• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 8, 2009

Major League Gaming said it has secured an additional $7.5 million from Oak Investment Partners, adding to the $25 million series B round granted in October 2006.

Raising money tends to trail success in a solid business model, according to Matthew Bromberg, president and CEO of Major League Gaming. "During 2008 we were able to create the next American digital league sport," he said. "Yes, we have a six-city pro circuit live tour, but we have become one of the largest Internet broadcasters in the country from those live circuit events."

Past investments also include a $10 million round led by Ritchie Capital in February 2006.

Major League Gaming posted triple- and quadruple-digit growth in its sports media business in 2008. Online traffic grew 1337% from the prior year, with 503,000 unique users--among men under 30--watching the Dallas playoffs live at their computers in early October.

Bromberg, former GM of Time Warner's Moviefone and AOL Games properties, said TV prime-time shows running on MTV, for example, dwarf numbers from the Dallas playoffs. MLG averages between 4,000 and 5,000 new players signing up daily that advertisers and sponsors can target.

The Dr. Pepper promotion that began Jan. 1 provides an example of the cross-platform promotions MLG offers. Everyone that buys one of the 175 million bottles of ether diet or regular Dr. Pepper available in convenience stores across America wins. A code under the bottle cap allows consumers to go to the MLG Web site to redeem credits to put toward a tournament game.

Promotions similar to the Dr. Pepper campaign prompted online success for MLG. Online matches grew 625% to 4.4 million in 2008, compared with the prior year. Google Analytics helped peg 7.0 million unique users each month, up 109% compared with 2007. Attendance at live events rose, too. An average of 15,000 attended each live competition in 2008, up 500% from the prior year.

Oak Investment Partners managing partner Ed Glassmeyer said the New York-based professional video game league scored the funds based, in part, on its ability to create a "cultural phenomenon" and design a profitable business model for pros, fans and marketers, even through a "challenging economic environment."