Recently, Rushindra Sinha, founder and CEO of Global Esports, went live on his YouTube channel to update his audience about the issues Global Esports is facing with South Korean visas for its players. During this livestream, one of his fellow viewers told him that instead of “burning cash in the closet,” the owners of esports organizations should use that money to build the esports ecosystem by giving more salaries to professional players. Responding to this, Sinha boldly stated how salaries affect the esports industry.

Sinha’s views on salary in the esports industry

Sports athletes, as well as esports athletes, earn money through multiple sources. A few of these sources are prize money, sponsorships, endorsements, salary, appearance fees, and more. Although salary is a part of athletes’ income sources, it only makes up a fraction of what athletes earn in their careers. Most of the income comes from sources like brand sponsorship and endorsements. In a sponsorship, a company pays the athlete to usually wear the company’s clothing or use their equipment during competitions. On the other hand, an endorsement is when an athlete uses their name or image to promote a product. 

Responding to his viewer, Sinha said, “Salary is the worst way to grow esports. Please don’t ever give this advice to anyone else. If he is spending it on himself, let him spend it on himself. He has earned it, and it is his hard earned money. But don’t give salary advice to anyone. That is not the way to grow the esports ecosystem.” Following this, he added, “If  you think getting a higher salary is going to make you a better player and help you grow the ecosystem, then it is the worst possible way.”

“If you want to earn a salary, you can work in a corporation. There are hundreds of other places where you can earn a salary. Don’t talk about salary in the esports industry. Salary is the thing killing the industry, not growing it,” said Sinha. 

After hearing Sinha’s opinion on salary in the esports industry, one of his viewers curiously asked him how athletes earn money if they don’t earn much through salary. Responding to this, Sinha said, “Ask Virat Kohli how much salary he gets; Ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni how much salary he gets, and tell me if they survive on salary. Tell me if Michael Jordan survives on salary, and tell me if any F1 racer survives on salary. If you can answer these questions, then you understand esports.”

Further elaborating on the topic, Sinha commented, “These are not salaried jobs; these are all professional careers. Both are completely different.”