The Profits of Magic

When Tim Weissman first encountered Magic: The Gathering at a gaming convention in 1993, he had no idea that the game would one day become his livelihood. “I saw all these people with stacks and stacks of decks,” he remembers. “I said, ‘Gosh, I don’t believe these people. What losers. They’re spending so much money.’ “

The next day, however, a friend invited the soft-spoken Weissman to play a few games. “Two hours later I [had] my credit card out,” he says. “I wanted [to buy] as much as they had. We played Magic because it was such a fun game, but nobody expected to happen what happened.”

What happened was that Magic became so popular — over two billion cards printed — that in February of last year Wizards of the Coast, the Seattle-based company that owns the game, created a $1 million Pro Tour. “Their vision,” says Weissman, “is for Magic to be an intellectual sport on par with chess.”

The vision is also to make Magic a booming business, one that in recent months has expanded to include people such as Weissman. If Weissman quickly picked up the tricks of Magic: The Gathering, it took him a little longer to pick up the tricks of Magic: The Moneymaking Machine.

In 1996, Weissman was faced with no job and a pregnant wife. “I needed a way to make a living,” he says, “so I decided to see what I could do with Magic tournaments.” He passed out fliers at comic shops and gaming events, and then rented a room at a northwest Houston Holiday Inn. His first event, in August of last year, drew 80 participants. “I ended up making good money that day,” he says. “I was like, ‘Wow, if I did a couple of these a month… ‘ “

Weissman called Wizards of the Coast to see whether he could run their local Pro Tour qualifying events. He passed a written test that tested his game knowledge. He apprenticed at several lower-level tournaments. Then came a nerve-wracking conference call with a group of high-level judges, who grilled him on tournament procedures. He failed that first interview because he was too lenient.

“I answered the questions from the perspective of a tournament organizer,” he says. “Now I basically just go by the book.” Weissman passed muster on his second conference call, and now hosts the only Pro Tour-qualifier Magic events in town. His tournaments are well-organized, computerized and profitable. Entry fees range from $12 to $20 per event, and Weissman usually runs at least five events per tournament. A recent Weissman-run Magic tournament drew 244 players; he expects at least that many for yet another tournament he’s scheduled for October 4 .

Weissman is a part-owner of Empire Comics on Shepherd, where he hosts Magic tournaments on Wednesday nights. He declines to say how much he makes per qualifier. He does, however, admit that it’s “lucrative” and “if I do two events a month, I can make really good money.”

— Alex Hecht