Cyberathlete Professional League

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Cyberathlete Professional League
Sport E-Sports
Founded 1997
No. of teams 128+
Country(ies)  United States
Singapore
China
Australia
Chile
Brazil
Korea
Sweden
Italy
Ceased March 2008
Last champion(s) fnatic (Counter-Strike)
Flag of the United States Paul "czm" Nelson (1vs1)

The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), founded in June 1997 by Angel Munoz, is a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions.

Launched in Dallas, Texas, the CPL has held official video game tournaments throughout the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Australia and Asia, and hosts a variety of teams and players widely regarded as the best in their respective games. The CPL's tournaments are open to all registrants, but due to the ESRB MATURE content rating of some video games, most CPL competitions are restricted to participants age 17 and older.

As of 2007, the CPL had distributed more than US$3,000,000 in cash prizes.

The CPL's aim had always been to elevate video game tournaments to a viable competitive and spectator event, on the level of athletic sports. However, the CPL temporarily ceased tournament operations after eleven years, on May 10, 2008.[1]

On August 25, 2008, the CPL announced that it was acquired by an investment group based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates[2]. On June 12, 2009, the new CPL announced that their first CPL Event will take place September 2009 in Chengdu, China, as part of Overseas Chinese Town Holdings' Chengdu City Summer Celebration. [3]

Contents

[edit] Partners

[edit] CAL Division

The CPL also owned 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 Holdings Group, LLC from United Arab Emirates announced that it had acquired the Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL). [4]

On February 22nd 2009, CAL closed online operations. It is not certain whether the CAL website will be relaunched.

CAL was one of the largest online gaming leagues in North America with over 20,000 teams and 500,000 registered players.

[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

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.[9]

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: Flag of Germany Team: Flag of Sweden 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

  • Strategic Partner: Ping Events Australia

[edit] CPL Chile

  • Strategic Partner: ALM Ingenieria (LAN-Z) S.A.

[edit] CPL Brazil

[edit] CPL Korea

[edit] CPL Nordic

[edit] CPL Italy

  • Strategic Partner: A.S. Play.it (ASPI)

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2008-03-13). "CPL Ceases Operations". thecpl.com. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/cpl-ceases-operations. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  2. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2008-08-25). "Investment Group Acquires CPL". thecpl.com. http://www.newworld.com/archive13.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-27. 
  3. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League China (2009-06-12). "New CPL Announces Asian Initiatives". thecpl.cn. http://www.thecpl.cn/News.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-12. 
  4. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2008-11-14). "CPL Holdings Group Acquires CAL". thecpl.com. http://www.newworld.com/archive14.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-11. 
  5. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-12-21). "Championship Finals Winners!". thecpl.com. http://www.thecpl.com/?p=1075. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  6. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-09-15). "The CPL Announces Past 1v1 Champions". thecpl.com. http://www.thecpl.com/?p=1019. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  7. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-12-21). "Championship Finals Winners!". thecpl.com. http://www.thecpl.com/?p=1075. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  8. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-10-19). "CPL Announces Counter-Strike World Champions". thecpl.com. http://www.thecpl.com/?p=1033. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  9. ^ Cyberathlete Professional League (2006-07-31). "The CPL Announces 2006 World Season". thecpl.com. http://www.thecpl.com/?p=995. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
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