Cyberathlete Professional League


The Cyberathlete Professional League was a professional sports tournament organization specializing in computer and console video game competitions. It was founded by Angel Munoz on June 27, 1997 in Dallas, Texas. The CPL is considered the pioneer in professional video game tournaments, which have been held worldwide. The CPL's tournaments are open to all registrants, but due to the ESRB content rating of some video games, CPL competitions are restricted to participants age 17 or older. The CPL has distributed more than US$3 million in cash prizes.
In 2005, the CPL moved to a World Tour format. The 2005 CPL World Tour focused on the one-on-one deathmatch game Painkiller, and had a total prize purse of $1 millions. The winner of the CPL Grand Finals event, Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, went home with the grand prize of $150,000, while Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager took home the MVP trophy for having the most tournament wins.
In March 2008, the CPL ceased operations, citing a "crowded field of competing leagues". On August 25, 2008, the CPL announced that it had signed an acquisition agreement with an investment group based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On August 23, 2010, the former parent company of the CPL, announced that the two-year acquisition process of the CPL was finalized, and that the sole owner of the CPL was now WoLong Ventures PTE of Singapore. Following this acquisition, the CPL has hosted annual competitions in China, in collaboration with the municipal government of Shenyang.

Events

2007 and 2010s

2006

The 2006 CPL World Season was a series of electronic sports competitions organized by the CPL in the fall of 2006. It was a follow up of the 2005 CPL World Tour and was announced by the CPL on July 31, 2006.
The tour featured two games, Counter-Strike and Quake 3. After a total of 7 qualifier events, the finals were held on 16–20 December 2006 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Dallas, Texas. The championship finals had a total prize purse of $150,000 and were won by ORG: Team: fnatic and Paul "czm" Nelson.
EventVenuePrizesGameWinnerRunner-up
CPL Winter 2006Dallas$150,000Counter-StrikefnaticMeetYourMakers
CPL Winter 2006Dallas$150,000Quake IIIPaul "czm" NelsonFan "Jibo" Zhibo
CPL World Season 2006: NordicJönköpingQualifierCounter-StrikeNinjas in PyjamasH2k Gaming
CPL World Season 2006: NordicJönköpingQualifierQuake IIIFan "Jibo" ZhiboSebastian "Spart1e" Siira
CPL World Season 2006: ItalyVeronaQualifier + $50,000Counter-StrikeaAaa-Losers
CPL World Season 2006: ItalyVeronaQualifier + $50,000Quake IIIMagnus "Fojji" OlssonMarcel "k1llsen" Paul
CPL World Season 2006: KoreaSeoulQualifierCounter-StrikeLAVEGA-GAMINGproject_kr
CPL World Season 2006: ChinaChengduQualifierCounter-StrikeStar.exHacker Gaming
CPL World Season 2006: BrazilSão PauloQualifierCounter-Strikeg3nerationXMade in Brazil
CPL World Season 2006: BrazilSão PauloQualifierQuake IIIDaniel "Ryu" Souza De LimaDiogo "met" Fressato
CPL World Season 2006: SingaporeSingaporeQualifier + $30,000Counter-StrikefnaticSpeedLink
CPL World Season 2006: SingaporeSingaporeQualifier + $30,000Quake IIIFan "Jibo" ZhiboBrian "dkt" Flander

