Former BoostGate roster says two-thirds of salaries remain unpaid

The entire Riot Games Tier 2 ecosystem, across both VALORANT and League of Legends, is struggling, but the TCL, Turkey's League of Legends league, is in particularly dire shape. Even before the start of the 2026 season, two historic organizations from the region, Beşiktaş Esports and Papara SuperMassive, had already exited the scene.

The situation continued to unravel throughout the season, with the successive departures of ULF Esports, S2G Esports, and then Misa Esports. That decline has now continued following a post on X from Spyridon "" Pantelopoulos. The Greek support player, who played for BoostGate Esports between early April and late June, stated on X that "every person from the prior roster is still waiting for 2/3 of the team's agreed salaries."

The situation comes as little surprise in an ecosystem that continues to fall apart, while publisher Riot Games appears to have never fully acknowledged the severity of the issue or the real lives affected by unpaid salaries across the ERLs. It is a problem that has persisted for years, regardless of the league.

For Centu, the situation has reached a point of no return. He opens his statement by saying, "to be honest, I really didn't want this to become public, but I don't really see another way out for me." Like his former teammates, he explains that they have been patient and have "tried to solve everything in private," only to repeatedly hit the same dead end: "we are still left waiting with a 'next week' as an answer."

The sentiment was echoed by Ahmet "" Battal, who served as the Turkish organization's AD Carry from January until the end of July. In a post on X quoting his former teammate, he wrote: "It's unfortunate that things have come to this. Everyone is still waiting to receive their salaries." He goes on to describe his growing frustration, stressing that "these aren't even the kind of extravagant wages people might assume." In the rest of his statement, he adds that "a delay could be dismissed as something that simply happens, but letting it drag on for this long and continuing to brush it aside cannot." He concludes by directly addressing the organization, saying: "I still believe it's not too late to do the right thing."

Centu's message also ends on a note of hope. Hope that his own case can still be resolved, but also despair, as he watches an entire ecosystem collapse around him: "It sad that esports have come to this where you have to wonder whether you are getting paid or not in a major league. I hope we can resolve this and bring this to a close."

Even among TCL organizations that managed to remain in the league, BoostGate Esports is not the only team to have faced payment issues this year. Similar situations have occurred across multiple ERLs. Even in the LFL, the most prosperous ERL, Esprit Shonen fielded a roster this split without player salaries after facing payment delays that have since been resolved. Sheep Esports hopes this report can contribute to a similar resolution for the former BoostGate Esports roster.

Speaking to Sheep Esports on condition of anonymity, several former Boostgate players painted a consistent picture of delayed and ultimately unfulfilled payments. One player, who signed with the organization a few months ago, said the contract called for salary in three installments per month, but the payments never arrived on schedule: "I wasn't paid in [my first month], but I didn't think much of it because the competition just started." According to this source, a first payment only arrived roughly a month after the split ended, and only "after asking about it almost every week."

Another source described that a player was asked to commit to the team full-time, at personal cost, only to be left unpaid for the final two months of his contract: “It’s quite disgusting that they asked [him] to go full-time and quit his job, and they end up not paying." A third source put the shortfall at roughly two-thirds of the promised salary, adding that raising the issue internally produced only vague reassurances: "Every time I bring the payment up, all I get in response is some random day or next week response, but after the day passes, nothing changes."

On the financial specifics, one player put the outstanding amount at roughly "600-700 euros" for the final two months of his contract and said he understood at least two other former teammates to be owed a similar sum. Another source, while unable to give an exact figure for the full roster, estimated the total owed to be in the "low four digits."

Several of the players also expressed little faith that going through official channels would change the outcome. One source went further, arguing the league itself bears some responsibility: "similar situations have happened before with Boostgate... but the league has done nothing about it." He pointed to the still-unresolved case of ULF Esports, whose players from last season have, according to him, yet to be paid, as a sign of what could lie ahead if TCL fails to act again. This same source noted that such delays were not new to the organization, pointing to previous members of the roster who reportedly faced the same treatment: "It happened to previous members as well, where they lost some chunk of their salary or there were delays such as these."

Another source, who has not yet raised the matter with Riot Games, said he doubted it would make a difference: "I guess I have to admit I don't believe in them... I can't remember a time where an organization was punished when they dodged payments."

As of the update, neither Boostgate nor the TCL had commented on these latest accounts, and the players say they are still waiting to be paid in full.