The only real factor preventing MK from getting sponsored players is tournament time and attendance. Being at Evo is a good start, but if both MvC3 and SSF4 get way more entrants, it won't help MK players get any closer to sponsorship. If MLG and/or WCG were to pick up MK as their sole fighter, that would certainly help as well. It would also help if MK tournaments start pulling in 100+ players at every major.
Fighting game players rarely get sponsored, even SF players. Compare them to the number of FPS players that are sponsored and have been getting sponsored for years. So for an MK player to get sponsored, MK would need to be outshining every other fighting game, and I just don't see that happening anytime soon.
Another big issue is the violence in MK. I'm sure that's a concern for big leagues like MLG and WCG. It's one thing to see people getting shot, but to see the gore of x-rays moves is far worse in most people's minds.
All that said...
I've been dealing with pro gaming teams for several years now and even have a couple of them calling me when they're looking to sign fighting game players. But I've never understood the relationship between the sponsor, the team and the player.
To my understanding, the sponsor pays the team. The team then uses that money to send most of their roster to tournaments, and in some cases pay their roster a monthly income. All the player has to do is wear the apparel of the team, which generally has sponsor logos on it.
Where is the benefit to the sponsor? A couple hundred people at tournaments see their small logo on a t-shirt? Even less people see the fuzzy logo on the low res stream? I know at one point EG was sponsored by Kensington (I believe), but you never heard Kensington Marn or Kensington Justin Wong. It was always EG Marn or EG Wong. Where's the benefit for Kensington?
