Pro videogame league draft

No, it's not a joke - it even happened at the Playboy mansion last night. Six teams make up the Championship Gaming Series (SF, L.A., NY, Dallas, Chicago, Carolina), and it's being backed by El Segundo-based DirecTV, along with satellite operators BSkyB and Star. Developing an audience, of course, is key (hey, they did it with poker). Steven Roberts, DirecTV's vp and gm, says they want to create the next sport, although there are others pushing for their own videogame contests on TV (including something called Major League Gaming). DirecTV plans to make available up to 13 hours of CGS competition next month - plus up to 10 hours of gaming streamed live on the Internet. Each team has a general manager and 10 players. Five will play "Counter-Strike: Source"; two will play "Dead or Alive 4"; two on "Project Gotham Racing 3"; and one on "FIFA '07." By the way, L.A.'s team is named the "Complexity." From CNET:

Andrew Reif, the CGS commissioner, understands that making the league a success will be a challenge. But he said the fact that video games are big business throughout the developed world puts the league on solid footing. "I hope we'll look back 5 to 10 years from now," said Reif, "and say the next great sports property started at the Playboy Mansion in 2007." Both Reif and Roberts said that a crucial element in the league's success will be that its gaming events will be broadcast live.