notworksafe
Member
I'm not sure of how high the potential number of viewers is for fighting games. I remember when the only way to watch Starcraft (Brood War, not II) was to watch Korean tournies with Tasteless commenting on them from the sidelines. There weren't a ton of US viewers, just the super faithful.
When SCII started being a thing that MLG and GOM were bringing to the US and charging for, I was convinced that there was zero chance of anyone biting. I was proven extremely wrong. Both networks brought huge hype, big sponsors (who ponied up cash for tournies), and big names to get people interested. It also helps that the biggest names in casting (Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, DJ Wheat, etc) were brought on for their expertise and smart casting skills.
So just because numbers now aren't big, that doesn't mean that there isn't potential for bigger numbers if more effort and organization was put into getting people to pay attention.
I think that the upcoming EVO season would be a perfect time for something like this to happen within the FGC and could do pretty well if the planning, names, and organization are there. Not sure how hands-on Mr Wiz and the Cannons are with the other tournies in the EVO series, but if they can tie all those majors together along with the main event of EVO there is big potential for the scene to blow up.
When SCII started being a thing that MLG and GOM were bringing to the US and charging for, I was convinced that there was zero chance of anyone biting. I was proven extremely wrong. Both networks brought huge hype, big sponsors (who ponied up cash for tournies), and big names to get people interested. It also helps that the biggest names in casting (Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, DJ Wheat, etc) were brought on for their expertise and smart casting skills.
So just because numbers now aren't big, that doesn't mean that there isn't potential for bigger numbers if more effort and organization was put into getting people to pay attention.
I think that the upcoming EVO season would be a perfect time for something like this to happen within the FGC and could do pretty well if the planning, names, and organization are there. Not sure how hands-on Mr Wiz and the Cannons are with the other tournies in the EVO series, but if they can tie all those majors together along with the main event of EVO there is big potential for the scene to blow up.