Kick (service)

Kick
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Area servedWorldwide
OwnersAshwood Holdings (33%)
Bijan Tehrani (66%)
ParentEasygo Entertainment Pty Ltd
URLkick.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedOctober 18, 2022; 18 months 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. Kick was founded in 2022 as a competitor to Amazon-owned Twitch, with a focus on looser moderation and higher revenue shares for streamers.[1][2][3] Kick is mostly known for its 5% revenue charge, as well as its 2023 deals with multiple streamers formerly prominent on Twitch, most notably including chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, Nickmercs, Adin Ross, Amouranth, Ice Poseidon and xQc.[4][1][5]

As of June 2023, Kick averages 235,000 livestreams per day.[4]

History[edit]

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 Entertainment Pty Ltd, a company registered just a few months earlier.

Easygo Entertainment is partially owned by another entity, Ashwood Holdings Pty Ltd, with a one-third stake. Notably, Ashwood Holdings is under the complete ownership of Ed Craven, co-founder of Stake.com. The remaining two-thirds of Easygo Entertainment are owned by Bijan Tehrani, the other co-founder of Stake.com. While Kick is not directly affiliated with Stake's co-founders, records indicate that they are the principal shareholders of the company that holds ownership of the streaming site.[6] Some sources also state that American streamer Trainwreckstv could be among the owners of the platform or plays a leadership role within it.[7][8]

Revenue splitting and salary[edit]

Kick's revenue is split 95% to the streamer and 5% to the platform. Kick's popularity in its revenue split was credited by Forbes for pushing Twitch to introduce a 70:30 revenue splitting model for some creators.[9][10]

Streaming deals[edit]

Trainwreckstv was among the earliest major streaming personalities on the platform.[8] In March 2023 Adin Ross announced he had signed a streaming deal with Kick for an undisclosed amount. Ross claimed that his deal at the time was the largest in streaming history, though denied that it was in excess of $150 million USD.[11] In May 2023, BruceDropEmOff announced that he had partnered with Kick, though the sum of the deal was undisclosed.[12]

On June 16, 2023, it was announced that xQc signed a two-year, $70 million non-exclusive deal to the platform, with incentives that could increase the value of the deal 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, and further surpassing LeBron James' two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.[13] Two days later, on June 19, Kick signed Amouranth, though the details of her deal were not disclosed.[14][15]

In June 2023 political commentator Destiny announced a non-exclusive 12-month partnership with Kick for an undisclosed 7-figure amount.[16] Later that August, 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.[17]

Sponsorships[edit]

In January 2023, the Sauber Motorsport-run 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".[18][19] In June, Sauber Esports announced a title partnership with Kick to form "Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK Esports".[20] Alfa Romeo raced a revised Kick livery called the "disruptive livery" at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.[21] 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."[22] 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.[23][24] Kick also secured the naming rights to Sauber's 2024 and 2025 chassis, with the 2024 car named as Kick Sauber C44.[25] Additionally, they entered the Formula One Sim Racing Championship with the help of Sauber as KICK F1 Sim Racing Team (although they would enter the first round as Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK Esports before Alfa Romeo’s departure).

In August 2023, Kick signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Premier League club Everton as the club's official sleeve sponsor.[26]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b D'Anastasio, Cecilia (3 March 2023). "Twitch's New Streaming Rival Kick Tests Waters of Lighter Moderation". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ^ Tsiaoussidis, Alex; Richman, Olivia (28 March 2023). "Who owns Kick.com? Fledgling Twitch streaming rival responds to Stake rumors". Dot Esports.
  3. ^ Bennett, Tess (31 March 2023). "Local crypto billionaires use Grand Prix to debut new venture". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b Browning, Kellen (16 June 2023). "Twitch Star Signs $100 Million Deal With Rival Platform". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Winslow, Levi (6 April 2023). "Former Twitch King Ninja On Mixer's Failure (And Kick's Potential)". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Who owns Kick.com? Everything to know about Stake and Kick". StreamScheme. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  7. ^ Liao, Shannon (7 December 2022). "Top Twitch creator endorses platform connected to crypto gambling site". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  8. ^ a b ""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.
  9. ^ IV, Antonio Pequeño. "Twitch Introduces 70/30 Revenue Split For Some Streamers Through New Program—With Some Caveats". Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  10. ^ Hale, James (27 July 2023). "Here's how Kick plans to get profitable". Tubefilter.
  11. ^ "Adin Ross signed "biggest streaming deal ever" to join Kick after Twitch ban". Dexerto. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Kick Signs Yet Another Prominent Twitch Streamer". Game Rant. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "Amouranth joins Kick in shock move away from Twitch". Dexerto. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Amouranth Follows xQc's Lead And Leaves Twitch". Kotaku. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Kick signs Destiny under new 7-figure contract with "two big conditions"". Dexerto.
  17. ^ Castillo, Alejandro; Reidy, Paul (22 August 2023). "Here we Go! Fabrizio Romano signs for Kick". Diario AS. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  18. ^ Rathore, Nischay (2 February 2023). "Sponsorship Trouble Forces Alfa Romeo to Play the Sneaky Game in 2023 F1 Season". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  19. ^ "New title sponsor Alfa Romeo not visible at every F1 Grand Prix". www.gpblog.com. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  20. ^ Muhammad, Isa (14 June 2023). "Alfa Romeo Joins the Esports Race With Kick Collaboration". BeyondGames.biz. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ "Sauber's new team name unveiled after departure of Alfa Romeo as title sponsor". Formula 1. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  23. ^ Brittle, Cian (4 January 2024). "Sauber to alternate F1 team name between Stake and Kick". BlackBook Motorsport. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  24. ^ Lawrence, Dan (5 January 2024). "Sauber to switch between Stake and Kick F1 branding in 2024 and '25". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Streaming giant, Kick.com, secure Sauber Motorsport chassis naming rights for 2024 and 2025". Sauber Group. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Everton Signs Sleeve Deal with KICK". Everton. 1 August 2023.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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