financing the next NS2WC

GoE_NiGoE_Ni Join Date: 2013-01-31 Member: 182674Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Supporter
edited March 2014 in NS2 General Discussion
Hello fellow Aliens and 'Rines,

The NS2WC 2014 is history. It was just epic being there in the audiance, but it is history now.

With the help of Nvidia and Intel, we reached the 30k http://www.naturalselection2.com/championship/
The target for the event was 30'000$. However this did not include all the unpayed work by the teams, casters and supporters.

After all that positiv feedback from the teams, casters and supporters, I thought I might as well start a thread on how we can have a NS2WC 2015.
The idea is to list several things in here that could help finance the next NS2WC. So any idea is welcome.


make more money

Twitch subscriptons
Twitch.tv offers the ability to subscribe to a channel and pay a monthly fee.
They do this for StarCraft 2 for 5.99 $ (link: https://secure.twitch.tv/products/wcseuropemonthly/ticket/new?ref=below_video_subscribe_button )
Benefits include:
Directly Support the Broadcaster
Ad-Free*
Subscriber Badge:   
8 Subscriber Emoticons
Chat During Subscriber-Only Mode
Access to Source quality video


in game badges
I myself don't mind spending money on a nice badge in the score bord. Maybe start earlier with the supporting team badge.
If possible you could do something like "have your badge in the game, if you pay us x-amount of $". Just thinking


in game models
We do have the shadow skulk, gorge, lerk (still missing higher life forms), so why not have different model types. Don't make it TF2 like with too much crazy hats, but why not add some flavour.


selling tickets for the event
Sure it was nice to have "just" the travel cost to go to Cologne, but frankly, I wouldn't mind paying 20-40 $ for a seat. I know, not eveyone can pay for that, so why not having a "pay as much as you like" option for that ticket?


selling drinks / food at the event
Again, I don't mind paying for some "babbler meat balls" or "hydra spaghetti" before, during or after the show.


gambling / betting ;-)
Attendees can support a team. Every time they kill a higher life form, they have to pay some money. Example: dead Lerk 0.50$ / Fade 0.75 $ / Onos 1.00$
Don't really know why someone should go for that yet ;-)


reducing the cost

hotel cost
By moving the event to a "off season" (if that even exists), hotel cost could be reduced. Since a lot of people travelling from outside of Germany have to book a hotel, we might could book the same hotel together. This has probably happend for the teams, crew and casters, and I don't know how much a 10-20 more people would reduce the overall cost per head.


travel cost
again, depending on when exactly the event is happening, travel cost could be reduced overall. Then again, if we get an Australian team... ;-)



As said before, just add your toughts, it might help.

Comments

  • NeXuSNeXuS US Join Date: 2013-10-13 Member: 188681Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    edited March 2014
    Ive said it before, ill say it again. Just open up a WC donation system similar to reinforced. Accept donations for an entire year.
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    February is about as 'off-season' as you can get. Unless you change it to January, but then, January is normally known as the broke month.

    I personally don't like the option of paying for a seat, simply having the ability to donate to the event is surely making that an option anyway? Especially as we saw the number of people this year who couldn't go at the last minute.

    Gambling requires licenses, so is a idea best left behind.

    In-game badges/shoulder pads/helmet stickers etc are all viable ways of making an income, but also require a cut to steam so they could be used as a top up for costs, but not the main source.

    World Cup 2015 clothing could be sold through the NS2 store, although, they need to set-up European/Asian/Australasian sellers for this, so that people in these continents can buy the products. Even things like stickers/mugs/mousemats etc could be sold to generate additional income.

    One thing that will be absolutely critical to getting enough funding will be tournament sponsors. This year we just 'happened' to get nVidia and Intel to drop roughly 50% of the costs into the pot. How about next year, we try to get some proper sponsorship on-board, as well as the community funding. If as much of the costs as possible could be covered by sponsors, then more of the community funds could go towards the prize pool for the competitors.
  • BensonBenson Join Date: 2012-03-07 Member: 148303Members, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Time for Reddog to finally get that Redbull Sponsorship....but for the NS2WC :D
  • SebSeb Melbourne, AU Join Date: 2013-04-01 Member: 184576Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Retired Community Developer
    I would seriously think about getting more sponsors too. There are plenty of companies that love to sponsor these events and now that you have a portfolio and previous work, it would be something to bring to the table.

    Hello, *insertcompanyhere*
    We are looking for sponsorship for next year's NS2WC, last year we drew sponsorship from intel and nVidia and raised over 16,000 in crowdfunding as a community. Our viewer stats were _____ and _____ even when there was a major League of Legends tournament on at the same time. We are focused on professionalism and enjoyable content and we could do a whole lot more with your help. yada yada yada yada

    blah blah blah

    You get the point.
  • wulfwulf Join Date: 2008-08-03 Member: 64749Members
    After NS2WC 2015 there should be a drunk NS1 competition at the after party
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    We all got kicked out of the studio right after the event. Maybe that was because we went 2 hours past our cutoff. *shrug*

    But if we had the pc's I would be down for some drunk games. lol
  • ZeframZefram Join Date: 2004-05-11 Member: 28611Members, Forum Moderators, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts, Retired Community Developer
    We could have gone to that internet cafe that looked like it was straight out of Beirut and twice as creepy. PCs with Windows XP ftw.
  • NeXuSNeXuS US Join Date: 2013-10-13 Member: 188681Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    Wait...internet cafe? Those are still around?
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    LOL Pretty sure that's why I let you go in there alone. Place was sketch as hell.
  • Dictator93Dictator93 Join Date: 2008-12-21 Member: 65833Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    NeXuS wrote: »
    Wait...internet cafe? Those are still around?

    tons in germany (fax/scan/print places usually)
  • NeXuSNeXuS US Join Date: 2013-10-13 Member: 188681Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    Fax? Scan?

