A prize pool is the tournament's "bank": the entire sum the organizer promises to pay out to participants. It is announced in advance, usually before qualifiers even begin, and viewers and teams use it to judge the scale of the event. The bigger the pool, the higher the tournament's prestige and the stronger the field of participants.
How the distribution works
The pool never goes to the winner in full. The organizer publishes a payout table in advance: each place in the final bracket has its own amount. The winner gets the largest share, the finalist less, the semifinalists even less, and so on down the table. At major tournaments, money goes not only to the top finishers but also to teams from the middle of the standings, and sometimes to those eliminated in the early stages: this is how organizers cover at least part of the participants' travel and preparation costs.
The format should be considered separately: how the bracket is built determines how many matches you need to win to be guaranteed a payout. For more on this, see the article on [tournament format](/dictionary/tournament-format).
What the total consists of
The sources of the pool vary:
- Money from the organizer or the game's publisher. The most common option: the pool is fixed and known in advance.
- Sponsor money. Brands add their share in exchange for advertising and mentions.
- Viewer contributions. In some tournaments the pool grows through sales of in-game items: part of the revenue goes into the common bank, and the final sum becomes known only over the course of the season.
That is why the phrase "tournament prize pool" can mean either a rigidly set sum or a growing figure that is only finalized by the final.
How the pool differs from what a player receives
This is the most common point of confusion for newcomers. The announced sum is the team's money, not each player's personal earnings. The winnings first go to the organization, and are then split according to the terms of the contract: part may go to the players, the coach and the analyst, and part stays with the club to cover expenses. The shares differ from organization to organization and are set out in the agreement, not derived from the size of the pool. In addition, taxes are paid on winnings, and international tournaments may involve withholdings and fees, so the amount that reaches the recipient is less than the announced figure.
Prize money is not the same as a salary. A salary is paid regularly regardless of results, while prize money depends solely on performance at a specific tournament.
How the term is used in conversation
In news and discussions, phrases like "a tournament with a million-dollar prize pool" or "the prize pool has grown" are ordinary speech. People also often say simply "the prize money": "the team took the prize money," "the prize money is split evenly." The abbreviation "PP" appears in summaries and tables. The term "prize pool" is the standard form in English-language esports, with "prize money" as an equally common synonym.
The size of the pool is usually compared with the tournament's tier: viewers use it to gauge how important the competition is for the scene, although there is no direct relationship between the sum and the quality of play: smaller tournaments often produce very strong matches.