DirecTV Forms Video Game League

from National Public Radio

DirecTV debuted a video game league called the Championship Gaming Series. It's an effort to make gaming a full fledged sport like baseball or basketball. DirecTV now broadcasts two-hour video game matches twice a week. They're held on a movie sound stage in front of a studio audience in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Players face off in front of video screens. Their team managers crouch nearby. Top players can make a base salary of $30,000 per year. The challenge is: how to make the on-screen action compelling enough to draw in an audience while persuading video game players to stop playing long enough to tune in.

Broadcast Dates

• Morning Edition, July 16, 2007