- The International’s prize pool for 2019 is already at $8.5M USD.
- The first 24 hours exceeded last year’s numbers in that same time frame by almost $2M.
- Last year’s winner OG Esports took home about 44% of the $25.5M prize pool
The International, Valve’s 
annual Dota 2 tournament, is no stranger to large prize pools. In 2018, it offered more than $25.5M USD to the top teams, a record for the eight-year-old event and esports tournaments in general. This year could set its own record, with the prize pool topping $7.3M in the first 24 hours and eclipsing last year’s number by about $1.8M, within the same time frame.
Valve offers a base prize of $1.6M each year to kick off the pool, but the rest comes in a crowdfunding manner from players purchasing a Battle Pass. The base pass is $9.99 at level 0, $29.35 at level 50, and $44.99 at level 100. Additional levels can also be purchased in Increments of 24 for $9.99 each. Of the money collected, 25% goes into the prize pool.
Related Article: Esports Essentials: What is Dota 2’s The International?
As of this writing, the prize pool was currently more than $8.6M, still outpacing last year’s record pool by almost $2 million less than 48 hours since the 2019 Battle Passes went on sale.
Last year, OG Esports took home the top prize of more than $11.2M, or about 44% of the total prize pool. Second place team PSG.LGD garnered a little over $4M. Sixteen teams participated in the main event.
The International 2019 will take place in Shanghai, the first time the event has been held outside of North America in seven years.
