One of the problems in professional gaming, or e-sports, is the lack of professional tournmanets and leagues. Yes, there are many sponsored leagues and LAN tournaments but rarely, if any, are run in a professional manner. I'm not talking about the Cyber X Games or clikarena here, the ESWC and CPL are responsible as well.
The biggest glaring problem is the lack accountability to the fans and sponsors of the e-sports community. No-shows and reschedules are a common, if not ritual, occurances in all gaming leagues and tournaments. This is a diservice to the entire e-sports community. Why did I choose the word diservice? Because members of professional gaming teams are to provide service, namely entertainment, to their audience, their fans. It is also a diservice to the very sponsors who pay the organization to spread name and brand recognition, only to find out the team decided not to show up to the tournament or forfeit a league match.
I am actually surprised sponsors such as NVIDIA or ATI have not pursued tournaments because of lost potential revenue due to missing teams or forfeits. These sponsors pay to get their name labeled everywhere on the tourny and expect a certain number of participants in the tournaments. No-shows and forfeits mean people are not showing up; as well, it also takes away hype and attention that might of been built up prior to the competition. How will people who are not inside e-sports react when they see that half the teams that signed up for the CPL tournament actually never show up. They would think it was a joke.
Secondly, missing matches or rescheduling a match is just unprofessional. How would fans react if Real Madrid decided to call off a match till a week later because David Beckham needed to go shopping with his wife? Poorly, and perhaps even violently. This does not happen in the established world of professional sports and it should not happen in our young community. It is just unacceptable. The teams basically are implying that their time is more valuable than that of their fans, who probably have put time off in their day to hoping to watch the match. Reschedules would also make it impossible to have live television of matches, as networks cannot tell their audience, "We're sorry that the match has been canceled. We will now follow with blank screens for the next hour."
So what are tournaments to do? Simply put, fine violators who do not show up to tournaments or matches. Many ametuer sports leagues fine teams who forfeit because the league has paid for the venue and personel to run it efficiently. To not show up is disrespect and a waste of resources. Teams should not be let of with a simple slap of the wrist. If not a monetary fine, perhaps a suspension or other punishment should be implimented. I understand people do have a social life outside gaming, which is why I do support the idea of being able to wildcard a match. But, this should be done with sufficient notification at least 24 to 48 hours ahead of the match time just to be courteous to fans of the community.
Are there other problems that need to be remedied in our fledgling sport? Yes, but this is probably the biggest and easiest one to fix. It is up to the fans and sponsors to demand for team accountability in gaming tournaments and leagues around the world.