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The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions. It was founded by Angel Munoz on June 27, 1997 in Dallas, Texas. The CPL is considered the pioneer in professional video game tournaments, which have been held worldwide. The CPL's tournaments are open to all registrants, but due to the ESRB content rating of some video games, CPL competitions are restricted to participants age 17 or older. The CPL has distributed more than US$3,000,000 in cash prizes.
Contents
- 2006
- 2005
- Individual competitions
- Team competitions
- Cyberathlete Amateur League
- CPL divisions
- Possible fraud leak
- References
In 2005 the CPL moved to a World Tour format. The 2005 CPL World Tour focused on the one-on-one deathmatch game Painkiller and had a total prize purse of $1,000,000. The winner of the CPL Grand Finals event, Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, went home with the grand prize of $150,000, while Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager took home the MVP trophy for having the most tournament wins.
In March 2008, the CPL ceased operations, citing a "crowded field of competing leagues". On August 25, 2008, the CPL announced that it had signed an acquisition agreement with an investment group based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On August 23, 2010, the former parent company of the CPL, announced that the two-year acquisition process of the CPL was finalized, and that the sole owner of the CPL (and its subsidiaries) was now WoLong Ventures PTE of Singapore. Following this acquisition, the CPL has hosted annual competitions in China, in collaboration with the municipal government of Shenyang.
2006
The 2006 CPL World Season was a series of electronic sports competitions organized by the CPL in the fall of 2006. It was a follow up of the 2005 CPL World Tour and was announced by the CPL on July 31, 2006.
The tour featured two games, Counter-Strike and Quake 3. After a total of 7 qualifier events, the finals were held on 16–20 December 2006 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Dallas, Texas. The championship finals had a total prize purse of $150,000 and were won by ORG: Team: fnatic (Counter-Strike) and Paul "czm" Nelson (Quake 3).
2005
At the 2004 Cyberathlete Extreme Summer Championships, the CPL announced details on its largest event ever, the CPL World Tour. This event took place throughout 2005, with a total of 10 international stops and a finals event held in New York City, televised by MTV.
Individual competitions
Team competitions
Cyberathlete Amateur League
The CPL also owned and operated an online video game league for amateur players and teams, named the Cyberathlete Amateur League or CAL. CAL operated year-round, with regular eight-week seasons, one or two matches per week, and a single-elimination postseason (playoffs).
On November 14, 2008, the newly formed CPL Holding Group, LLC from United Arab Emirates announced that it had acquired CAL. On February 22, 2009, CAL ceased online operations. At its peak CAL was one of the largest online gaming leagues in North America with 20,000 teams and over 600,000 registered players.
The CAL is based mainly on online game play. A 2003 competition hosted by CAL was played in a Hyatt Regency Ballroom. Several tables were placed together where 10 computers were set up for the professional gamers. The game was Half-Life: Counterstrike. The CAL ceased operating in 2009.
CPL divisions
In mid-2006, the CPL together with its international partners announced a series of licensed divisions to bring worldwide the experience of the CPL events.
Possible fraud leak
On April 2, 2010, a former CGS employee Tonya Welch, released information about an alleged "fraud scheme" by which the new buyers of the CPL had made fictitious statements to the general public and to the previous owner of the CPL. She claimed that the investors were not from Abu Dhabi, as had been announced, but that the purchase was actually conducted by a private group of US investors. Despite the allegations the acquisition was ultimately completed by WoLong Ventures of Singapore.