A new professional gaming league funded by a major media corporation gets a rolling start with television deals.
After hosting a player draft at the Playboy Mansion and announcing a $5 million player payroll, media conglomerate News Corp has announced the launch of Championship Gaming Series (CGS), a new competitive gaming league. Designed to imitate other popular sports, the CGS will feature drafts, an official league system and playoffs to end the season. Six North American teams (Carolina Core, Chicago Chimera, Dallas Venom, L.A. compLexity, New York 3D and San Francisco OptX) will compete in Counter-Strike: Source, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing 3 and FIFA 07.
Gaming events will be made available on the DirecTV, BSkyB and Star TV, all of which are at least partially owned by News Corp. Today marks the first televised competitions for the league, which will be aired on DirecTV’s original content channel The 101 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Throughout July, The 101 will air two two-hour weekly shows covering CGS news, events and interviews with Commissioner Andy Reif, famed professional gamer Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel and the league’s 60 athletes.
