Ex-OWL caster MonteCristo blasts “insecure” commissioner for alleged lies
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentFormer Overwatch commentator Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles blasted the league’s commissioner Pete Vlastelica for allegedly lying in an interview with Esports Observer.
UPDATE – Jan 17 at 4:20 PM
An Overwatch League spokesperson provided the following statement to Dexerto: “The Overwatch League has worked hard to put together the best possible roster of talent for the 2020 season, and you can expect to see more announcements soon on that front. We greatly value the contributions of the talent team from last season, and we did make offers to most of that team to return this year. We prefer not to comment on individual negotiations, but we can confirm that we chose not to offer new contracts to everyone from the 2019 roster. We wish all of our departing talent the best of luck in their future endeavors.”
Original story follows:
Vlastelica claimed that the departures of Monte, DoA, Malik Forte, Chris Puckett and CSGO legend Auguste ‘Semmler’ Massonnat signified the league was “putting together the best possible pool of talent that we think fits with what our audience is looking for.”
According to the commissioner, it was the “property’s decision” to part ways with some of the broadcast talent, something disputed by both Monte and his former casting partner Erik ‘Doa’ Lonnquist.
So now Pete Vlastelica is just lying.
All the casters who left OWL had been asked to return to the League, so it wasn’t “the property’s decision” as he suggests here.https://t.co/yIBBodVtb3
— MonteCristo (@MonteCristo) January 16, 2020
“So now Pete Vlastelica is just lying,” Monte said and added that all the casters who left the league had been asked to return.
Over on the Competitive Overwatch subreddit, DoA chimed in: “as far as I’m aware all the talent that left had been asked to come back to OWL at some point during the offseason. The reasons for leaving varied.”
He then provided some additional insight into the reasons for his departure: “For myself at least I can confirm that I turned down their offer. It wasn’t contentious and I feel like I’m still on good terms with the majority of people in the league. There’s definitely no ill will on my side of things.”
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentMonte, however, further fanned the flames and took aim at Vlastelica, who he called “pathetic” and “insecure.”
“Imagine being so insecure as a commissioner that you need to take an interview to lie and announce an announcement,” he ripped. “If you are confident in your product you just say nothing and then announce your deals when you sign. Pathetic.”
The announcement in question is the anticipation of a media rights deal, which Vlastelica says is taking longer than expected due to an increase in interested bidders and an appreciation for the value.
Imagine being so insecure as a commissioner that you need to take an interview to lie and announce an announcement.
If you are confident in your product you just say nothing and then announce your deals when you sign.
Pathetic.
— MonteCristo (@MonteCristo) January 16, 2020
The league’s now-expired deal with Twitch was reportedly worth around $45 million annually, so it’s not clear how much the new media rights deal will be valued at.
It will be interesting to see if the league stays with Twitch or if another player, such as Mixer, makes an offer that the league can’t refuse.