StarLadder released an official statement today after numerous allegations surfaced about the tournament organizer failing to pay its caster talent. StarLadder said that there are no outstanding payments to CS:GO talents for any StarSeries tournaments and the 2019 Berlin Major.
Over the past few days, a handful of reports and statements from various CS:GO personalities—like caster Henry “HenryG” Greer and reporter Richard Lewis—said that StarLadder was the TO that other talents were referring to when talking about late payments.
Lewis also reported that multiple other CS:GO broadcast workers were still waiting for payment for the Berlin Major and that one unnamed caster threatened to go public to accelerate the payment process.
“We consider the entire cycle of StarLadder Major Berlin 2019, from Minors to the Grand Final, as one project. And talents are being paid in one transaction for all stages of the tournament,” StarLadder said. “Usually, when we collaborate with talents all payments are made within 45-90 days from the date of the project completion. It’s been our understanding with talents for years.”
StarLadder also explained that the company had to wait three months to pay its talent because it receives sponsorships and other payments three to six months after a tournament is over. The tournament organizer said that most of the payments for the Berlin Major were finished in November. The last payments—given to casters Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill and Alex “Machine” Richardson—were made at the beginning of this week.
In the case of HenryG, the tournament organizer said that his payment was sent out on Friday, Nov. 8, but there was a delay from a correspondent bank. StarLadder also said that HenryG was aware of the situation and was provided all the documents needed. The company said it’s helping him resolve the issue.
This situation has brought to light a problem that many casters have faced over the last couple of years. Plenty of broadcast workers still maintain that they’ve had to wait too long for payments. This instance could help change that in the future.
