DOTA 2 champions earn more in prize money than FIFA World Cup winners

Modified Jul 22, 2014 10:38 GMT

A sold out crowd fills the seats at The International DOTA 2 Champsionships at Key Arena on July 19, 2014 in Seattle, Washington.

A sold out crowd fills the seats at The International DOTA 2 Championships at Key Arena on July 19, 2014 in Seattle, Washington.

Gaming is no child’s play, especially in this modern era where you actually get paid to play games.

Take the International Dota 2 Championships for example that took place this week who are offering a total of almost $11 million as prize money, including a hefty $5 million for the first prize winner.

A professional Dota team from China called Newbee were the ultimate winners after they finished a lowly 7-8 in the group stage, and coming back into the game by winning three straight games.

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The prize pool will be awarded among 14 teams consisting of 5 players each, with each of the members of the winning team ending up as a millionaires at the end of the tournament. The five members are: Chen “Hao” Zhihao, Zhang “Mu” Pan, Zhang “xiao8″ Ning, Wang “Banana” Jiao and Wang “Sansheng” Zhaohui as reported by the tournament’s official website.

Prize Money breakdown

Dota 2's combined prize pool for the International championship is $10,887,235.

Comparing the prize money to other sports

FIFA World Cup: Winners (Germany in this case) received $35 million with each of the 23 players earning $408,000. [Note: Money is divided among players and staff members.]

World Series: Winners (Boston Red Sox) received $22.5 million, and the total prize money was divided among the players was worth $307,322 individually.

NBA Finals champion: Winners (San Antonio Spurs) received $4.10 m as their total prize money, less than half of the prize money offered by Dota 2.