Kick staff are unfazed by Twitch CEO Dan Clancy’s comments about streamers opting to return to the purple platform once their contracts expire.
Since its launch, Kick has poached some of the biggest names in the streaming world, having signed Twitch icons such as xQc, Amouranth, Adin Ross, and more to lucrative deals.
While this did help Kick burst onto the scene and emerge as a true competitor to Twitch, the Amazon-owned site’s CEO said this was a mistake, suggesting that just like Mixer and YouTube, these streamers will all come back home eventually.
“I think it is a complete mistake to say, ‘The live stream market is fixed, I’m just going to take what the other guy has,’” Clancy told NateGentile7 in a June 13 interview. “As soon as [Kick] stops paying them, they’re going to come right back.”
Well, according to Kick’s Head of Strategic Partnerships, Andrew Santamaria, what Clancy said is “completely true.”
However, Kick isn’t exactly worried about the streamers they lured over with big contracts deciding to go back to Twitch or other platforms. In fact, it seems to all be part of their plan.
“As business evolves, people will cross-pollinate to other places. That’s a fact. Actors switch to different studios. That’s the beautiful thing about competition,” he explained.
“We enter into contracts with people, and not everyone can be a winner, but at the same time, if they add Kick to their diet, like they are, that’s a win for us. That’s a win for the industry.”
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Furthermore, Santamaria added that he was “glad” to see Clancy speak up like he had, because it “proves” that there is competition in the streaming world.
“There’s so much competition in the market. This man is traveling around Europe shaking hands and kissing babies because all the subs are going up around the world,” he noted, referring to Clancy’s tour across the continent for TwitchCon.
“This is damage control. This is fan-fn-tastic. Here’s the other thing, when people go back to other platforms, wherever they came from, we’re still part of the streaming diet,” he reiterated. “That’s a massive win for everyone.”
We’ll have to see what happens when some of the biggest names in streaming reach the end o their contracts with Kick. Interestingly, some creators have outright refused to join Kick, even when presented with lucrative offers.
Dr Disrespect is possibly the most notable of these, who revealed that he turned down a massive $10M per year offer from Kick after first demanding $50M. According to the two-time, his presence on YouTube was just too strong to consider making the jump.
That said, if the likes of xQc and Amouranth continue to stream on Kick even after their contracts are up, it’ll help prove the platform’s business model is an effective one.
