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A successful Esports Championship Series Season 1 saw a finals with a prize pool of $765,000, with $250,000 of that going to the champions, G2 Esports. Today FACEIT announced Season 2, which will house a substantial $1.75 million dollar amount that will go towards the prize pool and supportive funds. The new season starts on Oct. 7, and the finals kick off on Dec. 8. Additionally, there will be open qualifiers from Aug. 5-27, with the top two teams from the qualifiers taking on the bottom two teams from ECS last season in both the North American and European regions.We asked Michele Attisani, chief business officer and co-founder of FACEIT, to tell us more about the upcoming season.We are fascinated by the fact that the winner of the qualifiers gets co-ownership in the league and a chance to select representation at the leagues governing committee. How did the players respond to that idea during Season 1? Is this a selling point to bring in some of the best CS:GO teams?This is a slow burner for us. Its an important step and both ourselves and the teams are still getting used to how it will work on a more macro level. Teams have varying interest in the concept but they are all happy for the step forward in professionalism. As with mainstream sports, moving away from heaping all of the money onto prize pool and more into structural funding for teams especially leads to a much more stable infrastructure and giving teams and their players a voice in the league allows us to have global sign off on any changes. As a selling point, it is definitely a factor, but the strongest selling point is our good relationship and trust with all of the players.How did the fans respond to Season 1? I have to imagine you were able to see a ton of fan interaction with the event at Wembley.The event at The SSE Arena, Wembley, exceeded our expectations. We are so proud of everyone who put in the effort to make it happen and the overwhelming positive reaction from the fans, community, teams, players and talent was the greatest reward we could ask for.Esports is clearly growing at an amazing, almost alarming, rate. ECSs stance towards building an esports community is impressive, yet something many groups aspire to. Please elaborate on how ECS is indeed helping the esports community.Community is everything to us, it is our core ethos and something we intend to keep at the forefront of our decision-making. We aim to provide the community with great experiences every season and alongside that we focus on creating interactive content around the season, from ECS ladders on FACEIT, to the addition of open qualifiers that give anyone the chance of reaching the top. We even go the extra step to do a few extra special things for members of the community that come to our attention around our finals like giving away VIP tickets to our most loyal members or exclusive backstage tours, meeting the players and signing sessions.How can your event help bring stability to the CS:GO scene that has been rocked by a few issues as of late?The scene is definitely undergoing growing pains right now, but we aim to be a rock that anchors the industry, encourages best practices and constantly pushes professionalism. One core thing that we are working on with all of the other large organizers is stabilization of the yearly calendar to make sure players are not overworked and do have some down time to rest. For this reason we are releasing our schedule for Season 2 over three months in advance, as well as all schedules for 2017.Clearly the Turner Sports broadcasting of CS:GO ELeague is helping expand esports in the USA, yet Turners traditional media approach is certainly different than what ECS / FACEIT / Twitch deliver. How do you view Turners participation in esports?Turner has shown us that production levels can be so much more than they had been in the past, helping to push esports studio broadcasts to a new level, accessing a wider audience and encouraging new brands to invest. We had the privilege to advise and help Turner and in turn they push us to produce better quality productions. For example, ECS is broadcast from the IMG studios in London, the countrys leading television studio complex. We have also created a team of industry veterans in both gaming and television.CS:GOs popularity in the U.S. and Europe is impressive. How important is it for CS:GO competition to be more globally, versus EU/American, focused?It is true that up until now Europe has been the powerhouse of the CS:GO scene and the general viewer base is very European and American focused, so obviously these two regions have the biggest sway when it comes to decision-making for production. That being said, China and South America are some real hot spots right now and with the ECS Season 1 finals being broadcast on television in over 35 countries globally, we have very high hopes for growth in these regions.For teams aspiring to qualify for the ECS esports league, what general advice do you have for them? Clearly, qualification is not easy.Obviously the level of skill in CS:GO at this moment is off the chart, but new talent is rising through the ranks every month. For Season 2 of the ECS we will be holding open qualifiers on FACEIT, which we recently announced, [the full media release for Season 2 can be found here: http://www.csgoleague.com ]. This is something we intended for Season One, but due to time constraints we couldnt provide. The FACEIT platform gives us a unique opportunity to be able to open up these qualifiers to anyone that wants to try for the top. Alternatively, there are ladders every week for new aspiring teams to get in a level of practice, and the FACEIT Pro League (FPL) is available to help aspiring players transition to professionals.CS:GO has been dominated by a few particularly strong teams. Are there any up-and-coming teams you think could pull off some upsets?Some are saying that our finals were G2s break out event, so