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Kick (service)

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Not to be confused with Kik Messenger.

Kick
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Area servedWorldwide
OwnersAshwood Holdings (50%)
Bijan Tehrani (50%)
ParentEasygo Entertainment Pty Ltd
URLkick.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedOctober 18, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-10-18)
Current statusActive
Native client(s) oniOS, Android, Web

Kick (also known as Kick.com) is a video livestreaming service. It is operated by Kick Streaming Pty Ltd and backed by Stake.com co-founders Bijan Tehrani, Ed Craven, and streaming personality Trainwreckstv.[1] Kick was founded in 2022 as a competitor to Amazon-owned Twitch, with a focus on looser moderation and higher revenue shares for streamers.[2][3][4] Kick is mostly known for its low 5% revenue charge, as well as its 2023 deals with multiple streamers including Hikaru Nakamura, Westcol, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy, Nickmercs, Adin Ross, Amouranth, Ice Poseidon, and xQc.[5][2][6]

As of June 2023, Kick averages 110,000 livestreams per day.[5]

Corporate structure

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The Kick streaming platform had its inception in December 2022. To formalize its operations as a registered company in Australia, Kick Streaming Pty Ltd was established in November of the same year. The sole shareholder of Kick Streaming is Easygo[7] Entertainment Pty Ltd.[8][9]

In a July 2023 interview, Craven said Kick is not currently profitable. However, the company tentatively plans to become profitable through advertising in one to three years.[10]

Content moderation

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Compared to its competitor Twitch, Kick has looser policies against copyright infringement, hate speech, gambling content, harassment, and sexual content. However, its community guidelines prohibit those behaviors, as well as doxing and violent conduct.[2][11] A representative of the website said in March 2023 that the platform was in the process of expanding its moderation efforts and that it did not tolerate hate speech or copyright violations.[2]

A New York Times article stated that some of the website's content creators have committed what appeared to be crimes, such as sexual assault and trespassing while streaming.[12] Other content creators of the platform have had sex while streaming, brandished sex toys at children and made sexual remarks toward underage girls. A banned user of the website once coaxed underage girls to strip while on video calls and distributed their images on Discord.[13] After being banned from Twitch for what the streaming platform called "unmoderated hateful conduct on chat" in 2023, streamer Adin Ross migrated to Kick, where he livestreamed the Super Bowl, scrolled through PornHub and invited white nationalist Nick Fuentes on a livestream.[2][11][12]

Kick has been called "a playground for people to be degenerate" by Kristin Gillespie, a co-founder of the New York-based Rights to Unmute, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to combat racism, bigotry, and harassment in gaming. She said in May 2024 that Kick has tolerated overly sexual and, sometimes, "predatory behavior" on the platform.[13] Kick streamer Hikaru Nakamura said that the platform was undergoing the same initial journey as other social media websites, including Twitch, which he said was "very much the Wild West" when it started. Nakamura further said that it usually takes time for such websites to adapt.[12]

Kick CEO Ed Craven stated in an interview that "people are realizing [that] the more controversial they are, the more shock factor involved in their content, the more viewers they get, and it can sometimes be a dangerous mix in that regard". He further said that Kick was in the process of adapting and deciding what type of content it should deem acceptable. In late 2023, Kick content creators Ice Poseidon and Sam Pepper were detained by Australian police after an incident involving a man they had met earlier that day. They attempted to film the man and a sex worker, both of whom had consented to be filmed, engaging in sexual activity in a hotel room. The situation escalated when the man initially prevented the sex worker from leaving. Following the incident, some streamers considered leaving the platform. In response to the incident and backlash, Kick updated its guidelines, adding a report button for rule-breaking content and introducing regulations on staff participation in "high-risk" livestreams.[12]

Gambling content

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Kick, which was founded by gambling industry businessmen Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven, who are also the founders of the online casino website Stake.com, has been accused of promoting gambling content to its audience, including underage people, as well as having ties to gambling industry figures and influencers.[14]

Kick is a loss leader to Stake. Concordia University Assistant professor Andrei Zanescu said that Kick's generous terms of service toward streamers, which only takes 5% of its creators' earnings instead of Twitch's 50%, can be explained by the influx of new users that Stake was receiving as the result of gambling streamers who broadcast themselves on Kick while using the gambling platform.[12]

