The Championship Gaming Series was an international

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

league based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with teams from several other countries. The CGS was preceded by the 2006 Championship Gaming Invitational, a television pilot featuring several future CGS players. The league was founded in 2007 and was owned and operated by

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

in association with

British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

(BSkyB) and

STAR TV Star TV may refer to: * E! (Canadian TV channel) (formerly Star!), a Canadian entertainment news channel * Las Estrellas (Spanish for The Stars), the Mexican television network * Estrella TV (Spanish for Star TV), the American Spanish-language net ...

. It folded in 2008 after two seasons.

League history

Origins

Although professional video game contests had been going on for several years, organizers recognized the need for it to gain greater exposure, preferably through regular telecasts. The World Series of Gaming was shown on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in a 30-minute special in 2005, but there were complaints about the quality of the production. Meanwhile, the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

had become a popular program on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and had turned no-limit

Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, communit ...

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

into a

spectator sport A spectator sport is a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its competitions. Spectator sports may be professional sports or amateur sports. They often are distinguished from participant sports, which are m ...

. Influenced by its success, David Hill, an executive at

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

and DirecTV (and himself an avid video gamer) pitched the idea of a TV program based on video gaming. Craig "Torbull" Levine, manager of

Team 3D The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...

played a key role in negotiations. In the summer of 2006, a

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

revolving around the Championship Gaming Invitational was taped at

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San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It featured a '' Counter-Strike 1.6'' match in which

Team CompLexity Complexity Gaming, formerly stylized as compLexity, is an American esports franchise headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The franchise was founded in 2003 by Jason Lake and is co-owned by Lake, real estate investor John Goff, and Dallas Cowboys o ...

beat

Team3D Team 3D was an American esports organization that formerly had teams competing in '' Counter-Strike: Source'', ''Warcraft 3'', ''Dead or Alive 4'', ''Halo 2'', ''Painkiller'', and ''Call of Duty''. Team 3D was one of the most successful North A ...

. It also introduced the '' Dead or Alive'' pro players such as Emmanuel "Master" Rodriguez who later went on to star for the league as pro gamers. This was also the only time that ''

Battlefield 2 ''Battlefield 2'' is a first-person shooter video game, developed by DICE (company), DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows in June 2005 as the third game in the Battlefield (video game series), ''Battlefield'' franchise. P ...

'' was featured in the CGS franchise, as the world champions Code7 took on three American teams. The first Invitational was said to produce a 400% plus increase in ratings for DirecTV's 101 channel at the time. The first pilot was then followed up by 2nd CGI2 Invitational event in Los Angeles which also introduced first female ''Dead or Alive'' player

Vanessa Arteaga Vanessa Arteaga, also known as just Vanessa, is a former professional video game player who plays fighting games. She is from California. Arteaga was the first pick in the draft of the Championship Gaming Series video game league list of players, ...

. After the ratings showed some more promise, a full season with a league structure greenlit for 2007.

CGS Pro-Am

The CGS Pro-Am Division was a players opportunity to play against the Pros and compete for more than $40,000 in cash prizes. The first season included ''Counter-Strike 1.6'', ''Counter-Strike: Source'', and ''Team Fortress 2'' tournaments. Shortly after the first season was completed The CGS franchise was cut by DirecTV which ultimately ended this opportunity for another competitive league for the everyday gamer.

2007 season

The first CGS season consisted of six franchises from six different major cities throughout Region 1 (the U.S. and Canada) plus a total of ten more franchises from the other Global Regions around the world. Each franchise consisted of a total of ten players: five '' Counter-Strike: Source'' players, two ''

Dead or Alive 4 is a 2005 fighting video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth main entry in the '' Dead or Alive'' fighting series. The story of the game focuses on the continuing war between the Mugen Tenshin N ...

'' players (one male and one female), one

FIFA 07 ''FIFA 07'' (also known as ''FIFA Football 07'' and ''FIFA 07 Soccer'') is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was the last game in the ''FIFA'' series to be relea ...

player, and two

Project Gotham Racing 3 ''Project Gotham Racing 3'' is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 as a launch title in November 2005. The game was rated by ''Official Xbox Mag ...

players. CGS held their first ever draft at the

Playboy Mansion The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hills ...

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with

being selected as the first overall pick. The first televised match was shown on DirecTV-exclusive channel, The 101, on July 9, 2007. The Region 1 Grand Finals were held on July 30, 2007, in Los Angeles. The Chicago Chimera defeated the Carolina Core by 22 points to 21, to become the first CGS Regional Champions. In the World Finals in December, the Chimera defeated the Core again to become World Champions and win the $500,000 top prize. The above-mentioned Team 3D and Team CompLexity of the pilot were later expanded to two of the league's other teams, the New York 3D and the Los Angeles Complexity respectively.

