Sunday 19 November 2023

Promod Esports

I am prefacing this with that I have never had an issue with anyone within Promod Esports whilst freelancing under them and I wish their staff affected by redundancies nothing but the best.

 

I was contracted by Promod for numerous events, including:
Beacon Finals (May 25-26th 2023)
FIA Formula E Accelerate: Rome Major (July 16th, 2023)
FIA Formula E Accelerate: London LAN Finals (July 28-29th 2023)
Beacon Bingo (September 1st, 2023)

 

The payment was a month late for Beacon Finals; however, I am yet to be paid for the remainder of my work, totalling a little over £1400.


This money was supposed to cover my basic living costs however I have struggled to balance my financial situation after having the expectation that I was going to be paid on time, which has since impacted my mental health severely.

 

I had to borrow money from family and am still deeply worried about my financial situation in the long term as my savings had to be used to cover my living costs from July until now.

I had chased up on repeat occasions to see if the payment status had changed and had no luck on July 19th, while invoicing for Formula E Accelerate – Rome. I chased up for my Beacon finals work and was not paid until the end of July.

 

I also emailed on September 29th but was given no response by Promod. Afterward, I took the claim to small claims court advised by several bodies on the 30th of September but did not hear back, since then Promod Esports has gone into administration and will have liquidated on the 29th of November 2023, and I am now working towards a solution like many others.

 

I wholeheartedly understand the situation however am unsure of how I am supposed to feel as I know I am one of several affected by these payment issues, but I know having had that money would have prevented several practicalities, as these worries were and are part of greater issues that had pushed me to attempt to end my life in September 2023, I am by no means asking for money/aid but for more organisations to be more transparent with their freelancers regarding money.

I initially took no action out of worry that I would be blacklisted, and I did not wish to ruin any opportunities I could have had at the time.

I would love to discuss and support anyone else impacted by these issues as I know mine is just the tip of an iceberg of production and talent staff alike and if anyone else has been owed money but does not know where to go, I am more than happy to point people in the right direction.