Some esports made it big financially through support from their game developers or from third parties like sponsors. The fighting game community (FGC) is looking in a different direction: crowdfunding.Since its inception, the FGC has emphasized passion and community over prize pools and revenues. Many of the FGCs biggest tournaments and best-known streamers, like the Evolution Championship series and Victor Spooky Fontanez of Team Spooky, became successful because they grew out of the love for both the community and fighting games. Top players aimed to win tournaments for the prestige and the chance to build a legacy. The FGCs grassroots beginnings meant that the scene simply didnt give much thought to the mechanics of money in competitive gaming.Now, though, things are changing. With the influx of sponsors signing players, greater attention to events by the mainstream, and inclusion under the booming esports umbrella, its time to adapt to a new ballgame. Other major esports like League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Hearthstone have events where the scale and quality of production rival that of traditional sports; they also attract similar levels of attention from the public and sponsors. One way to close the gap between the FGC and these other esports developmentally, then, is to invest more money into the fighting game tournaments themselves.Although the idea of using crowdfunding to raise money for tournaments might seem to buck the norm, its not a new concept in esports. The most successful example is in Dota 2 with game developer Valves tournaments and events. Valve produces several Majors and a capstone tournament called The International every year, and the prize pools for these events are all partly raised through selling in-game items. This year, Dota 2s fanatical community contributed more than half of The Internationals $20 million purse.Additionally, crowdfunding is a concept that is particularly suited to the FGCs culture. With crowdfunding, the FGC can continue to maintain its strong community and group identity. Sponsors might want to influence a tournaments signature look or a streams overlay in exchange for fattening its prize pool. If the fans and the players take that role instead, the tournament directors have more freedom to run the event in an authentic way.Crowdfunding is not actually a new concept in fighting games, but it has not been a consistent tool for raising prize pools; for example, there has been online pooling from community subreddits that brought international players to specific tournaments.Now, an FGC tournament is ready to embrace crowdfunding in a more direct way. East Coast Throwdown (ECT) on Sept. 3-4, a tournament that was crafted from the ground up by Joe LI Joe Ciaramelli and John Gallagher, is partnering with Matcherino to boost the Street Fighter V tournaments prize pool. Matcherino is a crowdfunding platform like Kickstarter that specifically supports esports tournaments. ECT will be Matcherinos first foray into the FGC, and the site will sponsor and partner with the tournament to provide incentives and stretch goals for donors.The response from community figures has been enthusiastic. Matcherino is partnering with Twitch and Red Bull-sponsored player Daigo The Beast Umehara to provide incentives and prizes for donors to the ECT campaign. Umehara revealed an additional crowdfunding scheme of his own on Twitter:(2/2) Also, all profit made on sales of my book at ECT will be donated to the prize pool as well.- Daigo Umehara 梅原大吾 (@daigothebeast) September 1, 2016Evil Geniuses Justin Wong, a legendary American fighting game competitor, donated $500 to the pot and urged his followers to support the cause. He is currently the top donor.Guys and gals.. Make it happen https://t.co/BTz1vDFD0N- Justin Wong (@JWonggg) August 31, 2016In keeping with other crowdfunding campaigns, Matcherino and ECT have come up with stretch goals involving exhibition matches, signed gear, custom equipment, and more. The effort has been deemed a success, as funding status stands at $5,100 out of the original $5,000 goal.ECTs funding initiative might not reach the millions that other major esport titles can collect, but its a step in the right direction. As prize pools grow, fighting games will be seen more and more as top titles for investment. Fighting games occupy a rare niche as a kind of game that both challenges the hardcore player and thrills the casual newcomer. With crowdfunding, the FGC can creatively generate buzz due to larger prize pools and raise the profile of these events so that more players will want to participate in the future. Trevor Hildenberger Twins Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Willians Astudillo Twins Jersey . From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. https://www.cheaptwins.com/1492t-randy-dobnak-jersey-twins.html . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Stephen Gonsalves Jersey . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Sergio Romo Jersey . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early.MONTREAL -- Coach Marco Schallibaum says cups are important. And he wants his Montreal Impact players to consider that when they face the Vancouver Whitecaps in a winner-take-all match for the Voyageurs Cup. "Its not the (league) championship, but the cup is always interesting," Schallibaum said Monday. "I use as an example 25 years ago when I won a cup. "I have always remembered it. It was very emotional, and we want to feel that emotion after the game." It was actually 30 years ago, in 1983, that Schallibaum won the Swiss Cup with Grasshoppers Zurich. Now, the Voyageurs Cup is up for grabs if the Impact can win, or at least score a goal in a tie, in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Champion final on Wednesday night in Vancouver. The teams played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg on May 15 at Saputo Stadium. Montreal can win the two-game, total-goals series by scoring an away goal, as long as they dont lose the game. "Its important that we do everything not to have any regrets after the game," added Schallibaum, a former star fullback in Switzerland who went into coaching when his playing days were done. The 51-year-old brought winning with him when he took over the Impact this season. The club was bounced from the first round by Toronto FC last year under former coach Jesse Marsch. Montreal started the year with a victory in the pre-season Disney Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando, Fla., and are battling for top spot in Major League Soccer with a 7-2-2 record. They are coming off a rousing 5-3 win at home over Philadelphia on Saturday night, paced by a hat trick from striker Marco Di Vaio and the first goals of the season from Andrew Wenger and rookie Blake Smith. Now their attention turns to Cup play, where both sides feel they have an edge. The Whitecaps have home field advantage, but Wenger said it is Vancouver that should be feeling the heat. "I think people forget that they need a goal just as much as we do," said Wenger. "And if we score a goal, theyre in a lot of trouble. "So theres more pressure on them than there is on us." The Whitecaps defence tied Montreal in knots in the first leg and they had some chances to steal an away goal, including onne headed for the net that was swept off the line by Impact midfielder Justin Mapp.dddddddddddd More open space is expected in the second leg, with both sides looking for goals. And, with the Cup on the line, both should have most of their top players in the lineup. "They had guys in different spots last game and it kind of threw a curveball at us," said goalkeeper Even Bush. "But theyll come out and try to attack and, playing at home, theyre going to go for the win right away. "Were going to have to deal with that, but it will open up space for us as well." Troy Perkins has played every MLS match for Montreal this season, but backup Bush has played the Cup games. In the opening round against TFC, the Impact lost the first leg 2-0 in Toronto but responded with a 6-0 win in the second leg to take the series 6-2 on aggregate. It ended Torontos four-year run as Voyageurs Cup champion. Montreal took it seven years in a row before that, while Vancouver has never won the Cup. The winner also gets Canadas lone berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. Perhaps the Impacts greatest high in their 20-year history came in Champions League play in 2009, when they drew 55,571 fans to Olympic Stadium for a 2-0 win over Mexicos Santos Laguna in the first leg of the quarter-finals. But their deepest low was in the return leg, when they scored twice more, only to collapse in the second half and lose 5-4 on aggregate. Now theyre gunning for another shot at international play. "If we could go out there and win a Cup to bring back to our fans here, that would be something we would cherish a long time," said Bush. The first leg was marked by a collision of heads between Vancouvers Jordan Harvey and Montreals Jeb Brovsky that left the Impact defender with his nose broken in six places. Brovsky, a former Whitecap, needed plastic surgery on his face, but was back in the lineup on Saturday and is expected to play. Fullback Hassoun Camara will return after missing Saturdays game with a sore thigh. Forward Daniele Paponi and midfielder Andrea Pisanu, both on the mend from thigh injuries, worked out on the sidelines Monday but wont be available. Captain Davy Arnaud is out with a concussion. ' ' '