. the cream of the crop, the most prestigious and biggest event, but how long will players choose prestige over money? with esports knocking at the door, competing events like VXG, and capcom being more accepting of MLG-type events, how long can EVO compete when their prize money seems to get smaller and smaller? right now the world’s best congregate at EVO every year, but how long before they choose other events and water down the overall competition?
I wasn’t able to find anything that said how much Daigo won in '09. I believe that payouts in previous years were more top-heavy than this year with first place getting a larger percentage of the pot, but I didn’t see anything that would suggest Daigo won more at EVO 2009 than the combined $10k+ that Flocker and Xian won this year.
The big difference between payouts at EVO from year to year comes from pot bonuses. For example, Capcom provided one last year to bring the total AE prize pool to $25k as part of the Street Fighter 25th anniversary celebration. They didn’t provide one this year, so the payout this year was entirely of entry fees (about $16k). Warner Bros./NRS provided a $20k bonus for MK9 last year but only a $5k bonus for Injustice this year.
I think talking about MLG making an impact on other FGC events is premature until we see either SF4 or MvC3 appear at one. Those two games are the biggest by far in terms of generating viewers, and MLG’s attempts with other games just haven’t done much to move the needle in the FGC. If they do get an agreement with Capcom, then it’s a new conversation.
VxG’s financial support is great to see, but I worry about its sustainability because it’s coming from a tourism board. O just don’t know if the number of people going to Da Beach will generate enough revenue to justify the nearly-$100k that’s being put into the event. What happens if/when the St. Maarten government doesn’t get quite as big of a return as they hoped? A TO who comes from the scene might be willing to take a short-term loss as an investment in growing the scene and potentially building a reputation for running a great tournament. Would a government agency show the same amount of patience?
(I should also point out that while VxG’s total prize pool is bigger than EVO’s, that total includes payouts for Halo 4, Madden 13, FIFA 13 and NBA 2k13. If you look at all of VxG’s fighters, they’re paying out $63k over 10 games and some side tournaments compared to EVO’s $68k over 9 games. When you compare each game, VxG has a bigger total prize pool in only 2 of the 9 games; Marvel and MK9. They pay out more to first place in those two games as well as in AE (by $250) and TTT2 (by $60).
daigo definitely made more in his two championships. fuudo has also made made more with his, as did infiltration. iirc correctly, the prize money started at around $9000 in 2009, and by the time fuudo won, I believe it was at $14000. I get these numbers from those years’ chats and websites all reporting, and the numbers stick out cuz I remember being really impressed. I’ll try and find some sources, just so as not to come off as speculative.
pot bonuses are something I considered, but then why were 2010 and 2011 high paying years too? there were no anniversaries or special events that would create reason for a pot bonus, but the payouts that year were still larger.
3A) Seth has already confirmed that capcom is willing to let competitive gaming leagues use their IP and its working with them on that. given how much more those guys payout, versus what looks to be a declining pay scale EVO has taken on (despite growing exponentially each year), it’s not a tough decision as to what event pros will flock to…especially considering the US government has officially recognized pro gamers as athletes.
3B) yeah, VXG sound like they saw the potential but don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing. Ronaldo isn’t a gamer, and his source of info is triforce…so I don’t know what to think. what I do see is that as the FGC becomes more visible, more and more entities will try for a slice of that pie…and if EVO keeps paying less, despite the lack of genuine intent behind the other events, it may be enough to compete for pro player consideration.
they also charged people to watch a glorified stream this year, which made me a little upset until I saw the place fill up. it was packed with at least a few thousand people, who all paid $20 to watch.
like I said, it’s not about where the money is going, or what it’s being didnspent on, but more about the type of compensation top players are getting. why are they getting less this year prior to previous years? if it’s as simple as a restructure of the payout system, cool. if the venue ate up all the cost, then I can see that too. maybe they got too ambitious with two ballrooms and the player prize money took the hit. I dunno. all I know is the amount this year was surprisingly small.
even with that, there were 1600+ entrants, and assuming that their $20 (it could be more) was all that went to the pool, that would be $32000 to work with. even assuming first place only hit 62%, that’s still $19840…and yet Xian makes less than $6000? where did the rest of the money go?
this may be it…but someone’s taking a hit, because there’s documented proof that registration is $50, plus additional cost per game entered, which means that if we take just the SFIV money, we’re looking at $112,000. of course that goes to venue fees and what not, but it’s going to get taxed…and I doubt EVO is going to pay money off the books for players and eat that tax themselves.
yes. I went. I competed and had delusions of grandeur, but at the end of the day, someone’s getting paid. again, it’s not intent of the player out what motivates them, but more about them getting what past EVOs have paid out and sharing with them the obvious growth that this event has experienced. 1600 competed, and 99% didn’t expect to get paid, I understand, but for those who did, consisting the growth and past payouts, they must be wondering where the rest of the money went.
I don’t claim to be “in-the- know”, and the way triforce handles business and is viewed in the community isn’t a big secret. Couple that with St Martens sudden commitment to gaming, and you’ve got to wonder. the fact that I don’t know anything about him more than he works for the tourism board and always says, “it’s your boy, so-and-so” is enough to make me wonder about the legitimacy of his event.
Sorry if misspelling a name discredits me, but at least I was close, yeah? at least I didn’t call him Scott. reynaldo, rodolfo, whatever it is, does that really render my entire thought invalid?
I merely mentioned VXG as a competitor that’s jockeying for players with big money incentive. notice no mention of the event on srk…
but if it makes you feel better, I won’t mention them again because I spelled dude’s name wrong.
Here we go…in an interview with Fuudo, he is asked how much he made, and he answers $10,000, less than the previous year (Daigo is said to have made $14,000) that year.
It’s 10 dollars, read the rules bro
SFIV had 1601 participants I think? So that’s a $16,010 pot. First place gets 60% of that, $ 9,606 is the ammount that Xian should win. I don’t know if there are any taxes stuff in there that drains a bit of it
awesome. then that answers why. after taxes, that amount makes sense…now if only there.was a reason this year’s EVO wasn’t as lucrative for the players as prior smaller EVOs
IN previous years it was top heavy and players complained that got 7th and 8th place that they got no money, so we changed it this year so that top 8 gets more of a fair payout system, and people are still unhappy. We simply can’t win.
For all of you wondering, the official payout percentages are as follows:
Naw, you can. you do. as prefaced, mrwizard, I love the event. my post was out of.curiosity due to the differences in top prize payout from one year to another. I mean, you guys build such a great brand, so much so that it sparks interest and curiosity. you owe no one answers, and as I’ve always taken care to say, what’s done with the money.is not my question…simply the difference from year to year.
I apologize if it has been a problematic question or one that you feel was no one’s business say your.own.
