Cologne Major stickers paid teams a fraction of Budapest, HLTV reports

The first Counter-Strike Major sold under Valve's new sticker system has paid teams far less than the Majors before it. HLTV published a report on July 20, 2026, a month after the IEM Cologne Major ended, gathering figures from organizations that took part: one team eliminated in the first stage earned about US$60,000 from items, while the Contender capsules of the Budapest Major had made around US$600,000 before any split with the players.

The report sets out how the money is now divided, gives the first sums received, and records what team owners and executives say the change means for their budgets, their contracts and the transfer market. HLTV also writes that Valve's own proceeds from Cologne fell sharply, and that many in the scene hope for a revision before the next Major, in Singapore. Valve has announced none.

HLTV, July 20, 2026, from figures given by organizations and from Valve's published rules.

What a Major sticker is worth to a team

A Counter-Strike Major pays teams in two ways. The first is the prize pool, US$1,250,000 for the Cologne Major, which ESL ran from June 2 to 21 and Team Falcons won by beating FURIA in the final. The second comes from fans: Valve, the publisher of Counter-Strike 2, sells digital stickers and other items featuring the teams and their players, and shares part of the revenue with them.

At the Paris Major, the second sum dwarfed the first. HLTV reported in April that the Paris Major had generated a record US$110 million from digital items, and that each team in its Challengers capsule, one of the sealed packs that stickers were then sold in, had received about US$2.6 million. A single team's item money at that Major was about twice the prize pool that the 32 teams of Cologne shared.

For Cologne, Valve replaced the capsules with a shop. Fans now buy the exact sticker they want, with tokens, at a price that rises with demand, HLTV reported on May 22. A buyer whose sticker drops by more than 25 tokens within 24 hours of the purchase is refunded the difference, in tokens. The way the revenue reaches teams changed with it.

The formula behind the shop

HLTV's July report gives the formula in full. Valve shares 50 percent of the revenue from the Major shop and the Major pass. Of it, 5 percent goes to the tournament organizer and 45 percent is divided among the 32 teams, according to their position in the Valve Regional Standings, the ranking Valve uses to invite teams, and then their result at the Major.

The May report had already given the two ends of that scale: 2.85 percent of sticker revenue for the top-ranked team, and 0.72 percent for each of the bottom two. Once the Major is over, all further sticker revenue is allocated by placing at the event rather than by ranking, HLTV wrote then. The organizer's 5 percent and the teams' 45 percent make up the half that is shared; the other half of the revenue is not part of the distribution.

The July report also sets out the step below the team, which the May report did not cover. For each team position, Valve said, half of the royalties go to the organization and the other half is split equally among its five players. Under the capsule system, a player's cut of team items was largely a matter of negotiation with the organization.

The player's 10 percent is the same figure as the one contract HLTV quoted in April, which gave each of five players 10 percent of what the organization received from team items. The difference is that the share is now fixed by Valve for every team, rather than written into each contract.

Applied to the two ends of the ranking scale, the rule gives each player of the top-ranked team 0.285 percent of sticker revenue, a tenth of the team's 2.85 percent, and each player of the two bottom teams 0.072 percent. The organization keeps the same amount as its five players together: 1.425 percent at the top of the scale and 0.36 percent at the bottom.

The first sums from Cologne

The figures organizations gave HLTV are much smaller than those HLTV cites for earlier Majors. A team eliminated in Stage 1, the opening phase of 16 teams, said it had made about US$60,000 from item sales. Counting the players' half, the team's whole line comes to about US$120,000, HLTV writes. Under the equal split, each of its five players would receive about US$12,000.

A Stage 2 organization reported just over US$120,000 from Cologne so far. A Stage 1 team said sales had almost stopped a month after the final, bringing it about US$100 a day.

The comparison with Budapest is the one HLTV puts forward. There, the Contender capsules made around US$600,000 before any split with the players, the report says. HLTV also names the Shanghai Major as the most lucrative Major since then.

Gaimin Gladiators left Cologne at 0-3 in Stage 1, with a round win rate of 23.5 percent, and HLTV noted on June 23 that under the new model the last-placed team receives 0.72 percent of the sticker money.

Owners and executives describe the impact

HLTV gathered reactions from several organizations, some of them named, and put the word catastrophe at the head of its report.

Valerii Kharitonov, the founder of Aurora, wrote on Telegram on June 3 that it was by far the worst Major for sticker sales. The cost side appears in the case of SINNERS, the organization co-founded by Moritz "Askadar" Straube: HLTV writes that it spent between US$25,000 and US$35,000 on flights and hotels in the first quarter of 2026 to play LAN events, the road to a Major place.

Gaimin Gladiators went further. On June 23, HLTV reported that the organization had benched its remaining Counter-Strike players after what it called a strategic review, and that its statement cited recent changes to the Major ecosystem and revenue structure among the reasons. The three players benched were NEKIZ, HEN1 and Luken; the stand-in fer, JOTA and head coach horvy had already left. The organization said it remained committed to a competitive and sustainable future, with next steps planned for its Counter-Strike 2 project. In its July report, HLTV writes that the organization shut down its Counter-Strike division on June 22, citing the same changes.

Contracts, salaries and transfers

The change arrived in the middle of contracts written for the old model. Salaries and other pay were negotiated on that basis, HLTV writes, and many organizations expected Cologne to bring in at least as much as Budapest.

The automatic split between organization and players has made many contract terms ambiguous or void, according to the report, and players have, on average, benefited most from it. Graham "messioso" Pitt, head of Counter-Strike operations at 100 Thieves, said on HLTV's podcast in May that the question can go both ways: a team may ask players to pay back money they receive from Valve, and players may ask for their share.

Daniel "Vorborg" Vorborg, co-chief executive and co-founder of UNCORE, said that his organization now has to take into account that Valve could change the rules again, and that it is negotiating contracts that cover both the new system and a return to the old one.

The report also looks at the market for players. The era of seven-figure transfer fees appears to be over, HLTV writes, as organizations become more cautious with their spending. It adds that a correction in player salaries looks likely, though existing contracts may take a few years to renegotiate.

What Valve has said, and what comes next

Valve's public statements date from the release of the items, and HLTV quotes them in its report. "In the past we shipped team and player autograph stickers in capsules," Valve wrote. It added that while that approach was popular, it had heard feedback that players might prefer to buy stickers directly.

The new system has not served Valve's own revenue either, according to HLTV, which writes that the publisher's proceeds from Cologne took a significant hit compared with earlier Majors. The report adds that a return to capsules looks unlikely, given the regulatory and legal scrutiny of loot boxes, paid packs with random contents.

The next Major is the PGL Major Singapore, from November 24 to December 13, 2026, with a prize pool of US$1,250,000, the same as Cologne. Its 32 invitations will again come from the Valve Regional Standings, with a cut-off on November 2. Until Valve says otherwise, the teams that earn them will share the revenue of its items under the rules first applied in Cologne.

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