I'll start by saying that no, none of this is perfect, but many of the problems people point out are systemic of all Esports, and everyone is struggling to find ways around those problems, even the biggies. League of Legends suffers from this, where teams are almost made and broken based on the grueling LCS season, which also will often outright not allow certain players to rep their sponsors as well. Riot, the company behind LoL, issue lots of money to teams to pay salaries, but even that often isn't enough to cover equipment, housing, travel, etc. In DOTA, teams with even decent results fold because the payouts are very top heavy. To put it lightly, the system is very flawed even for the biggest moneymakers in the industry.
To bring it back to NRS and I2, there has been a lot of groveling about money, and how it is not being spread out enough to "help" players. I'm not arguing for only top 8 payout (I can see no real reason why we shouldn't!), but the reality is you cannot sustain a life on winnings from high placings unless you are
really, really good. In no other sport or Esport would a player survive based on whether or not they won or lose, that is simply asking too much. The worst part is, with how tournaments are nowadays, even getting that little slice of the pie from say a top 16 payout probably won't be enough to make every tournament.
That may sound gloomy, but the reality is that to make a living just playing videogames, you need to embrace social media, and even that is shaky and unstable, given Youtube's recent demonetization crisis. Some people on this site are already trying to do this like
@REO and
@STB Shujinkydink , who make videos and, no matter how inane, do their best to try and get an audience to see it. Obviously, this largely viewed negatively by lots of people, but you know what? That's the game! You have to do things like that in order to maintain relevance, because winning doesn't last forever. The Sirens on CW? I bet those girls were over the moon with the offer, since you can't buy that kind of exposure, ever. You have to reach for the brass ring, because it's way up there if you want a career in this line of work. That's not to mention maintaining a healthy twitter and streaming schedule, which is also imperative.
To get attention from people that can really make a difference when it comes to playing games, you have to prove your worth. I don't mean to say that you have to mindlessly whore yourself out for the nearest dollar, but if all you're doing is trying to place, then you're doing it wrong, plain and simple. No business in corporate America, if they're smart, are marks for the tournament wins, they're marks for perceived value over time. Look at some real examples:
@EMPEROR_THEO emerged from his bunker twenty floors below sea level and is now streaming and doing interviews under the paid tutelage of one of the strongest organizations in the industry. Putting in the time to expand your profile can do wonders, but luck has a lot to do with it to. Sometimes you might not get the attention of Echo Fox; you may have to settle for someone that can offer a little, but not a lot, and
that's okay! You have to start building your portfolio somewhere, and if it's a decent organization, it will open up avenues.
As always, you have to beware of the shysters, charlatans, and shitheads out there that will prey on the people in Esports because the ages tend to skew younger and it's easier to work kids out of money and use it to boost your own profile then it would be to do the same to an adult. Even Justin Wong spent years and years under EMP and Triforce and all he learned was how to write a check. Nowhere near as insidious but often just as damaging are the money marks, the guys who are personally financed that are fans of the sport and want to make their own team. These are often nice people with good intentions but little business sense, and they usually end up folding within a year because they'll buy up a bunch of talent and then wonder where all the money went when not much is kicked back because of a lack of knowledge on what it takes to make money.
To bring this all back to NRS again, this is a scene in its infancy, which is hard to believe, but it is. It disheartens me, as someone who has been around for almost ten years now, to see many prominent figures in this scene advocate for what I could only describe as a sort of anti-grassroots mentality. Between IGAU and MKX there was a devastation to the local scenes all around the country. It's been argued to death what the root cause was, but the plain truth is that local tournaments are hardly acknowledged and even rarer seen, and that's a key demographic to growth. Majors, especially nowadays, are mini vacations; anyone who can get to a major and not spend more than 4-500$ is a pretty lucky person. The average FGC'er is probably a millennial is who is going to be economically burdened, and that sucks for getting numbers up. Add to that that we don't have the legacy or non-traditional fun that SF and Smash represent, respectively, so the numbers for tournies are nowhere near as high and won't be for some time. Growth has to happen organically, and I think some people let the money dictate what matters most, which is a real shame.
Lastly, I wanted to address
@A F0xy Grampa . You talked about people throwing their babies up in the air for Honeybee getting 2nd, and I just want to remind you that by the time that happened, there was a lot brewing for Bee. He had been on a decently rated Machinima series that aired both on YT and CW, has had a healthy and active Twitter where he helped raise his fanbase,and he supplied his YT channel with plenty of videos both long and quick bits to get the clicks (How many views does that comeback video have now?). The point is, the dude was doing what it took to raise a high profile, and once he did, the fans that he got were able to make big noise for him when he did well, which is going to look great to any potential sponsor. I see that you're sponsored by Problem X, but what does that mean? Who is he? I know but I'm deeply invested. imagine a white corporate America guy looking at that and knowing what that means or represents and why he should care. Placing and doing well are just one part of the equation; are you filling out the rest? I thing there are legitimate grievances mixed in there, but I do have to wonder if all the necessary steps are being taken to support an Esports life.