North American esports organisation Gamers First (G1) has yet to pay teams and some staff involved in its Women’s Car Ball Season 5 Championship event in August, several people with knowledge of the matter told Esports Insider.
It comes after G1, which owns Women’s Car Ball, came under criticism in August for failing to pay staff or prize winnings on time for the league’s previous stages.
On November 11th, Jeff Simpkins, COO of British organisation Resolve — which competes in the league — posted screenshots on X that purportedly show a Discord conversation between himself and G1 CEO Kenny Vaccaro.
In those Discord chats, Vaccaro appears to highlight difficulties in raising funding for the league as a reason for the delayed payments.
Simpkins added that the chat took place after missed promises on payments the previous week, which followed an original promise of a 30 day payment timeframe.
Sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Esports Insider that some staff members have yet to be paid for their work on the WCB Season 5 Championship and that teams have also not been paid prize winnings.
The Season 5 Championship concluded on August 20th — 87 days ago — and featured a $10,000 (~£8,150) prize pool. Simpkins alongside other sources told Esports Insider payments were meant to be made within 30 days of the Championship ending.
Esports Insider reached out to G1 for comment but did not receive a reply prior to publication.
Women’s Car Ball (WCB) is a women’s Rocket League competition founded in 2019. G1 bought the league in February from KC Pioneers after KC Pioneers itself failed to pay WCB staff or teams.
In August, Esports Insider reported that teams and league staff hadn’t been paid since March. G1 started paying out the money it owed shortly after publication of the report and public discussion on social media.
The news comes despite G1 announcing a ‘multi-million dollar’ headquarters facility in Texas in August. The organisation also recently released a merchandise line for the league called ‘WCB Essentials’.
