Professional Esports Association

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Professional Esports Association
Professional Esports Association logo.svg
SportEsports
Founded2016
No. of teams9
CountriesNorth America
Official websitewww.proesports.org (archived)

Professional Esports Association (PEA) is an American esports advocacy organization. It was founded in 2016 as a member-owned esports league by seven American esports teams. Jason Katz was the league's commissioner from its founding until his departure in February 2017.

The organization was created with the aim of having a "stable, healthy, long-term environment for the players."[1] It planned to institute an equal profit sharing system between players and owners, instead of relying on the traditional prize pool system.[2] The PEA's first planned competition was a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) league, which was scheduled to begin in January 2017 with a minimum $1 million prize pool.

In December 2016, a decision by the PEA to disallow players from competing in the ESL Pro League was met with opposition from players, leading them to issue an open letter protesting the decision. In response to the letter, the PEA held a vote on the issue, which ended with players voting to play in the ESL Pro League. As a result, the PEA suspended its plans for a CS:GO league, four months after its inception. In May 2017, the PEA announced that it would be shifting its focus away from hosting esports leagues to esports advocacy work.[3]

History[]

PEA Logo at launch

The Professional Esports Association was founded in September 2016, with Team Solomid (TSM), Cloud9, Team Liquid, Counter Logic Gaming, Immortals, NRG Esports, and compLexity Gaming as founding members.[4][5] The announcement followed the founding of the World Esports Association by ESL, which included many European esports teams.[4] In its founding announcement, the PEA described itself as an "Owner-Operated league aiming to be the NBA of eSport" by instituting an equal 50 percent profit share between owners and players, while also providing insurance and retirement benefits for players.[6] It also promised players "a strong voice in every major league decision", through player representation in a Rules and a Grievances Committee.[2] The league's founding commissioner was Jason Katz, who was previously the COO of Azubu, an esports streaming website.[7] Katz also served as the Vice President of Global Marketing for the Championship Gaming Series, a now defunct televised esports league.[8][9][10]

The PEA's first planned competition was a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) league, originally scheduled to begin in January 2017 with a minimum $1 million prize pool in its first year.[1][11] The inaugural season was to be held over ten weeks, with two matches per week and a $500,000 prize pool.[6][11]

Player open letter[]

In December 2016, shortly after the league's inception, 25 of its 35 member players signed an open letter expressing frustration towards the league ownership's lack of communication and its decision to disallow PEA players from competing in the ESL Pro League.[12][13] According to the letter written by player representative Scott "SirScoots" Smith, the players were told that the owners had the contractual right to determine where they play, which "came as a shock", given previous indications by the league and its owners granting that decision to the players.[12] The letter also alleged that players were being disenfranchised by the ownership, as players were only allotted three of seven votes on the PEA Rules Committee, while the rest belonged to the team owners and the league itself.[12] According to Smith, the players were told by league commissioner Jason Katz that the uneven structure was designed to avoid stalemates, and that the two votes belonging to the PEA should be considered "unbiased".[12]

After the letter's release, TSM player Sean "sgares" Gares published a conversation between him and TSM owner Andy Dinh, in which Dinh expresses his intention to replace Gares due to his lack of communication with Dinh before the letter was published.[14][15][16] In a subsequent statement, Dinh accused Gares of "mis[leading] and manipulat[ing]" other TSM players into signing a letter they "had not read and did not understand".[14][17] Gares denied the accusations of manipulation, and said that he spoke with Dinh about the players' concerns before the letter's publication.[15][16] The other four players on TSM also denied being manipulated by Gares,[17][18] saying that "some of us may have had more information than others or been more involved in this endeavor, but we all understood what we were doing when we gave the okay to put our names on the letter."[16] TSM's CS:GO roster ultimately disbanded in January 2017, with the organization citing its deteriorating relationship with its remaining players, and the latter's desire to continue playing with Gares.[19][20] A day after the split, Gares and the rest of the former TSM CS:GO team were signed by Misfits Gaming.[19]

The PEA responded with its own letter, stating that while it was not an exclusive league, it disputed the viability of players participating in both leagues due to "issues with over-saturation."[21][22] The letter also reaffirmed the league's "contractual right to decide where their players compete",[21] but offered to arrange a meeting for players to decide whether to compete in the ESL Pro League or the PEA league in the upcoming season.[16]

League suspension and subsequent activities[]

In January 2017, players voted to compete in the ESL Pro League rather than the upcoming inaugural PEA season.[13] This prompted the PEA to suspend its CS:GO league, with the organization also citing "[in]sufficient financial support in the ecosystem, ... to profitably operate a third prominent online league, due to the oversaturation of the marketplace and the recent upward spiral in operating costs".[23][24][25] On February 17, 2017, the PEA announced that Katz was departing from his position as part of a "reorganisation of its management structure", with the Board of Governors taking over management duties.[9][26]