we are excited to see what Season 2 brings. Brazilian teams are all looking very strong right now and there is a good chance we will see a few more of those breaking through in Season 2.What will you be doing this year to provide more fan interaction with the players?Production for the finals was something we feel created a great viewer experience, we handpicked top broadcasting talent from television (i.e., director of MTV EMA) to create the most immersive show possible. Fan signing sessions and the VIP experience at our finals had an amazing reaction from the fans and players, we want to do more things like this that can bring access to the players and fans so we have some interesting secret ideas for this in the next event.What talent do you plan on bringing in to cast the matches? And who is remaining from ECS past broadcasts?We have a very good relationship with talent across the board and the level of talent in CS:GO is incredible so we often feel spoiled for choice. We were really happy with the lineup for Season 1 and we think they all worked very well together. But of course, as always, we will listen to the community before making our choices for Season 2.Will you be adding any new features to the broadcast portion from Season 1? More statistics, more replays, etc.?In this industry, if you are not evolving every single show, then you are going to fail. Other than some exciting new statistics coming from the FACEIT platform, you will have to wait and see as to what we have planned. Huarache Größentabelle . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Günstige Nike Air Force 1 .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. http://www.airforce1gunstig.de/air-presto-deutschland.html . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Nike Presto Off White Fake Kaufen . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Nike Air Huarache Deutschland Kaufen . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. INDIANAPOLIS -- During the playing of the national anthem, the entire Indiana Fever team knelt and locked arms Wednesday night, while two players on the Phoenix Mercury also knelt before the teams first-round game in the WNBA playoffs.The two Mercury players who knelt were Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone; the rest of the Phoenix players remained standing, as did the coaching staffs of both teams.Athletes from around the nation have joined in kneeling during the anthem at various sports events as part of a protest movement started by?San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.Tamika Catchings, who played the final game of her career in the Fevers 89-78 loss to the Mercury, reached out to her teammates on Tuesday to ask them what they thought about kneeling during the anthem.It was unanimous that we were going to do it together, Fever player Marissa Coleman said. We have a platform, and I think its a disservice if we dont use it. This was bigger than basketball. As important as this game was, there are other things going on in this world. Its just to get conversations started.Coleman posted an extended statement via Twitter on Thursday morning.Fever coach Stephanie White did not kneel during the anthem, but she fully supported her players decision.The first thing she said to us in the huddle before the game started was how proud she was of us for doing it, Coleman said. Im proud to be part of this organization.Phoenixs Diana Taurasi did not kneel but said that should not be taken as a sign that she didnt support those who did.Whether you kneel or stand, everyone is against injustice and people being discriminated against and being killed, Taurasi said. Those are things as a society we have to get better at.Bass and Indianas Briann January were among the most outspoken players in the league earlier this year during a controversy when WNBA players were initially fined for wearing T-shirts during warm-ups that supported the Black Lives Matter movement. The fines were later rescinded.Bass said she did not want the playyers actions on Wednesday to be seen as disrespectful to police or the military.ddddddddddddI have the utmost respect for the amazing police officers who keep the integrity of their job and are upholding what they swore to do, which is to protect and serve, Bass said. As well as all the people overseas who serve and protect us. However, the bad apples are making it a bad situation for all those who are good.There didnt seem to be much of an audible or visible reaction from the crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to the WNBA players kneeling.I have no negative feelings about it at all; I respect the players, said Carla Wise, an Indianapolis resident who has had season tickets for the Fever since the franchise began in 2000. I respect that its addressing an issue we have in society. I think its a very peaceful and respectful way to call attention to something that needs to be addressed.Wise is white; she was at the game with friends who were white and black.The fans that I speak to, and the ones I sit around, I think most of them would be in support, Wise said. Again, its a peaceful thing theyre doing. I think most fans would be appreciative of that. Certainly not everyone, but individuals I talk to respect what the players are doing.Renee Brown, the WNBAs chief of basketball operations, was in attendance on Wednesday to present the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award to Catchings. Brown did not address the subject of the players actions, but the league released a statement from WNBA president Lisa Borders.I support our players expressing their views on important social issues, Borders said. Standing for an anthem is a sign of respect and a demonstration of unity across many cultures throughout the world.The call to action is for all of us to invest time and resources to help rebuild and strengthen our communities. And we have been actively working with the players on this next impactful effort. ' ' '