It has been a little over eight months since the $100K HER Galaxy Apex Legends Open concluded (on June 25, 2023), but the winning players and LeagueSpot—the tournament platform company that facilitated the event—have still not been paid by Dubai-based esports organization Galaxy Racer (GXR).
The winners and prize pool payout breakdowns for the all-women Apex Legends competition were officially announced by HER Galaxy on June 25, 2023:
Prize Pool Breakdown for #HERGalaxy $100K Apex Legends Open
Top three:
🥇 Team Cuties $40,000
🥈 Luminosity Red $25,000
🥉 Team Lust $15,000And congratulations to the remaining 17 teams who will also be taking home their well-deserved winnings! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/eD0FrUqFLX
— HER GALAXY (@hergalaxygg) June 26, 2023
Sources The Esports Advocate spoke to this week told us that winners have not been paid and there has been no official or unofficial communications with winners from GXR over the last several months. TEA reached out to GXR for an update on the situation, but the company did not respond to a request for comment (we will provide an update to this story if it does respond).
In December, GXR missed the 180-day payout deadline detailed in the contracts players signed to participate in the tournament (which would have seen payments disbursed on or around Dec. 22 or 23). In February, GXR Chief of Staff Walid Singer told TEA in an email that the company hoped to meet its obligations related to the tournament by the end of February:
“We are currently wrapping up the whole operation in North America and we expect all prize pools and pending dues to be finalized by the end of February. Realistically might happen before, but this is the update we are looking to commit to with our stakeholders.
“There has never been a scenario where we fail to pay our commitments. Even in the midst of all these delays, we are still processing everyone that is owed.”
That deadline set by GXR has come and gone, and if it extends to March 29, it will mark nine months since the tournament concluded.
Sources also tell TEA that Chicago-based tournament organizer LeagueSpot has not been paid the $40K it is owed (according to sources) for its work in facilitating the $100K HER Galaxy Apex Legends Open last year. LeagueSpot, which does white-label tournament organization and production in the U.S., put “significant work” into the $100K HER Galaxy Apex Legends Open, according to sources familiar with the situation. Those same sources claim that the company built a custom, white-label platform with a landing page, supported competition management with additional staffing, built a gender verification system, and helped with strategic planning.
In the past, GXR attributed many of its delays in paying its financial obligations to its merger with Dubai-based Riva Technology and Entertainment. There hasn’t been much public communication on the status of this merger in several months.
TEA will continue to follow this story until it reaches a conclusion.