Martin "Marn" Phan shined a bit of light on a subject that many people have asked about in the fighting game community — details on what sponsorships for players do and don't mean.Pros
• Free flights and hotels
• Exposure
• Sense of a family
• Salary (Only for some players)
Cons
• Contracts
• No salary (Most players)
• Stuck within a company.
Ok, it’s like 3:41AM so I can’t think of that many. But to cut it short… You’re not able to be sponsored by a big company like Intel without going through you’re sponsored team first. If someone approached you, gotta go straight to the manager first. And at first, yeah, a person like me can’t just talk to someone high up and expect results so you just have you’re team do it because that’s what you’re there for… Right? But if you just sit down and look at the facts, it’s all nonsense. Teams are sponsored because they promise views, they promise videos, they promise just content for the sponsors to get exposed. If you could do the same, why go through basically a talent agency?
Also, Jason24cf, who helps run Dominion Method Gaming (DMG), one of the biggest sponsorship groups in the fighting game community, responded to Marn's column with his own thoughts on the subject. Here's a snip from that one as well.
Until sponsorships equals to "big bucks," there's no way in heck I'm gonna devote my life to being the "best" lol. Though I do have but the most respect to those who decide to take this road. Who knows, look at WWE, Hulk Hogan lived on vans in the early years of wrestling, then many years later, he becomes a millionaire. Its all up to the sponsors to make the community grow and for the talented players to keep on thriving. Good luck!
Marnleft EG on his own will because he is in massive debt and couldn't afford to not have a job.
I agree with Jason24cf.sponsors are the way to go to help the community expand.
Everything's in place..the fgc just needs the cash to make that happen, and for the time being,sponsors are the answer.
Though I can definitely sympathize with a player being unmotivated if they aren't being payed for their 'work' (or lack thereof..lol)
Such atrocious spelling and grammar from both of these people. I could barely get through their posts. Although I was curious about what a sponsorship actually gets you. Kind of interesting.
So we have to clean up our act in FGC according to MR DMG to get sponsors to give real money straight up who the frick is on team DMG that has done anything other than ROG. Sponsors and teams can go suck a dick. Play for the game not money the Japanese have been kicking our ass since SFIV came out and it is illegal to even play tournaments for money in Japan so were do they get there inspiration to get better at the game. It sure not thinking that about all the money they were going to make at SBO.
Money comes if we can compete at the world stage which we have proven not to be able too do in the last few years and this years EVO will just reinforce this. Just like SC2 were they gave away 75,000 dollars too 2 Koreans in North American Starcraft league. Have teams and sponsors even helped our top players get better has anyone done better when they were sponsored or before when it was just them and their friends.
Marn is tearin it up on PC he is #1 on the Leaderboard, W00T
Lol. Not trying to be a dick but trying to compare yourself with Grubby is absolutely foolish. That's like trying to put yourself on the same level as Daigo, Moon, Fatal1ty, Heaton. These guys are absolute legends in their respective games; having amassed career winnings that exceed six figures over years of top placings and epic performances against the best in the world. Champions like these have the ability to get their own sponsors based on what they have already done for the community and what they have the potential to do in the future in multiple games.
While Marn is someone that is fully capable of competing at the highest level on a sponsored team, he's no where near the level of prestige that these other gamers have garnered over the years.
The main problem with attempting to get sponsors into the FGC is simply, 1.we don't draw a crowd and 2.our very own commercial nation doesn't get behind us. EVO 2010 got about 20,000 viewers at peak give or take. Last months, "Summers Dreamhack" drew 70000+ (during opening rounds) for Starcraft 2 alone, at 2.5x more viewers why would sponsors even bother with the FGC?
We just don't know how to draw a crowd and to top it off U.S. television does nothing to help our cause, they always have stories on how videogames rot the mind and are a waste of time while there are never any programs that educate watchers on how its better for our children to learn their BnB's with Ryu, instead of learning about crack and weed with Rob. If any of you watch any match from the GSL (Starcraft 2 league) you will notice something way different about the crowds that attend at their events to our crowds here. Their crowds have mixed aged and gender groups and I do mean mixed. you'll see boys and girls, Women and men ranging from age 6 all the way up to age 60 and they all know what they are watching because the Korean networks educate the populace on Starcraft and other games they boardcast.
