Northern Arena doesn't pay
Carl-Edwin Michel is first and foremost a technology journalist who, like everybody, is seeing the rise and glamour of esports. It’s in 2015 a bright idea surges in his head, to create a Canadian esports company from the connections his fostered, Northern Arena.
It’s a great idea, Carl-Edwin has lots of connections and is good at networking. He sits at the top, finds the money, puts together tournaments, and brings in talent to compete for Canada to watch. Except for one problem, Carl-Edwin knows nothing about esports.
“I’ve never played esports, but I love to watch it…” Carl-Edwin Michel admits. That is okay, Canada’s home to lots of very knowledgeable people in the field. All he has to do is hire external consultants to do the work.
1, 2, 3… consultants have executed different Northern Arena events, and all of them have had to fight for years to be payed for their work. To this very day many of the people from the Bell Center event are still at default of payment, an event dating from 2016.
“I’ve never played esports, but I love to watch it…”
For Carl it’s all about the show, if he dances long enough he will surly impress somebody, and so far that’s been working well enough to keep Bell Media interested and paying his salary.
Carl-Edwins strategy is easy to keep up with. Hypnotize investors eyes with content long enough to pull in money and crown himself king of Canadian esports, a field his not in touch with nor passionate about.
Many bridges have been burnt and a lot of peoples trust broken. The esports community is one built on friendships and passion, and so far it doesn't look the pain Northern Arena has caused is going to be forgotten soon.
-This is your biggest esports fan
Later!
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