As prize pools and viewership metrics in e-sports start to rival and even exceed those found in traditional sports, some people are questioning whether it’s also time for a formal collective-bargaining agreement, or even to form a true players union.
In October, 10 e-sports teams sent a combined letter to representatives of the biggest tournaments and league organizers in the industry, outlining the base requirements they would like offered to players going forward, ranging from minimum amounts of prize money and travel support, to match scheduling and requests for bathrooms separate from spectators and fans.
“E-sports has been developing rapidly for the past few years and we want to establish a more professional connection between top teams and big e-sports tournaments and league organizers,” said Alexander Kokhanovsky, CEO of Natus Vincere, one of the teams behind the letter.
There is also a push to further increase the professional standard around e-sports. While much is made of teams winning large prizes, there are still many cases of tournaments withholding payment for months, if even paying at all. E-sports had its own scandal around drug use last year as well, with reports of players abusing Adderall to further focus on the games. Tournament organizer ESL has since begun player drug testing at its events, with others likely to follow suit.
However, the very nature of e-sports may make efforts like unionization or even a players bill of rights difficult to fully enforce.
As opposed to other sports unions, which traditionally put players on the opposite side of the table across from owners and the league, there are quite often four participants in e-sports, between the players, the teams, the leagues, and tournament organizers and publishers. Quite often, the lines between those groups are blurred as well.
Bryce Blum, the founding partner of IME Law where he focuses on legal issues around e-sports and represents a large number of players, teams and leagues, said it’s an issue that all the parties are trying to solve.
“It’s all about making sure all the voices are heard,” Blum said. “Traditionally some of the voices, simply because of the economics involved, knew they were in a position of strength and had their voices heard a bit more loudly. Now players need to take a more active role.”
Given the economic stratification between individual games, tournaments and teams within e-sports, Blum said a one-size-fits-all method likely wouldn’t work. Instead, he said, a path similar to the one taken by baseball players in the 1940s might be better — uniting under a system where teams could each elect a representative to speak for their collective needs, a message that could be relayed to the teams and league officials.
Blum said conversations along those lines have been ongoing, and he hopes that something more official will be achieved this year.
ESL America Executive Vice President Craig Levine, whose organization was one of those that received the letter from owners, said he anticipates a basic bill of rights for players, as they’ve “become superstars.”
“I think it’s a healthy step, and we certainly expect that some organization will happen,” Levine said.
Blum noted that this should be viewed as a positive development due to the industry’s massive growth.
“On a really basic level, if you have a really small pie, the impetus to fight for a piece of that pie is quite low,” he said. “In the early days of e-sports, most people were just happy to be there playing a game professionally; how could you even complain? Now as that pie has grown, everyone should be able to take ownership.”
