Sachin Tendulkar, Adar Poonawalla-backed JetSynthesys to exit from Skyesports?: Exclusive

The esports and gaming industry is abuzz with strong possibilities that Sachin Tendulkar and Adar Poonawalla-backed JetSynthesys might be planning a quick exit from Jet Skyesports. The digital entertainment and technology company holds a 65 percent stake in Skyesports Gaming. Recently, Skyesports has faced severe criticism from esports players and fans for allegedly defaulting on payments.

In August 2021, JetSynthesys acquired Skyesports, later renaming it Jet Skyesports, with the aim of building esports at the grassroots level in India. They also aimed to strengthen Skyesports' presence across India and set the stage for its expansion to South Asia, helping the brand create more intellectual property and strengthen its team.

It should be noted that in May 2023, JetSynthesys became a minority stakeholder in Nodwin Gaming. Nodwin secured $28 million in equity investment, raising its valuation to $349 million.

A senior leader from the gaming and esports industry said, “Nodwin and Skyesports are both involved in organizing tournaments and building IPs. It's not only about a conflict of interest for JetSynthesys, but also about certain financial irregularities (payment due to the Indian team) that have affected Skyesports' image in the esports ecosystem. JetSynthesys acquired Skyesports to boost grassroots-level esports, but the efforts towards this were negligent as well.” Storyboard18 couldn't independently verify claims of financial irregularities.

In 2023, Skyesports organized India's first-ever franchise-based Esports League, Skyesports Masters, in which 8 franchise teams participated for a prize pool of Rs 2 crore. Another industry leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “When Skyesports hosted the franchise-based CS2 tournament they did not have the required permissions from the Counter Strike 2 publisher, Valve, to host franchise-based tournaments. Moreover, JetSynthesys would want to stay away from such controversies, especially in financial matters.”

Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO of Skyesports, did not comment on the possibility of JetSynthesys' exit from Skyesports. He refuted the allegations of defaulting on payments to Indian teams, saying, “The allegations are not true. We didn’t default on payments to teams after the Skyesports Masters. While there were complications with one team in the league – the issue was from their side – as a result of which the amount we had paid them was refunded to the source account. These issues have been resolved now, and the complete amount will be paid out.”

He further clarified, “Most of the esports organization owners have also tweeted that the due amount from Skyesports was cleared on time.”

Nandy clarified the issue regarding the permissions from Valve and said, "We had received the required tournament license from Valve before hosting the Skyesports Masters 2023 - any other claim is categorically false. Through our strict adherence to Valve's guidelines, we have hosted several high-profile and low-profile Counter-Strike tournaments since then, including the Skyesports Grand Slam 2024 in Pune, the $350,000 Skyesports Masters 2024, Skyesports Showdown, and more.”

He further said, “In 2024, the Skyesports Masters didn't have a franchise model as Valve's new tournament guidelines, set to take effect in 2025, prevent business relationships between the tournament organizer and teams. As a result, we hosted the 2024 edition with this format in mind to set us up for 2025 and beyond - positioning India as a global hub for Counter-Strike esports."