Fortnite, The International: eSports and the Almighty $ Thread

I have always been intrigued by all of the prize money eSports involve. In the last few years I have periodically looked into the prize pools and resulting payouts for the top tournaments. I did again, just now.

Did you know that Fortnite reportedly made EPIC $2.4b in 2018? And that they 'went big' in 2019, putting up $100m in prize money for tournaments that year?

The International. DOTA 2's fountainhead of $ for the Pros who play it. The prize pool was circa $35m in 2019. Paid out to just 18 Teams. I don't know how many players make up each team - 4? - but the 2 teams to be eliminated first were paid $85k. The Champs got $15m. Even the 1st Runners Up only got $4m.

Maybe I just don't understand the economics of developing and maintaining an F2P MMO(I know Fortnite is, I don't know if DOTA 2 is). I am rather simple-minded. And 'weird'. Me, I think that 4% of the revenue for such a popular eSport should be more. A lot more. 45% more. The DOTA 2 owner/operators up 25% from their Pass revenue, and compared to EPIC, I can't really fault them for it. But I still think it should be more.

I also think that the prize amounts should be graduated a lot more evenly among the final tournament qualifiers. The top places should get considerably more than those eliminated initially, naturally, but certainly nothing like the 156+× reflected in 2019's The International. eSports tourneys are about the money. They probably always will be. But they are supposed to be about The Glory, right? If the Champs don't make millions of $ more than the 1st Runners Up, so what?

I also think that eSports which derive their revenue primarily from initial Sales, should give every purchaser/player a shot at the overall rankings which lead into their seasonal tourneys. If you paid $ to play, you should get a shot at the prize pool you helped build.

Perhaps putting 50% of revenue from the sales of an eSport game into the seasonal prize pool, isn't practical. Personally, I would push it as high as it could go, as an owner/operator.

As to graduating the prize payouts, that is an absurdly easy adjustment, and I don't think there is any good reason not to do it(arguments against, please).

As to giving every purchaser of an eSport game a shot at the championship, that may or may not be easy to do - world and regional leaderboards are common enough - but I consider it a basic courtesy that grateful eSport Devs should offer their player base. My own solution is to limit the number of competitor accounts available for purchase each season. 100k, not 100m. Or 50k. Or 10k. Or 2k. Whatever works financially, with spectators and sponsors footing the tab for the seasonal prize pool.

Your thoughts?