    Flashback to the 90's.
  • ScatterScatter Join Date: 2012-09-02 Member: 157341Members, Squad Five Blue
    Scan shit all the time when you have an office job.
  • ezekelezekel Join Date: 2012-11-29 Member: 173589Members, NS2 Map Tester
    Scatter wrote: »
    Scan shit all the time when you have an office job.

    Damn it scatter, we're NS2 players. Not 9 to 5 employees!
  • CCTEECCTEE Join Date: 2013-06-20 Member: 185634Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited March 2014
    I hereby declare to pay $75,- for a mousepad signed by Herakles!
    This one would be nice:
    zazzle.nl/bodybuilder_muismat-144042835986010763
  • WasabiOneWasabiOne Co-Lead NS2 CDT Join Date: 2011-06-15 Member: 104623Members, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
    FYI the ns2 does ship all over the world now
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    I heard Wasabi has 500$ of Toblerone that he is signing and shipping to his followers.
  • OnosFactoryOnosFactory New Zealand Join Date: 2008-07-16 Member: 64637Members
    "PCs with Windows XP ftw" - sounds like my 9-5.
  • AurOn2AurOn2 COOKIES! FREEDOM, AND BISCUITS! Australia Join Date: 2012-01-13 Member: 140224Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Forum staff
    GoE_Ni wrote: »
    travel cost
    again, depending on when exactly the event is happening, travel cost could be reduced overall. Then again, if we get an Australian team... ;-)

    "IF"?!
    Excuse me sir i'll have you know that the next NS2WC WILL have an aussie team! So you better prepare accordingly!
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    edited March 2014
    I think if the aussies want a team there, they will need to find an national sponsor, they just drain too much finance from the events :P

    Seriously though, any idea for raising money will only be secondary to sponsorship income. Set a target of 80k sponsorship, make it a full weekend event, have quarter/semi/final spread across the event and go for it. Top that up from the community donations and we should be able to have a great event. You could really have a well planned world cup and do it properly with a massive open sign-up and start with as many as 64 or 128 teams if that number are available. However, if there is going to be a WC2015 of that magnitude, the event and it's organisation must begin now....

  • GoldenGolden Join Date: 2004-09-01 Member: 31169Members, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, WC 2013 - Silver, NS2 Community Developer
    Honestly, there aren't enough teams able to compete at the top level to have an event that size. I think the semi-final/finals size was perfect for the current state of the competitive scene. I do think it's going to be possible to get a larger percentage of the event sponsored though - ideally the whole thing.
  • GrissiGrissi Join Date: 2003-08-28 Member: 20314Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    If the event is announced and confirmed early enough you will see more teams work their way up to the premier level. They just need some kind of motivation to take up the challenge.
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    How many teams are there already across all the NS leagues worldwide? How many new teams would start up for the opportunity to have a crack at a cash prize? I think you underestimate how big a draw this could be if set-up and advertised well enough. I think 64 teams could be achievable at a push, 128 was dreaming, but hey :)
  • BestProfileNameBestProfileName Join Date: 2013-01-03 Member: 177320Members
    Grissi wrote: »
    If the event is announced and confirmed early enough you will see more teams work their way up to the premier level. They just need some kind of motivation to take up the challenge.

    This. When people announce an Olympics in a country, the country goes a little Olympics mad with people with talent doing their best to get to the top, and average people in general just taking inspiration from that and improving.

    Tell people 12 months in advance, instead of about 5 and I think the response will be that much greater. Imagine going into season 4 of the ENSL, knowing that your final placing will impact your seedings in the tournament.

    I'm not saying that all of a sudden you'll have one gajillion world beaters, but you'll probably see a marked improvement.

    @mendasp This Grissi fellow has the mind to match his beautiful hair.
  • joshhhjoshhh Milwaukee, WI Join Date: 2011-06-21 Member: 105717Members, NS2 Playtester, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Playtester
    edited March 2014
    NS2WC 2014 has already impacted the comp scene by growing it since Season 3. We have 53 teams this season which is a pretty good turnout. There is no doubt in my mind that 'if' another NS2WC gets announced, we will see even more teams.

    With that being said, the prize pool would need to get significantly bigger to motivate teams to put in the hours needed to get to play at premier. When nexzil/titus reformed back in June of 2013, it took us months and months and months of practice to catch up to the euro super teams. I would love to be proved wrong and have a big premier division though.

    Lets get the next NS2WC planned. :D
Sign In or Register to comment.