Earlier today, The International 5 prize pool surpassed $17 million, outpacing TI4's enormous offering by over $6 million. In fact, the event's prize is now worth around $3 million more than all previous Internationals combined.
Additionally, the prize pool is higher than the next three largest tournaments in eSports history combined: TI4, DAC 2015, and TI3. Dota 2's dominance in terms of prize money reflects the resounding success of Valve's crowdfunding strategy, which is now imitated by many organizers in the Dota scene to help produce large third-party events like DAC.
The International nearly doubles the $9 million fund of The Masters, one of the four major golf tournaments. As of today, TI5's champion will take home over $6.1 million - this sum of money is approximately $2.1 million more than what the Australian cricket team was rewarded for winning this year's World Cup. Though professional athletes often make millions beyond prize money through endorsements and salary, The International will continue to inject huge amounts of capital into the scene, and provide legitimacy to eSports for those corporate sponsors who remain skeptical.
Released last week, the prize pool distribution of The International this year will include the bottom four of the 16 teams participating. Each of the teams will receive at least $51,000 regardless of their performance. This new distribution of the prize pool is less top-heavy than last year's, and will ensure that any team which has qualified for the tournament will be rewarded for the hard work they have put in to get to Seattle. With the main event beginning on August 3rd, just two weeks away, it is still an open question as to exactly how much prize money is still to come.
Source: Dota 2
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