Companies organize league to cash in on video games

LOS ANGELES -- Four race cars barrel down a virtual track, jostling for position. Announcers shout their commentary over growling engines until a winner speeds past a checkered flag.

The frenetic race televised on DirecTV wasn't a NASCAR event. It was staged as part of a new video game league that aims to turn gaming into a full-fledged sport, as compelling to watch as the National Basketball Association or Major League Baseball.

The Championship Gaming Series debuted last week in the United States and has franchises around the world that pay top players base salaries of $30,000 plus bonuses.

Organizers hope to attract an audience of the same young gamers who pushed computer and video game software sales to $7.4 billion in 2006 -- a 6 percent increase from 2005, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

Advertisers are eager to reach those 18 to 24 year-old consumers.

The challenge for the league is making the on-screen action compelling enough to persuade those gamers to stop playing and start watching.

"Are those guys willing to put down their controllers and pick up their remote control to watch their television?" asked Steve Lipscomb, founder and CEO of World Poker Tour Enterprises.

Lipscomb helped turn poker into a TV hit by placing cameras under tables to give viewers a look at the cards held by each player.

He said he turned down chances to start a video game league, fearing the challenges might be too great to overcome.

"If they can find a way to translate the experience of gaming into a great spectator sport, there is an opportunity there," Lipscomb said.

The two-hour video game matches, which began July 9, are staged twice a week on a movie sound stage in Manhattan Beach. A studio audience of about 200 people cheers on cue while players face off in front of video screens.

Most games played in the league, such as "Dead or Alive 4" or the soccer game "FIFA 07," are one-on-one matches. Others, like "Counter-Strike Source" involve five-person teams squaring off in multiple rounds.