Twitch-barred operator Stake launches livestreaming platform
Twitch-barred operator Stake launches livestreaming platform
Sharpr is a weekly newsletter covering the intersection of esports and gambling.
Hi everyone, Cody here.
A slower week in the esports betting space, depending on how you look at it.
This week we saw Stake revive itself in the gaming segment with the launch of its new livestreaming platform Kick, which I go on to say not-so-nice things about below.
In more uplifting news, however, I wrote about Rivalry’s clever marketing campaign where it hired a very muscular man dressed as a chicken to cluck around the stands at the IEM Rio Major last month. Check it out.
Enough of the small talk, let’s jump in.
In this week’s edition of Sharpr…
Twitch-barred operator Stake launches livestreaming platform.
Esports Entertainment Group confirms CEO exit, cost restructuring.
Headlines, stats, and more.
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Twitch-barred operator Stake launches livestreaming platform
Online cryptocurrency operator Stake has propped up its own livestreaming platform, Kick, following its ban from Twitch in October.
An online job listing revealed Stake as the parent company of Kick, and Stake co-owner Eddie Craven was later identified as a prominent investor..
The platform was announced and endorsed by Tyler “Trainwrecks” Niknam, a popular gaming influencer with 2.1M followers known for his casino livestreams.
Kick will reportedly provide streamers with a 95% revenue share, compared to Twitch’s 30%.
Niknam spoke about his dissatisfaction with Twitch, understandably since the platform’s October 18 ban on unregulated casino streams slashed his viewership 42%, according to data from Vindex.
“Twitch has built an empire off of our backs and has the audacity to spit in all of our faces by not only giving us no financial security, with its inconsistent policies, but by also cutting our pay in places that they have no right to cut.”
Former Twitch Director of Creator Development Marcus Graham tells The Washington Post that Kick is a fraud, pointing to a lack of information on its backers.
“I can say confidently that kick.com is a sham,” Graham said. “There are so many red flags present that it is embarrassing watching people who I respect give this platform an ounce of credibility.”
🦈 Sharpr Take: I couldn’t say one nice thing about this endeavor if I wanted to.
Niknam is one of the most egregious actors in this long and drawn out entanglement between Twitch and its rampant feed of unregulated and illegal gambling content. He has become synonymous with livestreaming to impressionable and potentially underage viewers, winning and losing millions of dollars of house money.
At first, the onus fell on Twitch to regulate this content on its platform, which after countless episodes in the press and public backlash, it finally did. Now, that responsibility is firmly placed on the creators.
For Niknam, that choice was evidently very clear: continue to milk the black market cash cow that is Stake and carry on promoting reckless gambling behavior to young viewers.
Some believe competition in the livestreaming space will benefit creators, which is a fair argument independent of the unavoidable moral corruption of Kick, while YouTube star Ludwig Ahgren believes the platform will fade out within six months.
Kick seems bound to develop into a platform dominated purely by degenerate gambling before fizzling out completely from a lack of any other meaningful gaming and livestreaming content.
Esports Entertainment Group confirms CEO exit, cost restructuring
As first reported by Sharpr, Esports Entertainment Group has confirmed the departure of CEO Grant Johnson, alongside a broader cost restructuring at the company.
In a LinkedIn post, Johnson said “it was felt I was uncooperative in some objectives of the [board].”
The company has identified a “preferred candidate” to fill Johnson’s role as CEO, which one anonymous source online claims will be First Capital Ventures CEO & Founder Gary Graham.
EEG will shutter Argyll Entertainment igaming operations in the U.K. and Ireland, as well as sell off its online casino business in Spain.
The new CEO will be tasked with assessing the value of EEG’s other igaming assets and “determining next steps.”
On a slightly more positive note, the company revealed it would be allowed to continue listing on the NASDAQ on Monday. This news arrives after more than a year of crashing share prices, to which a delisting seemed almost guaranteed.
🗞 In the news
The Nevada Gaming Control Board was intended to make a decision on esports regulations submitted by the state’s esports committee this week, but ran out of time at the hearing.
The Federal Trade Commission is attempting to block Microsoft’s acquisition Activision Blizzard buyout.
SIS will support single-game esports betting content for bet365 in New Jersey.
Esports Awards will “pull out all the stops” for its Las Vegas debut Dec. 11-13.
📈 By the numbers
The Call of Duty League peak viewership increased 137% after returning to Twitch.
Consumers in Virginia wagered $528M on sports in October.