Cyberathlete Professional League

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Cyberathlete Professional League
Sport E-Sports
Founded 1997
No. of teams 128+
Country(ies) Flag of the United States United States
Singapore
China
Australia
Chile
Brazil
Korea
Sweden
Italy
Most recent
champion(s)		 Flag of Australia fnatic (Counter-Strike)
Flag of the United States Paul "czm" Nelson (1vs1)
Official website TheCPL.com
CPLAustralia.com
CPLBrasil.com
CPLCast.com
CPLChina.CN
CPLNordic.com
CPLWorldTour.com
TheCPL.CL
TheCPL.co.KR
TheCPL.IT

The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) was a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video games.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the CPL held tournaments throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia and hosted a variety of teams and players usually regarded as the best in their respective games. The CPL's tournaments were open to all registrants in the form of qualifier tournaments and invitations. Due to ESRB content rating concerns, CPL events were restricted to participants age 17 and older (with the exception of some "teen" rated games). However, a player could also register with a parental consent form at the age of 16.

As of early 2006, the CPL distributed more than US$3,000,000 in prize money. The CPL's aim was to make computer gaming a viable competitive and spectator event, on the level of real, actual athletic sports. However, in Winter 2007, G7 - an organisation comprising the heads of the world's top eSports teams, boycotted the World Championship events citing a failure on behalf of the CPL to deliver on prize fund payments.[1]

The CPL officially ceased operations on March 13, 2008 citing "the current fragmentation of the sport, a crowded field of competing leagues, and the current economic climate."[2]

Contents

[edit] Partners

In 2006, the CPL announced the microprocessors manufacturer AMD as its lead title sponsor and ATI Technologies as a secondary title sponsor. Gamerail is the official network of the CPL and CAL, providing both leagues with network access and infrastructure. The CPL is also sponsored by Pizza Hut, BenQ, Razer, Plantronics, Verizon, and Insomnia 365.

The supporting sponsors for the U.S. CPL events are: D-Link, and Steel Series.

The official Television Media Partner for the CPL is DirecTV, its On-Line Media Partner is GotFrag and its Documentary Partner is Cohesion Productions.

[edit] CAL Division

Main article: Cyberathlete Amateur League

The CPL also operates an online league (with live finals that takes place during CPL events) for amateur players and teams, known as the Cyberathlete Amateur League. CAL operates year-round, with regular 12-week seasons, one or two matches per week, and a single-elimination postseason (playoffs). In the case of Counter-Strike and other official CPL tournament games, the CPL uses CAL performance as a factor in seeding at its live events.

[edit] Past CPL World Champions

[edit] Individual Competitions


[edit] Team Competitions

[edit] Past CPL Event Winners

Main article: Past CPL Winners

[edit] World Tour 2005

Main article: 2005 CPL World Tour
The CPL World Tour Logo
The CPL World Tour Logo

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 the New York City U.S. and televised by MTV.[citation needed]

[edit] World Season 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.[7]

The tour featured two games, Counter-Strike and Quake 3. After a total of 7 qualifier events, the finals were held on 16-20th 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 Flag of Australia fnatic (Counter-Strike) and Flag of the United States Paul "czm" Nelson (Quake 3).

Main article: 2006 CPL World Season

[edit] 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.

[edit] CPL Singapore

[edit] CPL China

[edit] CPL Australia

[edit] CPL Chile

[edit] CPL Brazil

[edit] CPL Korea

[edit] CPL Nordic

[edit] CPL Italy

[edit] Official Media Partners

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ SweepeR (2007-11-07). G7 Teams not to attend CPL Winter 2007. esreality.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  2. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2008-03-13). The CPL Ceases Operations. thecpl.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  3. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-12-21). Championship Finals Winners!. thecpl.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  4. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-09-15). The CPL Announces Past 1v1 Champions. thecpl.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  5. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-12-21). Championship Finals Winners!. thecpl.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
  6. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-10-19). CPL Announces Counter-Strike World Champions. thecpl.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
  7. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-07-31). The CPL Announces 2006 World Season. thecpl.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
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