How willing is Intel/NVIDIA to support a "super team" of high skilled players that just formed versus a team with lower profile players but a long history of stability?

Sheryl - Both are very compelling concepts. You can say we have done both in the past. It’s tough to find the right formula that just works.

Jennifer - Intel considers many criteria when evaluating a potential team sponsorship. Criteria include the stability of the team and their chemistry. We would not rule out investing dollars into a newly formed “super team”, but we would evaluate other criteria as well.

What does a company like Intel/ NVIDIA look for in a Gaming team; do you approach teams who have a strong, long lived name in the CS community or the "flavor of the month"?

Sheryl - We look for solid, stable teams that have a good management structure in place. Some of the managers I’ve worked with, like Craig Levine of Team 3D and Sam Mathews of Fnatic, continue to impress me with their business sense, judgment, and ability to attract good players while keeping a solid team in tact.

Jennifer - Intel looks for teams who are going to be a good fit with the corporate brand. Intel believes in strong activation around their sponsorship activities, whether it’s a professional gaming team or a local festival. We prefer consistency and commitment to “flavor of the month”. We support teams who are willing to get involved in our initiatives that benefit the gaming community. A great example was the Amateur vs. Pro contest we just held at Summer CPL. Team Fnatic and 4Kings provided their top players including Vo0, Ztrider, gellehsak, Razorb and Zaccubus to play death matches against any amateur who wanted to participate. We gave everyday gamers an opportunity to play against some of the world’s top gamers and win great prizes. One amateur ended up winning an Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology Dell XPS notebook!

What is your fondest memory of eSports in 2005, and what are most looking forward to in 2006?

Sheryl - Competition wise, I’ve seen some fantastic Painkiller matches on the World Tour. In Turkey there was an amazing match up between Stermy and Vo0. I sat next to Mattias of TSN while he shoutcasted the match in this cigarette smoke-filled ballroom (the Turkish love their cancer sticks). I have to say that match had me breathless, literally and figuratively. Other than that, one of the most amazing CS moments has to be at WCG 2004 between SK and 3D. moto was stuck behind the crate in de_inferno. Rambo was supposed to boost him out but was killed before he can get there. Four SK players surrounded him so it really looked like he was toast, but he somehow took them all out. It was so shockingly hilarious I almost fell out of my chair.

But, my fondest memory of 2005 isn’t in game. It was on the CPL World Tour Barcelona stop. It was a fantastic event. The staff, players, and managers all worked very hard that week. We were there from 9AM until 11PM pretty much every day. There was a carnival happening right next to the forum, which was open until 4AM, so one night we decided to go hit the carnival rides. Scott Valencia calls it the “Popcorn Popper.” It’s this round platform, about 20 feet in diameter, with a bench lining the perimeter of the platform facing in and a cushioned pit in the middle. No seat belts. You get in, sit down, and this platform starts spinning slowly. Then, with hydraulics, it starts tilting violently so it basically “pops” you out of the benches and into the pit. This is a ride they would NEVER have in the US because these guys would get sued in a heartbeat. I got tossed into the pit but I had the camera rolling the whole time. I have a hilarious video of it now – with the crazy happy hardcore music in the background and the disco lights going on and off, and all of us laughing maniacally, it made us all look like we were in some nut house. Body parts were flying everywhere. Every so often you would see Intel Jen’s hair go flying by. Bret from TSN got elbowed in the groin. Scott dislocated his tailbone. As warped as this sounds, it was a good time.

As for 2006, I can’t even think about that right now when there is still so much to look forward to in 2005. With the four remaining stops in Germany, UK, China and Chile, and of course the $500,000 grand finals, I am personally looking forward to the China stop in October. It’s my peeps! I was just there a few weeks ago and I can tell you that the CPL World Tour stop there will probably be the most anticipated event in history for the Chinese gamers. It is extremely hard for them to travel around so they can’t wait for all the pros from around the world to visit them and compete!

Jennifer - This is a tough one…. There have been so many great moments this year. The Barcelona stop of the CPL World Tour was fabulous for several reasons. The intensity of the matches was outstanding and the energy was extremely high.

What does a company like Intel/NVIDIA look to get out of a sponsorship deal and why is sponsoring a team an attractive option for you?

Sheryl - Whether it’s major tournaments, backyard LAN parties, or pro teams, we support the gaming community for many reasons: First, we use these opportunities as a way to get feedback about our products. Our engineers build products with the gaming community in mind, so every bit of input we take back to them. Second, it’s just another way of saying “thank you” to a community that has made us #1 all these years. Lastly, and this is especially true for team sponsorships: Since many of the pro gamers have always played on NVIDIA cards because of our legendary quality and performance, they become natural spokespeople for us.

It’s also about activities outside of gaming tournaments. Craig will proactively find ways to feature NVIDIA - whether it’s following our news announcements and posting them on their site, or suggesting and managing an exhibition match at a tradeshows, or getting a poll together to get us feedback from the community on some questions we have. We are so busy that it’s a blessing to have a team that acts like an extension of our staff, looking for ways to help us do our jobs.

Jennifer - Of course we look for a team that is going to compete but more importantly we look for teams that we feel will best represent our brands.

Sponsoring teams allows us to continue to be involved with the heart of the gaming community. We get to see firsthand what’s driving gaming and we get direct feedback from the world’s best gamers on our products. This information helps us make better products for the gaming community.