Prize Money Not Paid to Skyesports Masters 2023 Participants Due to Controversial Indian Organizers’ Scheme

Players who participated in the Skyesports Masters 2023 CS
tournament in India have yet to receive their prize money, even though more than ten months have passed. This information was reported by the Indian portal Dust2, citing statements from teams and esports players.

When the league was being formed, all eight participating organizations paid an entry fee of 5 million rupees (approximately $60,000). The organizers promised to reimburse this amount after the championship through sponsorship deals. Additionally, the teams were supposed to receive a mandatory stipend of 5,000 rupees per month for the first three months (totaling 15,000 rupees). After deducting these mandatory payments, the league’s revenue was to be split 60% to 40% in favor of the clubs.

It turned out that the mandatory stipend was included in the prize pool to make it more attractive to viewers and sponsors. The initially announced prize pool was 20 million rupees (approximately $240,000), although it actually amounted to less than $100,000.

Due to insufficient sponsorship funding, the organizers were unable to fully pay the clubs. For example, the 7SEA team, as of the publication of the Dust2 article, had not received any payments, five participants received 4,750 rupees each, and only two teams received 19,750 rupees each, of which 15,000 was the mandatory stipend and the remaining amount was part of the promised prize pool. Representatives of Skyesports claimed that they had fulfilled all prize obligations.

One esports player, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that many players found themselves in a difficult situation. They did not know that the mandatory stipends were included in the prize pool intended for clubs, not for the players. Initially, the minimum prize money for each team was 2 million rupees (approximately $24,000), which led many players to forgo their club salaries to participate in the championship, believing they would receive substantial payouts. However, in reality, players were entitled to no more than 500,000 rupees (approximately $6,000), and even this amount was received by only two teams: Enigma Gaming and Reckoning Esports.

The anonymous esports player noted that such situations frequently occur at tournaments organized in India. According to him, at least three tournament operators have not paid prize money for all events held since 2023. Despite making grand announcements and launching major advertising campaigns, tournaments are often either canceled before they begin or interrupted during the event. This negatively impacts the entire ecosystem, as clubs, not receiving promised revenues, cannot fulfill their obligations to players, including organizing bootcamps.

Skyesports Masters 2023 took place in the summer of 2023, featuring eight invited teams from India. After the online stage, four teams were eliminated, and the strongest competed in the LAN finals in Bangalore. The winner was the team Gods Reign, who defeated Revenant Esports in the final.