A recent report from Dexerto has named esports tournament organizer StarLadder in association with late or delayed payments to CS:GO broadcast talent members. CS:GO broadcasters have taken to Twitter in recent months to outline a pattern of delayed payments from prominent tournament organizers. The Tweets do not name StarLadder explicitly.
CS:GO caster Vince Hill spoke out on October 24th, addressing payments from esports tournament organizers that have been delayed for more than two months. He mentions that his efforts to reach out to the organizers have been left unanswered, and that freelancers like himself rely on timely payments to pay bills. He writes in a following Tweet, “you wouldn’t accept not being paid for 3+ months, why should we?”
A number of fellow Counter-Strike broadcast talent members joined the conversation in support of Hill’s statements. Commentator Lauren “pansy” Scott explains that her personal livestream’s revenue has saved her from missing rent payments in the past, after payments from esports tournament organizers were months late. Commentator Jason “moses” O’Toole, host and interviewer James Banks, and former analyst Janko “YNk” Paunovic have shared their own experiences with the same issue, the latter stating that it is one of the reasons he ultimately moved to coaching.
None of the previously mentioned Tweets explicitly name any organization, though notable CS:GO caster Henry “HenryG” Greer went on the record with Dexerto to state that he refuses to work with StarLadder again until all outstanding payments are made. "If you're a freelancer, and I can only comment on broadcast talent regarding this, working with Starladder means unfortunately you will have to pull out all the stops, commit to their events, deliver a world-class show only to be paid when they feel like it, which is usually about 3-4 months after the show at best," he says. Greer, who recently won Commentator of the Year at the Esports Awards, was on the talent lineup at the StarLadder Berlin Major in August and September. He states that he has not yet been paid for his work at the event.
StarLadder addressed these developments in a TwitLonger, where they state that all outstanding payments from the Berlin Minors and Major have been fulfilled. The tournament organizer explains that all talent payments are made 45-90 days after the event’s completion. The Berlin Major ended on September 8th. They explain that payments from a tournament’s sponsors will not typically be made until 3-6 months after the event.
StarLadder states that the final payments from the Berlin Major were made to analyst Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill and host Alex “Machine” Richardson. According to their statement, an issue at a “correspondent bank” delayed payments to HenryG. StarLadder maintains that HenryG was aware of this situation. The company closes by saying there are no outstanding payments from previous StarSeries tournaments or the Berlin Major cycle. They do confirm that payments from StarSeries Season 8 have not yet been made, as the tournament ended on October 27th.