By: Jan Marcus Montevirgen
On Monday afternoon, TNC head coach Caisam “Wolf” Nopueto took to X (formerly Twitter) to air his grievances about overdue payments from his international shoutcasting gigs at the Games of the Future and MSC 2024 tournaments.
His revelation sparked a wave of similar frustrations from fellow shoutcasters, shedding light on a recurring issue within the esports community.
“As of now, I have not been paid for Games of the Future (Feb 2024) and MSC (July 2024) talent fees. To be honest, late payment is not new to me and is part of the reason why I decided to pause from shoutcasting. Hope this makes a difference at least in the MLBB world 🙁,” Wolf stated in his X post.
Following Wolf’s revelation, his former fellow shoutcaster Dan “Leo” Cubangay responded. He mentioned that it had been challenging to work with the organizers of the Games of the Future tournament from the beginning.
Joseph “Naisou” Rezabek also shared Wolf’s post on X, expressing similar concerns. He clarified, however, that the delayed payments were not Moonton’s fault, as a different company was responsible for handling the payments.
“A reality in esports is delayed payments. We work hard, but sometimes the money doesn’t come on time, even with a contract. It’s not always Moonton’s fault; other orgs handle payments. I’m still waiting on payment from a February event. This is why casters often juggle multiple gigs,” he explained in his X post.
“Naisou and I both worked for the Games of the Future event for MLBB in February and never received any communication about payments. It was not Moonton’s obligation to pay us; it was managed by a different company,” he added in a follow-up reply.
After Wolf, Leo, and Naisou voiced their concerns about the delayed talent fees on X, Chantelle “Chantelle” Hernandez shared her perspective on the issue in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon.
Chantelle revealed that delayed payments had been a significant factor in her decision to frequently use public transportation to travel from home to events. Additionally, she disclosed that she had to take on a day job alongside her work as a talent.
She also mentioned that she accepts lower talent fees from her organizer friends, hoping that the reduced rate would ensure timely payment.
“One of the main reasons why I always prefer to commute to events and why I still secure a day job alongside my work as a talent is because of uncertainty regarding payment. You never know when or if you’ll be paid on time, or if you’ll be paid at all,” Chantelle shared in her Facebook post.
“Also, it’s fine if my ‘organizer friends’ hire me at a lower rate than usual, but I hope they don’t delay payment for months or even years. Sometimes it’s just unfortunate when you don’t get paid at all,” she continued.
“Imagine commuting 3-4 hours and adding up the hours dedicated to the actual event, only to end up not getting paid. 🥹.”
