MLG spends $1.75M signing seven pro gamers

Back in June, Major League Gaming made headlines when it agreed to sign a quintet of professional gamers for a total of $1.25 million over three years. While many scoffed at the amount of scratch given to the joystick jockeys, the professional gaming league apparently thinks it was a great idea, as it has signed a second wave of gamers to deals for a similar amount of cash.

MLG has announced the signings of the four-man team Carbon and the three remaining members of Str8 Rippin, whose team captain, Tom "Tsquared" Taylor, was one of those signed in June.

Team Carbon is made up of Chris "Shockwave" Smith, Scott "Gandhi" Lussier, Ben "Karma" Jackson, and Eric "Ghostayame" Hewitt, and is the defending MLG Halo 2 team champion. The squad beat top dogs Final Boss (the previous MLG Halo 2 champ) three consecutive times in the second half of MLG's tour this year. The team was given a three-year $1 million deal to play exclusively with MLG.

The remaining members of Str8 Rippin--Carlos "Cpt. Anarchy" Morales, Alfonso "Fonzi" Chartier, Peter "Foulacy" Dietrich--join Taylor with three-year $250,000 deals each. Str8 Rippin is considered the third-best MLG team, behind Carbon and Final Boss.

MLG competitions can be seen on the USA Network on Saturdays at 10 a.m. ET/PT, or online at the MLG Web site.