14 DAY TRIAL // Ralf Reichert, the chief executive officer of the Electronic Sports League, says that his organization has big plans for the year that’s just starting and wants to create more legendary gaming events with bigger prize pools.
VG247 quotes the executive as stating that, “The last 12 months have brought about enormous changes in the eSports landscape. With production quality reaching ever-high levels and viewership growing at immense rates, public discussion has shifted away from critical evaluation of eSports to the simple question of: how fast will it continue to grow?”
The prize money that the ESL has delivered to its players in 2013 reached the total amount of 2.5 million dollars (1.75 million Euro) and the organization says that it aims to increase it significantly in 2014.
One of the biggest events of the year will be the EMS One Katowice Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Championship at the IEM World Championships in Katowice, in Poland.
In 2013, the ESL included competitors and spectators from 190 countries and the executive is interested in expanding the audience in the coming year.
Ralf Reichert adds, “It is these moments that we aim to replicate and expand upon in 2014. We at ESL are excited and eager for the new year in which we hope to fill more stadiums and to deliver legendary eSports moments to the many fans that have made this all possible.”
The ESL competes with Major League Gaming for contestants and for spectators and both organizations are aiming to deliver more content to fans while keeping the quality of the competitions that they are hosting as high as possible.
eSports has become a global business in the last few years and gaming fans are willing to spend both time and money in order to see top players compete in Counter-Strike, Starcraft 2, DOTA 2 and FIFA 14.