So now to sponsors that's even more incentive to invest money into the Starcraft 2 players. What are they gonna do with the 20-30 year old players and supporters that we tend to have in the FGC, not much. Why are they going to invest money into what is still a niche genre no matter how mainstream we make it appear to be?
At this point more parents and grandparents know about Mario and Call of Duty than they do about Street Fighter. If the FGC intends to grow into a capacity that will bring Starcraft style sponsorship's than the players need to start doing some serious leg work. And it doesn't involve just throwing tournaments and hosting streams for the same crowd over and over again.
Its going to take all of us in the FGC to educate everyone who is unfamiliar, help those who don't understand to understand, make this more than just about money and stupid E-penis pride, we have to demonstrate to the nay-sayers that to be a top contender in this field it takes the same amount of dedication it takes to be a top contender in basketball, baseball and even academics. If we just sit here and go "F*ck people who don't understand, F*cking Noobs!" than guess what we already lost before we started.
kornbeaner said it best. Recently I met a few guys who I never knew played SF before. And I'll tell you right now, without spreading the word, it will never get as big as starcraft/counterstrike is/was in the FGC. There's so much ground to cover.
Nice to know coming from a guy who was with a major gaming team. It's what I expected. You get free air fare and hotels. Getting paid from your team was something I was doubting from the beginning.
Don't expect anyone to realistically earn a decent living just from playing a video game. Even Daigo Umehara has a real job, fighting games are his hobby first and foremost. I reckon Daigo is one of the few that has regular salary from being part of MadCatz.
Not everyone will make it, go study medicine and be a doctor, that is actually more realistic and earns way more than money than playing fighting games (that is, if you only care about money).
If you ask me, I will say that FGC has the potential to grow in the near future, hopefully the next generation of players will bring in a new dimension to gaming. For now I fear that Japan is having the better hand in the FGC overall and I really wonder what evo will bring, although Daigo is super I would be salty if he wins evo. AMERICA DONT LET THIS HAPPEN.
Martin "Marn" Phan "shone" a bit of light.....For some reason "shined" bugs me.
sorry but am i the only one that thinks marn's entire post was about nothing?
what has he enlightened us on that we didn't know before?
all he said was that when you're sponsored they "own" you because they can tell you yes or no anytime they want. isn't that with anything in life?
it would have been more interesting if he talked about the specifics of the contract once you're sponsored. for example if you have to practice X amount of hours, place in top X in national tournaments etc.
but he basically just said if you're sponsored all they do is pay for your flight and hotel which we already knew.
not being a hater, just saying his post lacked substance and was disappointing.
The last thing the FGC should do is clean up their act. I stopped watching proSC2 because of how ridiculously "clean" that community was. I love the smacktalk, i love to see that the players care so much that they hate each other and i love that it's uncensored. I'll say this right now, if every stream ends up like WNF, i and a lot of viewers with me will drop out. Who cares if the players make any money? if they don't like, they can't get the f out and leave place for more commited players.
@13 one question; why? what is this obsession with getting the community to grow? it's fun as it is, if it grows then that's great, but let's not lose the soul of the community in some greedy and thoughtless expansion campaign. why would my grandmother be interested in what videogame i play? mario is for kids, i get it, you want the right christmaspresents, but im buy my own games...
I realize that this is somewhat of a touchy subject and a lot of people don’t understand the process behind it. There are so many comments to answer on this topic, in which I will try to address them all. I will post something up tonight and touching base by answering some of the posts on here. Some are right on the money when it comes to the perspective of the future for the FGC in dealing with sponsorship and some are completely way off.
Some of the comments I read are valid and I would assume these are players who actually attended an event, so they have some idea how things are. Plus, there are comments from people who have no idea what they are talking about because they never set foot in a tournament environment and it’s a safe bet that they never will. (Stream monsters)
However I will give my insight on this and hopefully it will help open some eyes to the subject.
This scene is burdened with 'people' who are unable to behave like human beings. Anyone who has followed the scene for more than a year knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Until these people evolve, which will never happen, the fighting game scene will continue to be trapped in its own little ghetto.
@10 Didn't know that its illegal for Japan to play for money in tourneys.
@4 Marn left EG but, EG wanted him to leave. Win-Win for both.
so only jwong got some money for being with EG or something?
