Surpassing the highest-paid Australian athletes such as cricketer Steve Smith and tennis player Nick Kyrgios, 19-year-old Anathan Pham won over $4.62 million dollars in the Dota 2 Internationals in Shanghai this weekend.
Thanks to all the fans that were by our side.. Still cannot comprehend what just happened.. 🙏🙏🙏👨🏿🎤❤️
— Anathan Pham (@anadota99) August 25, 2019
This is a huge accomplishment for anybody, but to see Australia represented in the big leagues is amazing. This is not the first win for team OG. Placing 1st in the 2017 Internations allowed for the team to boast a total winning of over $33 million dollars.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll37ahq8Z/
The total winnings of $23 million from this weekend have been shared between the team, making them all amongst the highest-paid athletes. Pham is also the first Australian to ever win a valve sponsored event. He has also only been playing competitively for 3 years.
The win by Team OG has set the stage for the multi-million dollar industry of eSports, with comparisons such as winning the Wimbledon Tennis Championships paying less than the Fortnite World Cup and the Dota The International 2019.
winning Wimbledon in 2019: $2.9 Million
winning The Masters in 2019: $2 Million
winning Indy 500 in 2019: $2.6 Millionwinning the Fortnite World Cup in 2019: $3 Million
winning the Dota The International in 2019: $3.1 Million/$15M totalesports is love, esports is life
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 25, 2019
Peoples dreams have been shattered about playing video games professionally by society. If this doesn’t give you and the haters hope in the scene, nothing will. This is huge for the eSports scene and Australia as an industry.
