BLAST and Valve decide to cover coaches' expenses ahead of BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 after criticism from the community
Tournament operator BLAST has agreed to cover coaches' expenses ahead of BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 after criticism from the community. Recall that the day before, Valve decided to reduce its spending on supporting the teams participating in the upcoming major, removing coaches from the list for financial support. Immediately after that, the community lashed out at developers who decided to cut their costs.
BLAST will now provide and pay for accommodation, flights, visas and meals for six team members. Any additional participants, including staff replacements or flights and visas, will be arranged by BLAST at the expense of the team.
However, the situation was quickly resolved as BLAST, the organizers of BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, sent out an email to all teams participating in the upcoming RMR tournaments saying they would cover accommodation, airfare, visas and meals for six team members. Thus, the previous notification from Valve was interrupted by the offer of the tournament operator, which responded to criticism in a timely manner.
The situation itself was met with massive backlash, as the decision was radically different from the conditions of previous majors - previously, expenses were covered for six team members. For smaller organizations and teams without clubs, this would mean additional costs for which they did not have the budget.
However, all staff and substitutes will still be paid from the pocket of the participating teams. However, earlier such an experience was not criticized, since the organizers supported only the main lineups of the teams. Moreover, many perceived this decision by Valve as another attempt to reduce the influence of coaches. Previously, the developers severely limited the ability of specialists during matches, effectively forbidding them to communicate with players in any way outside of tactical pauses.
The current schedule of the full cycle of BLAST Paris Major 2023:
- RMR Open Qualifiers: February 13-26, 2023
- RMR tournaments: April 4-15, 2023
- Major: May 8-21, 2023 (Challengers - May 8-11, 2023; Legends - May 13-16, 2023; Champions - May 18-21, 2023)
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