Tyson “TenZ” Ngo is the only member of Sentinels’ original roster to find a spot on the starting five in 2023, but he may not be staying with the organization for long.
According to the VCT Global Contract Database (GCD), the 21-year-old is only contracted until the end of 2023 — a one-year extension that would appear to put a deadline on delivering the success and results that have eluded Sentinels for much of this year.
In comparison, all of the team’s new additions, including former XSET players Zachary “zekken” Patrone and LOUD star Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi, signed two-year contracts that expire in 2024.
Even Hunter “SicK” Mims, the team’s sixth man, will only see his contract run out in 2024.
That said, TenZ is not the only player in the Americas league to receive a one-year contract. Other players who remained with their organizations, such as NRG’s Sam “s0m” Oh and LOUD’s Erick “aspas” Santos will see their contracts expire in 2023 as well.
100 Thieves is one notable exception. Three of its players — Sean “bang” Bezerra, Brenden “stellar” McGrath, and longtime member Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk — are contracted until 2025, alongside new addition Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban.
The same goes for Cloud9, which has signed superstar player Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker until 2025 and extended the contracts of its existing players by three years.
Most players who joined new teams in the Americas league appear to have signed either two or three-year contracts.
NRG have locked down the OpTic Gaming trio of Pujan “FNS” Mehta, Victor “Victor” Wong, and Austin “crashies” Roberts with contracts lasting till 2025.
However, esports contracts are not set in stone. TenZ’s 2023 contract expiration does not mean that he will be out of Sentinels after the next season, and the organization could still renew his contract. Similarly, his teammates who are signed till 2024 could be released at any time.
The Canadian star is one of the most popular players in Valorant and arguably the face of the game. He had not been too happy with the state of the previous roster, according to new coach Don “Syyko” Muir, and had been quick to reiterate that his desire to compete and win remained as strong as ever.
Sentinels will make their international debut next year, when all 30 Valorant partnered teams head to São Paulo, Brazil in February for the biggest VCT tournament yet.