DOTA 2 International has Huge Victory Pot

So, The International finals were this weekend, and if you missed them... well, then we're in the same boat, you and I, considering I don't really watch The International either. But by all accounts, it was quite the showing, with North America's DC going up against Chinese giants Wings. I won't discuss the results, however, because that's not what I'm really interested in talking about. No, what I want to talk about here is the prize.

Now, the International is a bit strange in that the community decides how big the final reward pot will be. Valve puts in the first 1.6 million, but the pot then grows depending on how many players bought the 2016 The International Battle Pass. Well, that number grew quite outrageous this year, and while last year the teams battled over 18 million dollars in prize money, this year, there was over $20 million on the line.

And the winners of The International wound up walking away with $9.1 million. That means each member of the team each got over $2 million each. Even the losers got a massive sum, $3.4 million, which is more than the entire pot of the 2015 League of Legends world series, the LCS, about #2.1 million.

Holy crap, that is a lot of money.

The eSports scene might not have the mainstream appeal and acceptance of the world, but hot dang, these prize pools are higher than you find in, say, Golf or Tennis. If the sponsorships ever started paying more, it's possible that in the near future eSports athletes could be some of the wealthiest athletes in the world.

If they play DOTA 2, anyway. Unrelated note, does anyone have any guides they'd recommend...? I'm thinking about picking it up...