Valve won't cover coaches for Americas RMR

Valve and coaches go together like the oil that lights on fire in the ocean. Today, a startling tweet came from Joshua "m1cks" Micks, head coach of Detonate, claiming that Valve is not paying to send coaches to the RMR as they are only paying for five players.

The concerning tweet has already garnered a massive reaction from the community as Fluxo head coach and former Major winner Wilton "zews" Prado says that coaches are "treated like garbage by the developer" in reaction to this new information.

Dust2.us was able to look at the information packet provided to all teams attending the BLAST.tv Paris Major Americas RMR and can confirm that coaches attending the RMR in Monterrey, Mexico might have to pay their own way. According to the packet:

BLAST will provide and pay for accommodation, flights, visas and catering for the core 5 members of your roster.

Any additional members including managers, substitutions or content staff flights and visas will be organised by BLAST at the expense of the team.

If you would like to bring additional team members, please provide their details in the Team Information Request form in the Additional Team Members section.

Accommodation, flights, visas and catering will be organised for the additional team members and the cost will be charged back to the team. Upon request of the additional team members, we will provide a quote.

According to OG Esports Team Manager Vladyslava Zakhliebina, Valve has never covered coaches, but rather six individuals. Now it seems as though this is only five players.

This is confirmed by information provided to Dust2.us this morning which shows that PGL covered the full costs of six persons for the PGL Antwerp Major RMRs in Bucharest. Dust2.us also understands that the limitations and support for persons at the Major comes from Valve, not the individual tournament operator.

For some organizations, this might be a minor issue as they will have to cover the costs of a flight to Monterrey and the lodging at a nearby hotel. With the average hotel price around $135/night in the city, the total cost could come out anywhere from $1,200 to $2,200 depending on the specific hotel and flights chosen, and this is just the accommodation and does not cover food, drink, or incidentals.

Some teams like Liquid, Complexity, FURIA, and more might not have an issue with this considering their financial backing, but for teamless or underfunded organizations like Detonate, yur, or Nouns, this could prove to be detrimental as they simply do not have those extra funds.

Dust2.us has reached out to BLAST and Valve for comment on the matter. BLAST has declined to comment and Valve has not responded by the time of publication.