National Amusement Theaters Partners with Gaming League

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A new spectators sport is budding in the U.S., and multi-billion dollar corporations want a piece of the action too. Organized video leagues are beginning to sprout, a couple of the most popular being Major League Gaming (MLG) and the Championship Gaming Series (CGS). Tournaments in different parts of the country draw thousands to watch professional videogame players battle each other in games like Halo 2, for the top prize--usually, quite a large sum of money. CGS recently announced a $5 million payroll for tournament winners. Professional gaming teams travel the country on tour with the leagues, which draw thousands at their tour stops. This type of video gaming has been popular for sometime overseas and is now making inroads into the U.S.

Until recently, video games were not your typical front-page news. It seems that since the release of the Xbox 360 in 2005, they've become all the rage. This can be largely attributed to the fact that the video game industry has been growing at a phenomenal rate to a point where it has even surpassed Hollywood in terms of revenue. This is a fact that the movie industry acknowledges by including video games as one of a few causes of sagging box office sales.

Now, National Amusements is aiming to earn some of that revenue back, by partnering with the gaming industry. The company plans to house CGS's video game tournament within its theaters. "In Korea, they have taken gaming and really made it into an incredible sports entertainment experience. I am hoping this will lead to what is happening over there," said CGS Chief Executive and Commissioner Andy Reif. News Corp is sponsoring the tournament through subsidiaries Direct TV, BSkyB, and Star, which are satellite television groups in the U.S., Britain, and Asia respectively.