What is the Biggest Esports Story of September?
We think it involves a company from Dubai that has left a mark on many regions in the world... for better or worse.
The biggest story in September isn’t FaZe Clan CEO Lee Trink getting fired by the board of directors, or eFuse pausing its Creator League and laying off 30 employees after accusations that it was trying to hide crypto/blockchain/NFT elements, or even that Valve has decided to end the DPC Circuit for Dota 2 in 2024.
No, in my opinion, the biggest story is that a company that is part of a Dubai prince's portfolio of companies allegedly owes people around the world millions of dollars and journalists (some of which were cc’d on an email) don’t seem to care. It has been almost a week since a whistleblower in North America revealed a number of allegations against Dubai-based esports and gaming company Galaxy Racer.
What were those allegations?
The company allegedly owes popular YouTube star Noor Stars $1M USD in brand deals that go back into 2022.
The company allegedly owes esports team Nigma Galaxy $5M in back payments.
The company allegedly owes staff at Galaxy Racer NA / Her Galaxy six weeks of back pay, has not reimbursed staff for health care payments, and prioritizes paying men before women.
Separately, sources told The Esports Advocate that the company owes content creators in North America and Europe under its GXR Elite brand three - eight months’ worth of back pay.
I am sad and disappointed that many publications cc’d on that email (Dexerto, Dot Esports, among others) decided that this story was either too much work, too controversial (because maybe they are trying to do business in the Middle East, or are scared), or it is simply not big enough to matter. I guess covering what one streamer said about another streamer or what Jake Paul ate for breakfast is more important than dozens of employees/contractors getting screwed over. Even Jake Lucky, the darling of X/Twitter, didn’t think it was important enough to tweet about, but maybe Galaxy Racer sent him a jersey. 🤷♀️
I have been pretty blunt about what I think publicly, as illustrated in this tweet.
Whatever. TEA will continue to dig into this story and we hope to have more about Galaxy Racer in the early part of next week. Be on the lookout for that.
Thank you for reading this far and for being a regular reader of this newsletter. If you think we are providing value, we would appreciate you sharing it with others - we do this for free and with a whole heart because we care about this industry and the people working in it. Thank you! - James
📰 This Week @ The Esports Advocate 📰
Whistleblower Takes Aim at Galaxy Racer in Mass Email: In a mass email sent to GXR management, investors, employees, and media on Monday, a whistleblower lays out a litany of serious accusations against the company.
Misfit Gaming Group Creators Tackle the Go Pink Challenge: From Sept. 18 - 30, top creators will support the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation in its fight against breast cancer.
HBCU Esports League Season Four: Former NFL wide receiver Chad "OchoCinco'' Johnson signs on as an official ambassador.
The Chiefs Esports Club Acquired by Team Bliss Esports: Australian esports organizations become one, but will continue to operate their respective brands. Chris Smith signs on as an advisor at the new entity for two years.
One Up x NBA 2K24 Championship Series: More than $1M USD in prizes up for grabs for the best NBA 2K24 players in the United States.
Ampverse Acquires Championfy: Casual esports competition platform paused as new owner integrates technology into new and existing web3 products.
My Hero Academia Returns to Fortnite: Characters Shoto Todoroki, Eijiro Kirishima, and Mina Ashido make their Item Shop debut.
National Student Esports Renews Partnership With HoYoverse: The company behind Genshin Impact teams up again with the operator of the British University Esports Championship.
Xfinity Named Official Supporting Partner of The Esports Awards: Comcast-owned company to present the award for Esports Content Creator of the Year.
🚌 People on the Move 🚌
Here is a sample of this week’ personnel moves in the esports, gaming, and sports industries. Hat tip to Mark Cai this week for scoping out a couple I didn’t find! You should be checking out Mark’s weekly video series, This Week in Gaming & Esports, on LinkedIn if you aren’t already!
Esports:
James Bittner has been promoted to senior manager of esports programs at Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
Guy Blomberg has joined ESL FACEIT Group's DreamHack division as its new event director for the Americas.
Joe Lovelace has been promoted to head of communications at BLAST.
Danielle Fox is promoted to director of marketing at FlyQuest.
Kayla Libuda is promoted to chief of staff at Enthusiast Gaming.
In case you missed it, Lee Trink has been fired as the CEO of FaZe Clan.
Matthew Elmore is no longer the Valorant head coach at Cloud9.
Calle Danielsson is no longer the head of content at Cloud9.
John Wallace is no longer the associate product manager at Cloud9.
Manu joins Elite Esports as “management.” He is also the CEO of Vital Scrims.
Gaming:
Charlie Wen replaces Donald Mustard as the new chief creative officer at Epic Games.
Liz Leung joins Savage Game Studios (a PlayStation studio) as a senior recruiter.
Former Amazon Games Studios Recruiter Daysi Cruz joins Onward Play as a gaming recruiter.
Tyler Cooper transitions from doing business development work for the Epic Games Store to working with the Unreal Engine team at Epic Games.
Johannes Mang joins Rovio Stockholm as the new head of studio.
Arin Goldsmith is promoted to senior talent marketing specialist at Blizzard.
Astrid Salin-Tabert leaves Ubisoft Paris to join New Tales family as its new publishing producer.
Daniel Le takes on the role of marketing manager at Square Enix.
Craig McNary has been promoted to senior director of Xbox platform & branding marketing at Microsoft.
Other:
Scott Woodruff has been appointed the senior director of corporate partnerships for the Detroit Lions.
Christianna Barnhart joins the Entertainment Software Association as the new SVP of government affairs.
Charles Conroy has left Entain to join Tata Communications as its new head of business development for global gaming.
Jourdan Kirby exits Playfly Sports to take on the role of senior manager of corporate partnerships at the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium.
📢 In Other News 📢
Embracer Group might sell off Gearbox…
Skyesports in pact with Mogo for collegiate esports in India.
Gen.G puts on some Crocs in the metaverse.
Global Esports Federation and Qatar Esports Federation sign a 10-year deal.
Tencent gets its hands on popular anime Blue Protocol for a game deal.
Inflation in the U.S. quickens in August.
Doublelift tells Vice he isn’t done with esports yet…
NFL players tap Valhalla Esports.
Russian Fortnite players are forced to forfeit prizes.
For all the latest esports and gaming business news, be sure to check out The Esports Advocate - drink some soothing TEA filled with essential vitamins, minerals, and the truth, and stop drinking that sugary, soulless kool-aid!