No HLTV.org HLTV for KODE5 finals
6-5-2009 21:44
The organisation behind the KODE5 Finals, coming up from the 10th to the 11th of May, has informed us we are NOT welcome with regards to hosting HLTV.
The move from KODE5 came a week ago, and we were, needless to say, quite shocked. We got no word of warning and did not have any discussions as to what triggered the ban, nor any attempts what so ever at a solution from KODE5s side. The shock was not less surprising as we not a month ago did a joint press release with KODE5 where they re-affirmed their commitment to HLTV and to HLTV.org hosting the grand finals. What changed in the meantime is a mystery to us, and we are truly saddend that we are not being allowed to cover the event with our HLTVs. KODE5 offered to pay our hotel expenses as a compensation, an offer we rejected, as trusting KODE5 suddenly seemed like a very hard thing to do. And as the days went on and suddenly our VISA invite did not arrive the intentions of KODE5 and their hospitality became questionable. After buying our own invite KODE5 however re-iterated that they would pay the hotel, an offer that we accepted.
Later KODE5 informed us they were forced to drop us due to a violated contract with one of their sponsors. How exactly this contract was not violated during all the qualifiers is however still a mystery to us, as HLTV.org did not bring in any new sponsors in the last six months, it is also a mystery to us how this issue could suddenly come up only weeks before the grand final.
Before hearing anything from KODE5 we had however been getting word of something fishy going on, as our sponsors were being contacted in an attempt to sell in-game advertising on the KODE5 HLTVs. Ironically enough the stats HLTV.org had provided KODE5 with last year, data that was guaranteed to us would only be used in internal reports, had now found its way into KODE5s presentations, without any mention of it being from HLTV.org. We had also answered a bunch of questions regarding our HLTV setup a few weeks prior, thinking KODE5 was acting in good faith, sadly it all turned out that they were most likely squeezing us for the last bit of information they could.
For the past many years HLTV.org have been carrying the base load of HLTV spectators for every major event, very few times do we host less than 3/4ths of the total spectators at an event, making it possible for smaller hosters also to chip in. Without our base load service I very much doubt anyone have the setup and experience needed to provide HLTV for such a big event as KODE5. We are truly sorry that this move from KODE5 will most likely hit all spectators who wish nothing but to follow their favorite team, but know that we did everything in our power to be allowed to host HLTV, even steps that HLTV.org has never before taken were tried and rejected by KODE5. We of course hope that whoever will host the event will succeed, our commitment is to getting high quality HLTV broadcasts, and in theory actually save a lot of money from not having to pay all the bandwidth. However we can only stress that hosting HLTV for a big event is not something you just do.
However, no matter what motivated KODE5 to this move, and who will be hosting the HLTV, then we will still cover the KODE5 global finals. We do not think our loyal userbase and the fans of CS should be held hostage in an internal fight, and thus we will provide all features as any other event that we cover, that is stats, match pages, livebots, and of course on-site coverage. We will also try to bring HLTV from whoever will be hosting it, but we can of course not guarantee anything with regards to quality, and we can obviously not record any demos.
Again HLTV.org can only stress that this move from KODE5 comes as a complete surprise to us, after a 2 year partnership with us covering nearly all qualifiers. This has left us feeling used and abused, but this is just pride, and HLTV.org has always been about the users and the community, not our own personal gain. We hope you will all still follow the event right here on HLTV.org.
The move from KODE5 came a week ago, and we were, needless to say, quite shocked. We got no word of warning and did not have any discussions as to what triggered the ban, nor any attempts what so ever at a solution from KODE5s side. The shock was not less surprising as we not a month ago did a joint press release with KODE5 where they re-affirmed their commitment to HLTV and to HLTV.org hosting the grand finals. What changed in the meantime is a mystery to us, and we are truly saddend that we are not being allowed to cover the event with our HLTVs. KODE5 offered to pay our hotel expenses as a compensation, an offer we rejected, as trusting KODE5 suddenly seemed like a very hard thing to do. And as the days went on and suddenly our VISA invite did not arrive the intentions of KODE5 and their hospitality became questionable. After buying our own invite KODE5 however re-iterated that they would pay the hotel, an offer that we accepted.
Later KODE5 informed us they were forced to drop us due to a violated contract with one of their sponsors. How exactly this contract was not violated during all the qualifiers is however still a mystery to us, as HLTV.org did not bring in any new sponsors in the last six months, it is also a mystery to us how this issue could suddenly come up only weeks before the grand final.
Before hearing anything from KODE5 we had however been getting word of something fishy going on, as our sponsors were being contacted in an attempt to sell in-game advertising on the KODE5 HLTVs. Ironically enough the stats HLTV.org had provided KODE5 with last year, data that was guaranteed to us would only be used in internal reports, had now found its way into KODE5s presentations, without any mention of it being from HLTV.org. We had also answered a bunch of questions regarding our HLTV setup a few weeks prior, thinking KODE5 was acting in good faith, sadly it all turned out that they were most likely squeezing us for the last bit of information they could.
For the past many years HLTV.org have been carrying the base load of HLTV spectators for every major event, very few times do we host less than 3/4ths of the total spectators at an event, making it possible for smaller hosters also to chip in. Without our base load service I very much doubt anyone have the setup and experience needed to provide HLTV for such a big event as KODE5. We are truly sorry that this move from KODE5 will most likely hit all spectators who wish nothing but to follow their favorite team, but know that we did everything in our power to be allowed to host HLTV, even steps that HLTV.org has never before taken were tried and rejected by KODE5. We of course hope that whoever will host the event will succeed, our commitment is to getting high quality HLTV broadcasts, and in theory actually save a lot of money from not having to pay all the bandwidth. However we can only stress that hosting HLTV for a big event is not something you just do.
However, no matter what motivated KODE5 to this move, and who will be hosting the HLTV, then we will still cover the KODE5 global finals. We do not think our loyal userbase and the fans of CS should be held hostage in an internal fight, and thus we will provide all features as any other event that we cover, that is stats, match pages, livebots, and of course on-site coverage. We will also try to bring HLTV from whoever will be hosting it, but we can of course not guarantee anything with regards to quality, and we can obviously not record any demos.
Again HLTV.org can only stress that this move from KODE5 comes as a complete surprise to us, after a 2 year partnership with us covering nearly all qualifiers. This has left us feeling used and abused, but this is just pride, and HLTV.org has always been about the users and the community, not our own personal gain. We hope you will all still follow the event right here on HLTV.org.
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