2005

At the 2004 Cyberathlete Extreme Summer Championships, the CPL announced details on its largest event ever, the CPL World Tour. This event took place throughout 2005, with a total of 10 international stops, and a finals event held in New York City, televised by MTV.
EventWinnerRunner-upPrizesVenue
CPL Winter 2005CS: SK-Gaming
Quake 4: Anton "Cooller" Singov
F.E.A.R: Neal "cleaner" Sisbarro
CS: Lunatic Hai
Quake 4: Johan "Toxjq" Quick
F.E.A.R: Steven "BlueWolf" Anderson
$100,000
 Dallas
CPL World Tour 2005: FinalsPainkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
$500,000
 New York City
CPL World Tour 2005: ChileCS: Made in Brazil
Painkiller: Alexander "ztrider" Ingarv
WC3: Rodolfo "Virus" Ehrhorn
CS: United 5
Painkiller: Andrew "Gelleshak" Ryder
WC3: Bernardo "PaTo" Rodrigues
Qualifier + $60,000
 Santiago de Chile
CPL World Tour 2005: ItalyPainkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
Qualifier + $50,000
 Milan
CPL World Tour 2005: SingaporeCS: fnatic
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
CS: Team XCN
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
Qualifier + $70,000
 Singapore
CPL World Tour 2005: United KingdomCS: Team9
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
CS: Ninjas in Pyjamas
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
Qualifier + $60,000
 Sheffield
CPL Summer 2005CS: SK-Gaming
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
CS:Source: PowersGaming
WC3: Yoan "ToD" Merlo
Halo 2: Final Boss
Day of Defeat: Check Six		CS: Evil Geniuses
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
CS:Source: upper
WC3: Dimitar "DIDI8" Aleksandrov
Halo 2: h2o
Day of Defeat: compLexity
$200,000
 Dallas
CPL World Tour 2005: SwedenPainkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
Qualifier + $50,000
 Jönköping
CPL World Tour 2005: BrazilCS: Made in Brazil
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
CS: SSV Lehnitz
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
Qualifier + $70,000
 Rio de Janeiro
CPL World Tour 2005: SpainCS: mousesports
Painkiller: Stephan "SteLam" Lammert
CS: compLexity
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
Qualifier + $70,000
 Barcelona
CPL World Tour 2005: TurkeyCS: Catch Gamer
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
WC3: Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen		CS: M19
Painkiller: Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann
WC3: Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn
Qualifier + $70,000
 Istanbul

2004

EventWinnerRunner-upPrizesVenue
CPL Winter 2004CS: Team NoA
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
Day of Defeat: Highball
Doom 3: Yang "RocketBoy" Meng
CS: EYEBALLERS
Painkiller: Benjamin "zyz" Bohrmann
Day of Defeat: Check Six
Doom 3: Stefan "dragon" Schott
$150,000
 Dallas
CPL UK Qualifier 2004CS: 4Kings
CS: GoodGame
Qualifier
 London
CPL Greece Qualifier 2004CS: The TitansCS: TeGQualifier Athens
CPL Brazil Qualifier 2004CS: g3nerationXCS: Made in Brazil
Qualifier
 São Paulo
CPL Japan Qualifier 2004CS: Epiphyllum OxpetalumCS: DynamicQualifier
 Tokyo
CPL Turkey Qualifier 2004CS: mousesportsCS: Team QuashQualifier Istanbul
CPL Romania Qualifier 2004CS: SK-GamingCS: AMD Cyber TeamQualifier Timișoara
CPL Summer 2004CS: EYEBALLERS
Painkiller: Sander "Vo0" Kaasjager
UT2K4: SK-Gaming
Call of Duty: United 5
: Team Wat?		CS: SK-Gaming
Painkiller: Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel
UT2K4: Xtreme
Call of Duty: Team 3D
Halo: cooked_Gamers		$250,000 Dallas

Past CPL World Champions

Individual competitions

The CPL also owned and operated an online video game league for amateur players and teams, named the Cyberathlete Amateur League or CAL. CAL operated year-round, with regular eight-week seasons, one or two matches per week, and a single-elimination postseason.
On November 14, 2008, the newly formed CPL Holding Group, LLC from United Arab Emirates announced that it had acquired CAL. On February 22, 2009, CAL ceased online operations. At its peak CAL was one of the largest online gaming leagues in North America with 20,000 teams and over 600,000 registered players.
The CAL is based mainly on online game play. A 2003 competition hosted by CAL was played in a Hyatt Regency Ballroom. Several tables were placed together where 10 computers were set up for the professional gamers. The game was. The CAL ceased operating in 2009.

CPL divisions

In mid-2006, the CPL together with its international partners announced a series of licensed divisions to bring worldwide the experience of the CPL events.
On April 2, 2010, a former CGS employee Tonya Welch, released information about an alleged "fraud scheme" by which the new buyers of the CPL had made fictitious statements to the general public and to the previous owner of the CPL. She claimed that the investors were not from Abu Dhabi, as had been announced, but that the purchase was actually conducted by a private group of US investors. Despite the allegations the acquisition was ultimately completed by WoLong Ventures of Singapore.