The Truth about Skyesports Masters 2023

Skyesports, the leading tournament organizer in India, took a significant step in reviving the local esports scene last year by announcing the Skyesports Masters 2023, boasting a prize pool of nearly $245,000. However, Dust2 India has found out that nearly 10 months after the event concluded, most players have yet to receive their share of the prize money.

This issue is just the tip of the iceberg, as there were numerous undisclosed complications behind the scenes. The $245k prize pool advertised by Skyesports was, in reality, a facade. Most of the funds were supposed to be reimbursed to the organizations participating in the tournament as a return for the premium they paid to join the event.

Participation Fee

A couple of sources, who were involved in the league, have revealed to Dust2 India that each organization in the franchised league signed two agreements with Skyesports towards the end of June 2023, right before the tournament, which was valid for a lock in period of 1 year. Under the first agreement, which was the League Participation Agreement, each organisation paid Skyesports a sum of 50 Lakh INR as 'Participation Fee'.

Revenue Share promises made by Skyesports

In return, Skyesports signed a Revenue Share agreement, where they promised to pay the organisations back in three kinds:

• Minimum Guarantee Amount : A minimum guarantee amount of 50 Lakhs INR (~$60k) through brand deliverables and other sponsor-generated revenue was promised.

• Stipend : A stipend amount of 5 Lakhs INR was promised for the first three months, making it a total of 15 Lakhs. This amount was supposedly added to the prize pool to make it more attractive.

• Net Revenue : After the Minimum Guarantee Amount was paid, Skyesports will distribute the revenue generated in the ratio of 60:40, with them paying 60% to the Org.

Post Tournament Debacle

However, sources indicate that Skyesports' plans failed as they failed to secure the expected revenue from sponsors, who eventually backed out. Although the narrative remains uncertain with no official confirmation, the outcome was that Skyesports delayed the payments. Under pressure and with more tournaments approaching, Dust2 India was initally told that Skyesports paid out only a sum of around 5 lakh INR of the prize money to all organizations except 7SEA by the end of April, prioritizing those with foreign imports.

When Dust2 India contacted Skyesports for a comment, Skyesports denied this claim, while confirming that the full amount of the prize money had been disbursed to the organizations. Dust2 India later confirmed with one of the organisations, that Skyesports had paid out a total of 19.75 Lakhs. The organisation, who wished to remain anonymous, clarified that only 4.75 Lakhs constituted the prize pool, with the remaining 15 Lakhs being the stipend amount they were to receive.

Players received no compensation

Faced with the bleak prospect of recovering the remaining funds, most organizations declined to pay their players even the 5 lakh INR that belonged to the prize pool which they received. This situation put the players in a precarious position, as many had left their jobs and education to participate in a tournament where even finishing at the bottom was supposed to secure them a significant sum of money.

Moreover, before the tournament, some organizations refused to pay the players any salary, arguing that the players would earn a substantial amount from the prize money by simply participating. The players had no choice but to accept these terms, but ultimately were left with nothing. The situation might not have been so grim for the players if they had known that only a portion of the prize pool would be given to them.

Dust2 India reached out to the players who expressed these viewpoints (both players opted to remain anonymous):

Skyesports and the organisations also played a good cop bad cop role in the Skyesports Masters 2023. Some teams were told before, during and after the event was over that; and I quote; “Sky had promised funds for each org for team maintenance” would be given a certain amount apart from the prize pool and this finally took a cut from the prize pool of each team so the tournament was actually for 80 Lakhs and not 2 Crores. You can do the math on how much was given to each team from the prize pool by Skyesports which caused the players a lot of suffering. In fact some even were not paid a single dime. This was the biggest and most disheartening thing any player can hear from either their Org or a TO. Still to this date players haven’t been paid, Skyesports has anyways taken >6 to 7 months to send it to the Orgs and the Orgs too have delayed the payments while also taking their sweet time to address the players.
A former player, who took part in the Skyesports Masters 2023

I will be brutally honest that certain Tournament organisers such as Skyesports, Blink Esports, Reliance Digital Jio gaming are the most popular TO’s who have not paid any prizemoney from the year 2023 for CS teams that have won their respective tournaments. They do huge announcements and promotions as well, then they end up cancelling or call it off in the mid tournament. They give stupid reasons to call off the tournament and they expect community to believe that they’re the best TO’s especially in India. With the current situation CS is getting better but due to these false promises by TO’s & Organisations that are involved in this fail to deliver the players needs(salary, bootcamp). Orgs fail the basic needs of the players and they expect players to give their best Result such as earning 1st/2nd place in every tournament. Whenever players are requested for any needs, they deny them and they don’t provide salaries on time, they refuse to act according to the contracts.
An active professional from the Indian scene

Present-Day Situation

Here is a brief overview of what the situation is with the prize money of the 8 orgs that took part in the franchised Skyesports Masters 2023:

Note: The table above illustrates the current scenario and will be updated in real time.

Dust2 India attempted to contact orgs for a statement, but most declined to comment. However, a comprehensive report detailing the communication between the orgs and the players will be published shortly.