After suspending its CS:GO league, the PEA added Team Dignitas and Misfits Gaming to its membership in May 2017.[27] It also announced its intention to change its focus from operating esports leagues to "[contributing] towards a productive and profitable North American esports ecosystem".[3] The PEA was reportedly still active in early 2018;[28] in an interview with video game journalist Zorine Te, spokesperson and NRG Esports co-owner Andy Miller stated that the group was still active behind-the-scenes, and that it was "focusing on bringing our marketing and fanbase, which is mainly North American, to brands and publishers."[29] Miller also said that the PEA no longer has any plans to launch their own esports league, but was "definitely talking with a number of publishers about helping them launch their esports leagues".[29]

Membership[]

As of July 2019, the association consists of nine member organizations.[30]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "The Professional esports Association officially launches in 2017". engadget.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Owner-operated PEA wants to improve player pay in esports". mashable.com. September 8, 2016. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "PEA Welcomes Team Dignitas and Misfits, Refocuses on Player Welfare". The Esports Observer (in American English). May 26, 2017. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Campbell, Colin (September 8, 2016). "New CS:GO league will offer share of profits plus benefits to players". Polygon (in American English). Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  5. ^ "North American esports orgs form PEA, a new team-owned esports league". esports.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Professional esports Association unveiled, announces CS:GO league". espn.com. September 8, 2016. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  7. ^ Cooke, Sam (September 9, 2016). "The Professional eSports Association promises fair pay for players". Esports Insider (in British English). Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  8. ^ "Championship Gaming Series Announces All-Star Executive Team". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Leslie, Callum (February 18, 2017). "Controversial commissioner Jason Katz leaves the PEA". Dot Esports (in American English). Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. ^ Witkowski, Emma; Manning, James (November 18, 2018). "Player power: Networked careers in esports and high-performance game livestreaming practices". Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 25 (5–6): 953–969. doi:10.1177/1354856518809667. ISSN 1354-8565. S2CID 150333431 – via SAGE Publishing.
  11. ^ a b Sen, Dylan (September 8, 2016). "Professional eSports Association is Established". Dot Esports (in American English). Retrieved January 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ a b c d Hall, Charlie (December 22, 2016). "Pro CS:GO players issue open letter, challenge integrity of their ownership". Polygon (in American English). Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Beck, Kellen (January 6, 2017). "Professional Esports Association suspends its 'CS:GO' league". Mashable. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Nordmark, Sam (December 23, 2016). "Seangares cut from TSM's CS:GO team for apparently "misleading" and "manipulating" his fellow players". Dot Esports (in American English). Retrieved January 10, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ a b "PEA: 'We're going to give this decision to [the players]'". ESPN.com. December 23, 2016. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d Beck, Kellen (December 24, 2016). "'CS:GO' pro kicked off team after complaining about players' rights". Mashable. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  17. ^ a b "TSM Founder Says Sean Gares Manipulated His Players - His Players Disagree". GameRevolution. December 23, 2016. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  18. ^ Mitchell, Ferguson (December 23, 2016). "Team SoloMid Fractures Over PEA Debate, TSM Owner Dinh Fires Player, Team Reacts". The Esports Observer (in American English). Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Wolf, Jacob (January 14, 2017). "Misfits sign ex-TSM CS:GO team". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  20. ^ "TSM CSGO Announcement". TSM.gg. January 13, 2017. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  21. ^ a b Whinston, Noah (December 23, 2016). "An Open Letter to SirScoots, the Counter-Strike Players Contracted to PEA Organizations, and the…". Medium. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  22. ^ Leslie, Callum (December 23, 2016). "Immortals owner claims PEA league never planned to be exclusive in open letter response". Dot Esports (in American English). Retrieved January 5, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ Beck, Kellen (January 5, 2017). "'CS:GO' players vote to ditch Professional Esports Association's first season". Mashable. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  24. ^ Robichaud, Andrew (January 6, 2017). "PEA suspends plans for CS:GO league in 2017". TSN. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  25. ^ Hall, Charlie (January 6, 2017). "CS:GO league suspended after player revolt". Polygon (in American English). Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  26. ^ Bishop, Sam (February 20, 2017). "Jason Katz parts ways with Professional Esports Organisation". Gamereactor UK. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  27. ^ "Team Dignitas, Misfits join Professional Esports Association". ESPN.com. May 25, 2017. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  28. ^ "PEA Spokesperson Says Org Is Still Active In Esports, No Current Plans For A CS:GO League". www.chatsports.com. SportsGrid. February 27, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ a b Te, Zorine (February 27, 2018). What happened to PEA's CS:GO League?. Esports Network (SportsGrid). Event occurs at 5:15 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ "Professional Esports Association". Archived from the original on July 3, 2019.

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