2008 season

In 2008, two new franchises were added: the Kuala Lumpur Taufan and the Dubai Mirage. The franchise player setup remained the same, with the FIFA 07 player switching to FIFA 2008, and the

players switching to

Forza Motorsport 2 ''Forza Motorsport 2'' is a 2007 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the '' Forza'' series, and is the sequel to the original '' Forza Motorsport'' (2005) and was followed ...

. On June 16, 2008, The 101 showed the first televised match of the second CGS season. Andy Reif was replaced as commissioner with Dale Hopkins, the former

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of G4. The Region 1 finals saw Carolina Core beat the Dallas Venom by a single point to become the North American Regional Champions. The World Finals immediately followed the North American season, beginning on July 14. On July 28, 2008, the Birmingham Salvo defeated the San Francisco Optx to become the CGS World Champions for 2008, as well as the first international team to not only make the final, but win it as well. On November 18, 2008, it was announced on esports portal Cadred.org that the Championship Gaming Series would be ceasing operations immediately, news that was confirmed only hours later on the Championship Gaming Series' official website. The reasons for the departure of CGS remain unclear, but Hill had left DirecTV after it was purchased by

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company controlled by chairman John C. Malone. The company has three divisions, reflecting the company's ownership stakes in Formula One ...

and therefore was no longer in charge of any programming on The 101.

Games

Season 1 supported the following games: * '' Counter-Strike: Source'' * ''

'' * ''

'' Season 2 supported the following games: * ''Counter-Strike: Source'' * ''Dead or Alive 4'' * ''

FIFA 08 ''FIFA 08'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 08'' in North America ) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on all popular gaming formats in September 2007 in Eur ...

'' * ''

General structure

Before the start of the season, the CGS holds

scouting combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Fo ...

s in various cities around the world. Based on the results of the combines, the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

s then meet and draft players to participate in the league. Combines are open to all comers. In 2008, leagues could protect players in two of the five events; everyone else is put into the draft pool and can go to any team.

Scoring system

Points are awarded for each event as follows: *DOA 4: One point per each round won, regardless of result; this event is best five of nine rounds *Forza Motorsport 2: Teams are awarded four points for the winning driver, two points for the second-place driver, and one point for third place. *FIFA 08: Gamers participate in an eight-minute minigame. Each goal is scored one point for the team competition. If the game is tied,

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s determine the winner, and each goal also counts as a point in the team totals. *Counter-Strike Source: This event consists of 18 rounds. All games count toward the team total, one point per winning round. If the teams tie after 18 rounds, a sudden death round is played. There is also a tie-breaking round if the teams are tied in the overall points. No bonus points are awarded to any team for winning an event.

Broadcasting

All North American matches and the world tournament took place at the

Barker Hangar Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States. The airport is about from the Pacific Ocean (Santa Monica Bay) and north of Los Angeles International Airp ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. Tickets were free and were distributed by Jam Packed Entertainment. The announcers on the DirecTV telecasts in 2008 were

Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner Paul "Redeye" Chaloner (born 1971) is a British former esports broadcaster. He has broadcast in dozens of countries including China, United States, Singapore, Australia, Denmark and others on media forms including TV channels, live internet vid ...

Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham is an American shoutcaster and the former Director of Creator Development at Twitch, where he worked at from 2011 to January 2022. Graham is considered to be one of the earliest shoutcasters, doing play-by-play commentary ...

, Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, and

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. The original host was Stryker, also a disc jockey on

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

radio in

; Stryker left before the 2007 world final. The 2008 world tournament was seen on G4 in a Saturday-night highlight package, in addition to the live telecasts on DirecTV.

Regions

Franchises and teams

For the first season of the league there was six franchises from six different major cities throughout Region 1 (the U.S. and Canada) plus a total of ten more franchises from the other Global Regions around the world. Each franchise consists of a total of ten players: five Counter-Strike:Source players, two Dead or Alive 4 players (one male and one female), one FIFA 07 player, and two

players. The Region 1 Grand Finals were held on July 30, 2007, in Los Angeles. The Chicago Chimera defeated the Carolina Core 22–21 to become the first CGS Regional Champions. Both Chicago and Carolina competed in the World Finals on December 14, 2007, and Chicago won the World Championship.

Fighting Game Competition

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Region 5

Region 6

References

{{Professional Counter-Strike competition Sports leagues in the United States DirecTV 2007 establishments in the United States 2008 disestablishments in the United States Former News Corporation subsidiaries Former Liberty Media subsidiaries Audience (TV network) original programming