Kick
| Kick | |
|---|---|
| Field | Livestreaming |
| Origin | Official launch January 2023 |
| Related | Twitch; YouTube; xQc |
Kick is a livestreaming platform. The BBC reported on 29 June 2023 that it had launched officially that January, and that it was co-founded by Ed Craven, owner of the crypto betting site Stake.com.[1] Forbes, two weeks later, reported that Craven and Bijan Tehrani own Kick through their Australian company Easygo, that the two men also founded Stake, and that Kick had launched the previous December.[2]
How the money is split[edit]
The BBC reported that Kick was letting creators keep 95 percent of subscription revenue. It put Twitch's split at 50 percent and YouTube's at 70 percent.[1] That is a published rate card. It is not a measurement of what any channel earns. A viewer count does not convert into that 95 percent by itself.
Gambling[edit]
The BBC reported that gambling streams feature on Kick and regularly appear in its top three categories, and that Stake.com was among the accounts banned in a Twitch crackdown on gambling.[1] Forbes reported that the contracts for xQc and Amouranth do not require either of them to promote gambling, and that their agent, Ryan Morrison, said they would be paid in dollars rather than equity.[2]
Pokimane told her followers, the BBC reported, that moving to Kick would compromise her morals because of the gambling ties.[1]
The contracts that got the headlines[edit]
The BBC reported that xQc's move was described as a deal of about $100 million, and that he had been broadcasting on both Kick and Twitch since.[1] Forbes reported a two-year contract worth at least $70 million, with incentives that could take it to $100 million, and called him Twitch's most-watched streamer for each of the three years before that article.[2] The two figures are the same deal as the two outlets reported it in the summer of 2023. They are not a 2026 salary, and they are not his concurrent audience.
Forbes also reported a non-exclusive Amouranth contract of roughly $7 million a year, with incentives that could bring the two-year total to $30 million.[2]
The BBC compared the spending to Mixer, the Microsoft service that signed Ninja for a reported $50 million and shut down a year later.[1]