Angel Munoz (CPL)
Angel Munoz | |
|---|---|
 Angel Munoz speaking at a CPL Event | |
| Born | March 6, 1960 |
| Occupation(s) | Founder and President, Cyberathlete Professional League |
| Spouse | Karin Munoz |
| Website | www.thecpl.com |
Angel Munoz (born March 6, 1960 in New York City, New York) is the Founder & President of the Cyberathlete Professional League and the first major pioneer & visionary of professional videogame competitions (aka E-Sports). Commonly referred to as the "Father of E-Sports," Munoz has been a major force behind the mainstream acceptance of videogame tournaments as a professional sport.
Munoz helped spawn the careers of many famous professional gamers, such as Johnathan Wendel, and has been featured in numerous mainstream media outlets.
The 2005 CPL World Tour, the first year-long professional videogame circuit, established Munoz as a well known person in several countries around the world.
Through the years, Munoz has been an outspoken advocate for videogames and has emphasized their positive effect in the areas of intelligence, logic, reflex, reaction time, and problem solving.
Munoz Background
Munoz's parents immigrated from Puerto Rico to New York City in the 1950s. In 1969, when Munoz was 9 years of age, they returned to the island of Puerto Rico, where Munoz lived for ten years. As a child Munoz was interested in science, literature, electronics and art.
In 1980, after completing his second year at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, Munoz moved to Florida to continue his college education and in 1988 he relocated to Dallas, Texas.
In 1985 Munoz became a stockbroker and by 1990 he was the president of his own Dallas-based investment banking firm. In 1993 he was introduced to a small game development company called id Software. He was so impressed with their computer game Doom that in 1995 he joined the interactive entertainment industry, leaving behind a successful career in finance.
Munoz and Video Gaming
In 1995 Munoz founded NewWorld.com, Inc., Munoz is President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of this company.
In 1996 he launched The Adrenaline Vault web site [1], one of the most respected online sources of uninfluenced and unbiased videogame information.
In June 1997, he launched the Cyberathlete Professional League [2] (CPL) as the first league in the world to organize, promote and sanction videogame tournaments as a professional sport. Munoz also coined the term cyberathlete, now an internationally registered trademark. Munoz is President of the CPL.
In 1999, he led the enactment of the Federal Trade Commission's 100th law enforcement action targeting deception on the Internet. Various news publications reported his leading role in obtaining this regulatory action, including MSNBC [3], and The New York Times [4].
In 2001, through the acquisition of small online league, he launched the Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL), now one of the largest online computer gaming leagues in the world, with almost 500,000 registered members and year-round online tournaments.
His vision of a new breed of professional "athletes" that compete against each other in international videogame tournaments, has had worldwide repercussions. In recent years several countries have sanctioned videogame tournaments as a legitimate sport. Munoz seems to have succeeded in his initial goal of turning the hobby of videogame competitions into a viable professional sport.
Munoz remains one of the most influential and recognized leaders in E-Sports. He's regularly featured in numerous interviews, broadcasts, documentaries and publications. In the March 2000 issue of Texas Monthly magazine, Angel Munoz was selected as one of the "Top 25 Most Powerful Texans in High Tech" along with Michael Dell, Chairman of Dell Computers, Thomas Engibous, Chairman of Texas Instruments, Edward Whitacre, Jr., CEO of AT&T (formerly SBC Communications), and Leonard Roberts, former CEO of Radio Shack.
In 2005, journalists Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, featured Angel Munoz in the fourth chapter of their book Smartbomb. The book is a candid portrait of the "mavericks and geniuses behind the videogame revolution."
Munoz and the Arts
In addition to his leading role in the videogame industry, Munoz has an active role in the arts.
Munoz has been writing poetry since the late 1970's in both English and Spanish. In May 2003, he wrote the foreword for the book "Monster Gaming" published by Paraglyph Press [5].
In the music industry, Munoz has collaborated with bands like Reflection Theory, A Boy and a Girl, DAT Guy, Another Now and recently Superstring [6], staging several music concerts at CPL events. He has also co-written lyrics for a few songs.
In the visual arts, Munoz owned an art gallery in Dallas and helped steer the careers of several Dallas artists, including the respected Reflectionist artist JD Miller.
In 2006, Munoz had a small acting role in the movie Bloodlines (recently renamed to Striking Range), in a scene that was inspired by the videogame Counter-Strike. More information on the movie is located at the Bloodlines website [7].
