CSGO streamer Gaules reveals he has paid millions for rights to tournaments
ESLGaules was co-streaming from just in front of the stage during the Legends stage, before moving to the fan fast for the arena-portion of the event.
Brazilian CS:GO streamer Alexandre ‘Gaules’ Borba has revealed how much he has paid over the years to secure broadcasting rights to events.
A former Counter-Strike pro and coach, Gaules has established himself as one of the biggest streamers in the world, with almost 4 million Twitch followers. He was the second-most watched streamer on the platform in 2022 with 160 million hours watched, only losing out to Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel, according to Stream Charts.
Gaules rose to prominence in the CS:GO scene after he began streaming esports matches to a loyal audience thanks to his laidback style. Over the last five years, he has streamed the biggest CS:GO tournaments in the scene, including IEM Katowice, BLAST Premier and the Majors.
But that hasn’t come cheap. While recently co-streaming the Paris Major match between NAVI and FaZe, Gaules and Jean-Michel ‘mch’ D’Oliveira discussed the combined $20 million fee that BIG, Heroic, and FURIA paid in October 2021 to join the Louvre Agreement, which grants all partner teams a revenue share from the ESL Pro Tour.
After giving a rough estimate of $6 million per team, Gaules said: “Do you want to know the other side of the coin? In these last five years, we have already paid that in broadcasting rights. And it’s paid for, I’m not talking about installments.”
He then joked: “We could have a spot in the Louve Agreement. We could have a spot in BLAST [Premier].”
On May 16, Gaules announced that he will travel to Paris to stream the playoff matches of the Major from the Accor Arena. It is the second time that he will stream a Major in person after IEM Rio, where his influence over the tournament became the subject of intense criticism.