UCLA Gambling Studies Program co-director Timothy Fong has expressed concerns about Kick's lack of transparency over gambling content. Twitch's former director of creator development, Marcus Graham, also criticized Kick for its lack of transparency around its connections to gambling platforms. He stated that "there are so many red flags present that it is embarrassing watching people who I respect give this platform an ounce of credibility".[14] In 2022, Graham called Kick a "sham" due to its lack of information about its investors.[15]

In order to evade U.S. regulations on gambling, which have made the practice illegal in some states, some American streamers have moved out of the country to broadcast gambling streams on the platform.[12] Nick Kolcheff stated that part of his contract with Kick required him to do gambling content (although a representative of the organization denied that such a requirement existed in his contract). Kolcheff stated that he intended to move out of the United States to record his gambling streams since Stake.com was not allowed to operate in the country.[16]

Craven stated in 2023 that the website intended to decrease exposure to gambling content.[14] He also said that the platform had strong safety controls to block children from being exposed to gambling livestreams, as well as people who live in jurisdictions where gambling is outlawed.[12]

Streaming deals

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  • Trainwreckstv was among the earliest major streaming personalities on the platform.[17]
  • In March 2023, Adin Ross announced he had signed a streaming deal with Kick for an undisclosed amount.[citation needed]
  • In May 2023, BruceDropEmOff announced that he had partnered with Kick, though the sum of the deal was undisclosed.[18]
  • On June 16, 2023, Kick announced that xQc signed a two-year, $70 million non-exclusive deal to the platform, with incentives that could increase the deal's value to $100 million. This made the signing of xQc to Kick the largest streaming deal, surpassing Ninja's $50 million exclusivity deal with the defunct Microsoft-owned Mixer.[19]
  • On June 19, 2023, Kick signed Amouranth, though the details of her deal were not disclosed.[20]
  • In June 2023, political commentator Steven "Destiny" Bonnell announced a non-exclusive 12-month partnership with Kick for an undisclosed 7-figure amount.[citation needed]
  • In August 2023, Kick announced the signing of Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano. He exclusively streamed his summer transfer window coverage on the platform, including his deadline day show on September 1.[21]
  • In November 2023, Kick signed Tfue, though the sum of the deal was undisclosed.[22]
  • In November 2024, Ilya Maddyson (Ilya Davydov in real life) announced that he had signed a $1 million deal with Kick.[citation needed]

Sponsorships

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Motorsport

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In January 2023, Alfa Romeo F1 Team signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Kick. Kick replaced Stake (Alfa Romeo's title sponsor) in countries where gambling and sports betting advertisements are not allowed as "Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick".[23][24] Alfa Romeo raced a revised Kick livery called the "disruptive livery" at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.[25] Alfa Romeo left the sport after the end of the year, and Kick extended their relationship with Sauber Motorsport, renaming the team to "Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber."[26] The team will go as "Kick F1 Team" in countries with restrictions on promoting gambling, which was previously done with Alfa Romeo's title sponsorship.[27][28] Kick also secured the naming rights to Sauber's 2024 and 2025 chassis, with the 2024 car named as Kick Sauber C44.[29]

Esports

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In June 2023, Sauber Esports announced a title partnership with Kick to form "Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK Esports"[30] and entered the 2023–24 Formula One Sim Racing World Championship as KICK F1 Sim Racing Team (the team entered the first round as Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK Esports before Alfa Romeo's departure). KICK F1 Sim Racing Team continues with Thomas Ronhaar and Brendon Leigh for the 2024–25 season following a successful first season.[31]

Football

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In August 2023, Kick signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Premier League club Everton as the club's official sleeve sponsor.[32]

