Read on Twitter
Damn, a three year deal and the “deal value” is $1.65m. That’s a whole fuckin lot, especially when 99% of the CSGO scene has no exposure to salaries, buyouts, and contract norms. This is going to raise a few eyebrows, so let’s just talk about this for a hot second, shall we?
Deal Length: Three years is a long commitment. Usually we see two years as a standard, one year as shorter, and three+ years as long. However, C9 has traditionally offered three year deals to their CSGO players, so this is normal for them.
From a conversation I had with C9 CEO Jack Etienne at the Boston Major, he revealed that the team had been signed for three years, the current C9 team have three year deals as well, and so have other players in the past - this doesn’t mean they can’t end the contract early.
Clauses, for both sides, exist where the player or organization can end the contract early depending on certain criteria; buyout fee met, irreconcilable difference, violation of terms, and the org ending it with a certain time notice and prepayment. So three years, fine.
Deal Value: $1.65m. Wow. We don’t usually get confirmation of that stuff. Coldzera’s buyout was rumored to be close to $1.0m, but nothing ever official. That was just the buyout, we never found out the salary (I hope he got the bag, though).
When we talk about “Deal Value” in traditional sports, it tends to mean the total cost which includes lawyer fees, agent fees, buyout fees, and salary (as well as other fees but let’s just ignore that for right now). So in $1.65m, that likely includes, well, all of that.
From the live show, as a francophone friend translated for me, Vitality was seeking $500k+ for ALEX, but allegedly settled for about half of that (NOTE: THIS COULD BE WRONG AS I AM TRUSTING A FRANCOPHONE FRIEND AND I HAVE NOT FULLY VERIFIED THIS INFO), so $250k. That’s still $$$
So, assuming that there are no lawyer/agent fees, and the “deal value” is $1.65m, we can take out $250k to find out what ALEX’s salary would be over the entirety of the three year deal;
$1.4m.
$1.4m.
Lets take that $1.4m and spread it out over three years;
$466,667/year
And now per month;
$38,889
Yeah, probably on the higher side for a player in today’s economy, especially considering a recession and COVID, but not absolutely unrealistic.
$466,667/year
And now per month;
$38,889
Yeah, probably on the higher side for a player in today’s economy, especially considering a recession and COVID, but not absolutely unrealistic.
Additionally, the $1.4m figure could include achievable bonuses, salary increase, performance bonuses, and other inclusive that may not be reflected in his base salary. So while $38,889 is jarring, it’s could be the greatest salary he can get, while the base is lower.
Look at the NFL; deal values are announced super high, but the actual guaranteed money is only a percentage of that total contract due to all the performance driven bonuses within the deal. The club says the large number, however, as a way to show strength and excite fans.
I’m saying all of this to drive the point home that the “deal value” has a lot of intricacies within itself and we can’t actually derive a fully accurate understanding of ALEX’s salary or buyout fee from it, but it’s a cool reference point.
So yes, very exiting that we finally have financial details revealed publicly and this is something I’ve banged on about for YEARS. As information becomes more public, all stakeholders within CSGO can understand the market better and its financial health.
Finally, don’t be shitty and use the contract as an excuse to bash a player. Salaries are based on so many factors such as star power, capturing influential players, and so many non-game aspects. So really, really don’t be shitty so more orgs will be comfortable releasing this.
