They're certainly going to pull something off. They have a venue, film crew, and broadcasting outlet. The event is going to happen.
But if just 20 people show up to play, and a few hundred tune in to watch online, have they really accomplished anything?
They dove into this thing expecting the letters E, S, P, and N would be enough to draw in top level talent and a huge fan base. They were dead wrong.
Their entire focus has been on putting together an event that they feel is most attractive to a broadcast audience, rather than putting that effort into making sure it's an event that's attractive to the players. What they didn't plan for was the fact that no one wants to pay $300 for the chance to be on a webcast buried somewhere deep inside the WatchESPN app.
So yes, Salient is going to pull something off, but is it really going to be what they want?
There are two questions that the event and it's supports should have ready answers to:
- Why should I play this event?
- Why should I watch this event?
If you're going to spin it around and say "Why aren't you going to play?" or "Why aren't you going to watch?" then you've already lost. The onus is not on a consumer to turn down a product, it's on the product to sell to the consumer.