The Facade of Industry Standards.
Late payments, but how late?
I hear the term “industry standard” being used quite loosely when I sit down with tournament organisers (TO) to discuss the terms of my talent services. What infuriates me is the usage of ‘industry standard’ as an excuse to set an absurd timeline for payments.
Over seven years of my casting career, I have worked with top publishers, multiple international TOs, leading agencies and community event organisers (EO). But one thing that seems to stand out the most in India is unreasonable payment terms. Now, this is not to say that every single EO/agency in the country has a terrible payment cycle; as a matter of fact, there has been an instance where I was handed the cheque right in my green room the moment the event ended. For some events, I have been paid the entire amount in advance, and for some others, I have received part payments in advance (especially if I was working with them for the first time). Then there have been instances where I was not paid for over six months. For one event I did in 2017, I was only fully paid in 2019. But how long is too long in 2023?
Last year in July, I worked a four-day event for which I was not paid until mid-January 2023. That is five and a half months from raising the invoice. The event in question was not just a third-party event, it was a publisher event. But my money had to come through a separate EO which is a practice bigger companies sometimes follow so they don’t have to go through the vendor registration process with everyone they hire, but rather make payments to one vendor and then have them forward it to everyone else while charging an agency fee of course. I followed up with the EO multiple times over the span of five and a half months, and eventually, it got to the point where I had to reach out to the publisher to let them know I had not been paid after all that time and that they needed to do something about it. While I was eventually paid in full, it was not a pleasant experience following up for my own money where my calls and emails were being dodged.
I decided to not call them out publicly because I am still hopeful that they will do better next time.
There is absolutely no regard for the ripple effect it has on people’s lives when payments are delayed for whatever reason. Luckily, I have never had to worry about putting food on the table or having a roof over my head, but not a lot of people in the industry have that luxury. I personally know people who are the sole breadwinners for the family, who come from humble backgrounds, and whose only means to make a living is esports. For them, a delayed payment could mean anything from missing rent to holding back on medical care; or in worse cases, having to borrow money.
I spoke to two casters who decided to share their stories only on the condition of anonymity. Because the casters revealing their names or naming the tournament organisers in question would jeopardise their chances of being re-hired for events.
Fortunately, things have improved in the last five years, but when the bar is set so low, there is no other way but upwards. I have had phenomenal experiences ranging from select EOs who have always cleared my invoices within a week of raising them, to publishers who have not missed a single payment in over two years of working with them. While they do raise the bar, it is still far from becoming a standard.
l see organisers quote 60-90 working days to clear all dues under the guise of industry standard, and I also see a lot of new talent fall prey to this all because they would rather get their foot in the door and accept any ludicrous offer they get. I understand when you are in a situation where you have spent years trying to improve your craft, and you have been yearning for an opportunity: you would not want something seemingly as silly as payment terms to get in the way of your first opportunity. But the problem is, whatever you accept becomes the new standard. Personally, the standard I have set for payments is within four weeks of raising an invoice, and I firmly believe it is a reasonable timeline to clear all dues unless you are billing them for millions of dollars which is not the case for talent.
I see no reason why this is a difficult ask or why it is not possible. I understand running a business is not easy, especially in an industry as volatile as esports in India, where the government could come in and ban a game, which would take away half your revenue stream overnight. However, hiring freelancers/contractors and not paying them for months or even years in some cases is absolutely unacceptable. I firmly believe the stakeholders of the industry can do better and set better standards.
To know more about issues related to talent in the Indian industry check out this podcast Romeo and I did with Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam.
For any aspiring talent, take it from someone who has worked in the space before it was an industry: there is rarely a reason for you to accept a payment term which is beyond 28 days.