Rocket League Pros Call For Public Salaries To Help In Negotiations
With pro Rocket League players being considerably younger than, say their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or League of Legends counterparts, the issues surrounding professional contracts and salaries are often discussed, albeit most commonly in hushed voices and behind closed doors.
As many huge esports organisations are flocking to the garages at a grassroots level to find the next flying phenomenons to mould into their future rosters, an array of 14-15-year-olds have emerged as the future stars of RLCS.
However, some Rocket League professionals have now called for player salaries to become public, after it's become known that there exists a disparity between North American and European player salaries.
Retals Claims EU Teams Are 'Getting Scammed'
Having recently used his platform to become one of the more outspoken Rocket League professionals, Slater "Retals" Thomas took to social media to call upon a range of EU stars to pool together to help the so-called "Bubble Scene" players to negotiate their contracts before signing with organisations.
The 19-year-old American enjoyed a successful 2020/21 campaign where his Spacestation Gaming roster became one of the most feared teams in RLCS X, winning four Regionals and one NA Major, before securing second-place in the overall standings. Now, SSG has added 15-year-old Daniel "Daniel" Piecenski to their roster, looking to replicate that success. However, Retals has now cast an eye over his competitors in EU, as they close in on a spot at the Winter Major.
Click to enlarge
"These European teams are getting SCAMMED," Retals claimed on Twitter, calling on "public salaries" in order for the teams to negotiate better terms on contracts, instead of signing the first thing that lands across the table.
Without detailing specifics, he continued to say, "we have teams outside of the top 12 making more than some of your best teams," before calling on Jack "ApparentlyJack" Benton, Archie "Archie" Pickthall, and Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez to start banding together to support the region.
Should Rocket League Pros Start A Players Union?
This isn't the first time that Rocket League contracts have been called into dispute, having previously seen Leonardo "Turinturo" Wilson (of Rogue) call for a players union due to "outright illegal" and "predatory" deals.
Undoubtedly a contributing factor to the Rocket League professional contracts is the age and inexperience of the professionals, with some as young as 14 being able to compete in the Championship Series - as Psyonix look to bend the minimum age requirements for Team Liquid in the upcoming Winter Regional.
As many young stars look to get a foothold in the scene with a respective organisation, "some will try and negotiate," claimed former FC Barcelona player Ronald "Tahz" Oosting.
Tahz continued to say, "Let's say an org has an offer and we ask them if it could be higher they instantly dip out and only want to get the team for cheap." To which Retals reiterated that the entire region should pool together, inferring a players union should be formed.
Kuxir's Minions player Joseph "Growlii" Caffrey argued that EU's salaries are lower than those in America due to sponsorships and a constant language to market, although many European teams have secured big sponsorships in the past, such a Vitality (previously Renault Vitality) and Giants Gaming (previously Vodafone Giants).
Players Unions have also been a hot topic in other esports, such as Call of Duty, where Ian "Crimsix" Porter attempted to advocate such a group to support the players in preventing "money-making" contracts.
It's apparent that without a governing body or a union, players continue to be befuddled by some orgs, although it may take a herculean effort from players to begin to form such a group.