I personally feel that there is potential for the FGC to continue to grow and expand its horizons, but with the way things are at the moment, I'm not 100% sure if it would last. I feel that down the road the scene is going to enter a dark age again, like how it somewhat did a couple years back. As soon as it got revitalized in 2008-09, these games came out and pretty much reinvigorated the genre quite a bit which is what it needed. The problem for me is how long it would last. Starcraft and Warcraft have been around for as long, yet somehow as a PC game, it's thrived over the years with tournament play, sponsorships and the like, the same goes for Counter-Strike. It's amazing to see how long it has gone, and now with SC2 out, it'll probably enjoy this thriving scene for a longer period. Perhaps it's because of exposure.
But the FGC exposes a lot too, everywhere. I mean we see it at tournaments, on streams etc. It's showing how much potential it has.
As for sponsorships, I think they aren't a bad idea, but I guess it would only work for certain players. It would be nice to see Marn sponsored again, but I honestly think he has more potential than that. He's a really solid player, but I feel like he's untapped potential that if he plays his cards right, he can be like his idol. DMG is another good team, I feel like they embrace one another in terms of a family; they have a ton of solid players, but they feel more casual (in essence of being cool with everyone ) than anything, at least thats what I see.
I guess it really just comes down how the player is overall, and their views on if sponsorships would help or not.
Dude is just salty that he didn't get paid crap while people in EG were getting paid salary, i.e. Justin, Grubby, and the CS team. Sorely mistaken if he thinks what he had offered to him is the best support a sponsor can offer a professional gamer.
All in all, this story should be taken with a grain of salt because that is all that it is. A salty ass opinion about personal experiences in a sponsored team.
I could very well tell you my own experiences that are viable in this conversation but the most logical response would be "who the hell are you". It doesn't matter what game you're playing or what team you're signed to, everyone has different experiences with sponsored teams and you have to make sure the people in question are looking out for your best interests.
At the end of the day, you can look at it in one of two ways. Either you're happy with the generosity you've received as a result of your extraordinary game play, or you can think you're entitled to the same things that those more successful then you have.
I get why major corporations will sponsor professional athletes and race car drivers, because the media exposure helps their business. But since no one outside of the gaming community has any idea who EG is, the only possible benefit they get is from their players winning tournaments.
Talk about parasitic.
Some of you guys crack me up, Marn is just speaking from his personal experience and then people who probably dont have any idea come speaking their opinions as if they are factual. You can no better tell Marn what his experience was then he could tell you what your experiences are.
#4
Marn left on his own accord, he wasn’t kicked out.
#5
The time will come when it will become a “big bucks” situation and we are not that far that point. At the same time, only a fool would think that they can live off of just competing at tournaments and be set for the rest of their lives. Almost every top player who competes at a high level has a job to go or/and run their own company once they retire; for example Diago and Justin just to name a couple. However, it isn’t up to the sponsors to make the community grow. Its up to the players within the community to make it grow, make it better and more presentable for those same companies who are willing to sponsor the player(s), will see the worth in it. It's up to the groups who are aiming towards that direction, to take the positive aspects of the FGC and present it to them. That's what we do.
#10
Just from the first few words that you typed, shows that you have no clue what you are talking about. This is the same type of attitude we are trying to get rid off so companies can take interest in other player(s) who well deserved to get money, to have their flights taken care of, endorsement deals and who deserve to get more than what they put in. The FGC and what we do, is like any other "sport" that many of us watch today. It has the same type of elements that NFL, NBA and any other sports has, in which they were in the same position as we were and look at them now. I know there is more to it but the common formula is still the same; community + top players + audience + investments + growth = profit and success.
So I don't understand why people (like you) can't understand the simple concept of it but at the same time making it difficult of making to that goal. This is the type of clean up that needs to be done, so the next necessary steps can be made. Yes the FGC do need to clean up its act for us to attract other companies, who are willing to invest into the FGC, so it can be at the same level. We are getting better in this department but we are still ways off of making this happen.
You can continue to be non-supportive, non-constructive or just plain hating and be left behind with the rest. Or you can do the complete opposite and help the community, which YOU are a part of; to help achieve to the level that WE all deserve to be at.
