Big money at top eSports tournament
News on 22 Aug 2018
News on 22 Aug 2018
International eSports teams currently in Vancouver competing in the eighth Dota 2 based tournament The International 8 will receive the biggest prizes yet thanks to a massive guaranteed prize pool of $24,983,318.
It’s the largest in eSports history and represents the seventh year running that has seen the prize money balloon.
This year’s hard cash comes from a $1.6 million contribution by organiser and video games developer Valve, and a 25 percent cut of Battle Pass sales revenue.
Eighteen teams are competing, vying for a position in the finals this Saturday and hoping they will win the $10,992,660 main prize, or perhaps the runner up reward of $3,997,331.
The third-placed team will take home $2,623,248, and the fourth $1,748,832. Fifth and sixth finishers will each receive at least a million dollars apiece, and even the bottom two teams get $62,390 each (positions already rewarded to China’s Invictus Gaming and paiN Gaming from Brazil).
The competition is being watched in a stadium by thousands of avid fans, and a global audience will be enthralled through the technological magic of live streaming via Twitch or the Steam Broadcasting Service.
International online bookmaker Bet365 is offering +210 odds on Team Liquid from Europe carrying off the principal honours and reward this year in what could be their second consecutive The International title.
They face tough opposition in the form of the Chinese PSG (Paris St Germain FC) – LGD team, which the bookie has at +260.
Our readers will recall that this year’s event has not been without controversy following a “suggestion” from Valve that eSports teams should cut all ties with gambling sponsorships.
That would appear likely to impact online sports betting behemoth Betway, which earlier this month signed a sponsorship deal with the Invictus Pro team – a previous The International champion.
It wasn’t Betway’s first encounter with a hostile eSports developer either – just two years ago the company had to can a significant sponsorship deal with top team Ninjas in Pyjamas after League of Legends organiser and developer Riot Games ruled that such agreements were not permitted in the tournament terms and conditions (see previous report).
