Any tournament that has at least Php 10,000 ($200) prize pool is subject to this
The Games and Amusements Board has officially laid their guidelines in governing the conduct of e-sports events in the Philippines. As GAB moves to recognize e-Sports as a form of professional sports under its juridiction, any and all e-Sports events that have prize pools above Php 10,000 will have to conform to the guidelines they have set out.
The document is pretty lengthy, but Mineski has laid out all the important points in their post, which we’re putting below:
- The GAB is applying its pre-existing sports regulations to esports.
- Any tournament with a prize pool or equivalent value of item prizes exceeding P10,000 will be considered professional.
- Professional tournaments will require all participants to have an esports license.
- The esports license requires, among other standard license requirements, a certificate of membership or letter of endorsement from an accredited esports organization, drug test results for THC and Methamphetamine, and a fee (P800 for players).
- The esports license is valid until the owner’s next birthday. This is a policy that was implemented last year, before the GAB’s recognizing of esports.
- Tournaments are required to have a GAB-issued permit to operate. The permit fee per day is P800.
- The GAB will receive 3% of the event’s gross gate receipts and income from media rights, alongside copies of the event’s Printer’s Affidavit for tickets, coverage contracts, and report of tickets sold.
- Licensed Filipino players must secure written authorization from the GAB to compete abroad.
- The GAB is open to future discussions and amendments.
Earlier this week, DOTA 2’s developer has revoked Galaxy Battle II’s Major status, a tournament that was supposed to take place on Jan. 15 – 21, attracting renowned teams like Team Liquid, Newbee, Team Secret and Virtus.pro and a prize pool of $1 million.
The revocation was directly caused by the new government regulation for e-Sports players entering the Philippines, with the developer citing “unreasonable infringements on the privacy of the players, as a condition to enter the country.”