PR Balrog is one of our top players; I stress the word “one” in that sentence. We have others who do just as well as he does and are our stats from this season alone (if you didn't know):
Winter Brawl 5- 2 in top 8 for Super
Winter Brawl 5 - 1 in top 8 for Tekken
Winter Brawl 5 - 1 in top 8 for MVC3
Final Round 14 - Won SSF4
Final Round 14 - 1 in top 8 for MVC3
Power Up - 2 in top 8 for SSF4
Power Up - 1 in top 8 for MVC3
UFGT - 1 in top 8 in SSF4
UFGT - Won MK9 and took 2nd place
UFGT - 1 in top 8 in MVC3
CEO - 1 in top for MVC3
CEO- 1 in top 8 for MK9
CEO - Won Tekken 6
CEO - fell short for top 8 in SSF4 (by two entrants)
ECT3 – Top 16 for SSF4
ECT3 – Top 8 for Tekken
These players include; Inthul, Kor, Real Law, Rico Suave and PerfectLegend. Do I need to go on?
#12
You are absolutely correct. Grubby was able to leave and start his own thing (good for him btw) because he was able to have the money, from the tournaments he won. He felt that he could better on his own, then that's on him but he did it correctly. It's simple logic but sometimes people don't see that.
Marn has the potential to be one of the very best but he lacks the drive and discipline for him to achieve that. Plus, comparing his situation with Grubby's, doesn't even come close.
#13
Sorry but I believe you are wrong on the number of viewers during the weekend of EVO. Mind you, EVO was being streamed on a good number of different sites and one of them happened to be G4TV. The total amount of views we got was close, in total, of 150,000 (over the course of three days). We are still new when it comes to streaming our events and before that we NEVER had that sort of turnout. That marks the very first step of getting everyone's attention.
Every major that was streamed over the course of this season; every stream, the viewers count always hit the 10,000 mark. Now, take that number and times that with the number of tournaments that consist of the EVO Season. 10,000 * 9 = 90,000 (give and take a couple of hundred) and not to mention the numbers that this EVO will produce (will be double from last year I am guessing). No exposure? Yeah we are getting the exposure we need and it's a slow process but we are getting there.
#14
We are getting there though. Look where we were and look at where we are now. We are in the progress of getting somewhere.
#16
What he experienced and how it is, not even close. Marn doesn't have any business sense. He didn't speak to his sponsors of what he needed instead of what he was expecting. He never spoke to them about the expectations and the terms of what was agreed upon and he believed that he was in the same league as Justin and expected the same treatment. That was his mistake not EG's.
#21
That's the part that doesn't need to be cleaned up. Talking smack is what makes our community unique from other communities and for the most par,t we all know, it's part of the game. This is something that shouldn't go away or try to be taken away. The part that needs to be cleaned up is when players, top players, hurt the community with their actions. IE FChamp flipping off JSMasters because he couldn't take the trash talking. FChamp talks trash more than the next guy but he can't take it. So instead talk trash back or even take the high road and walk away, he flips JSMasters off. This is the same guy who was sponsored by BLG and then got sponsored by Complexity. Or Noel Brown punching Smooth Viper because once again, can't take the trash talking. Plus a good number of things that happens behind the scenes, that 60-70% of community don't even know about.
#22
What? Lol
#24
It will happen if not those same people will be left behind. The same people who will be asking themselves why aren't they part of the solution, until they realize they are part of the problem.
#29
Has an excellent idea of things work.
#30
Couldn't have said it better myself.
#33
Our sponsors never asked for a percentage of their winnings. Our players keep every penny that they win.
I don't have a business degree but I do have common sense. I am not an English major so you grammar Nazi can just halt. lol
What I do have is passion for what I do, a very good sense for this business and the love for MY community that I am small part of. At the end, all I want is for my community to grow and for my players to be taken care of.
End of Rant.
@10 Thank you for the title but I am 1/2 of the brain that runs DMG. DMG Hyena along with myself run DMG. I have been in contact with well over 100 companies in regards to seeking sponsorships. Why do we seek sponsorships? We seek sponsorships to assist players in attending events. This is there passion and we want to help them with there passion/hobby.
Can our players make events without sponsorships? Yes they can but the truth of the matter is all the cost will come out of pocket and it will become very difficult for the players to attend every event. Sponsorships allow us to assit those players in attending events. All they ask in return is some form of extra exposure which in turn will give that sponsor some form of extra profit.
I have dealt with well over 100 companies in terms of seeking sponsorhips. Most companies dont want to invest into the FGC as they dont see it as a "lucrative business move". Other companies are not interest while the remaining few are aware of the troubled history within the FGC.
Can anyone shed some light on the "Team head and handful of players" that burned the fighting game community that Jason24cf mentioned? I'm interested in that story. No disrespect, just sounds interesting.