Policies

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According to Kick's terms of service, users need to be at least 13 years old (in the United States) or 16 years old (in the European Union) to create an account on the website. In order to be able to stream, users need to be at least 18 years old or be in the presence of their legal guardian.[33] According to Kick, streamers on the platform keep 95% of subscription revenue.[34][10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Staff, Matt Craig, Forbes (9 June 2024). "These entrepreneurs went all in on a crypto casino - and became billionaires". Forbes Australia. Retrieved 10 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e D'Anastasio, Cecilia (3 March 2023). "Twitch's New Streaming Rival Kick Tests Waters of Lighter Moderation". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  3. ^ Tsiaoussidis, Alex; Richman, Olivia (28 March 2023). "Who owns Kick.com? Fledgling Twitch streaming rival responds to Stake rumors". Dot Esports.
  4. ^ Bennett, Tess (31 March 2023). "Local crypto billionaires use Grand Prix to debut new venture". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Browning, Kellen (16 June 2023). "Twitch Star Signs $100 Million Deal With Rival Platform". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Winslow, Levi (6 April 2023). "Former Twitch King Ninja On Mixer's Failure (And Kick's Potential)". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  7. ^ "EasyGo".
  8. ^ Wilson, Cam (29 March 2023). "Live-streaming platform Kick is part-owned by Australian crypto billionaire Ed Craven". Crikey. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  9. ^ Waterhouse, Tom (30 August 2023). "Waterhouse VC August update: Twitch vs. Kick and the rise of gambling streams as entertainment". NEXT.io. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  10. ^ a b Hale, James (27 July 2023). "Here's how Kick plans to get profitable". Tubefilter. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b Shah, Saqib (14 August 2023). "What is Kick? Twitch streamers moving to rival platform". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Browning, Kellen (2023). "Gambling, Risky Pranks, and Lucrative Contracts: Inside the Streaming Site Kick". The New York Times.
  13. ^ a b Begley, Patrick (2 May 2024). "'A playground for degenerates': The dark corners of an Australian streaming giant". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b c "Influencers flock to platform known for gambling industry ties". NBC News. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  15. ^ Liao, Shannon (7 December 2022). "Top Twitch creator endorses platform connected to crypto gambling site". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  16. ^ Parrish, Ash (30 October 2023). "Gambling streams are "part of the contract" for Kick's newest streamer". The Verge. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  17. ^ ""A New Era of Streaming" - Trainwreckstv Stuns Twitch Supporters With Over $16,000 Income Within 10 Days of Streaming on Kick". EssentiallySports. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Kick Signs Yet Another Prominent Twitch Streamer". Game Rant. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  19. ^ Browning, Kellen (16 June 2023). "Twitch Star Signs $100 Million Deal With Rival Platform". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Amouranth Follows xQc's Lead And Leaves Twitch". Kotaku. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  21. ^ Castillo, Alejandro; Reidy, Paul (22 August 2023). "Here we Go! Fabrizio Romano signs for Kick". Diario AS. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  22. ^ Cooke, Hunter (19 November 2023). "Tfue returns to streaming with Kick, ending 5-month retirement". Dot Esports. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  23. ^ Rathore, Nischay (2 February 2023). "Sponsorship Trouble Forces Alfa Romeo to Play the Sneaky Game in 2023 F1 Season". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  24. ^ "New title sponsor Alfa Romeo not visible at every F1 Grand Prix". www.gpblog.com. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  25. ^ Collantine, Keith (24 July 2023). "Alfa Romeo reveal neon green livery changes for Belgian GP". RaceFans. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  26. ^ "Sauber's new team name unveiled after departure of Alfa Romeo as title sponsor". Formula 1. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  27. ^ Brittle, Cian (4 January 2024). "Sauber to alternate F1 team name between Stake and Kick". BlackBook Motorsport. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  28. ^ Lawrence, Dan (5 January 2024). "Sauber to switch between Stake and Kick F1 branding in 2024 and '25". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Streaming giant, Kick.com, secure Sauber Motorsport chassis naming rights for 2024 and 2025". Sauber Group. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  30. ^ Muhammad, Isa (14 June 2023). "Alfa Romeo Joins the Esports Race With Kick Collaboration". BeyondGames.biz. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  31. ^ "KICK F1 Sim Racing Team to continue with Thomas Ronhaar and Brendon Leigh into 2024-25 Sim Racing season". sauber-group.com. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  32. ^ "Everton Signs Sleeve Deal with KICK". Everton. 1 August 2023.
  33. ^ "What is Kick streaming? What parents need to know". Internet Matters. May 2024.
  34. ^ IV, Antonio Pequeño. "Twitch Introduces 70/30 Revenue Split For Some Streamers Through New Program—With Some Caveats". Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2023.

Further reading

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