The national trade group representing the US casino industry, the American Gaming Association (AGA), released a new report that sought to determine the diversity within the gaming sector. Data regarding the new in-depth examination of the US gaming industry reaffirmed that it is more diverse than the larger hospitality sector and the US workforce. This latest data reaffirmed the efforts of gaming companies in the country toward a more diverse workforce.
According to AGA’s president and CEO, Bill Miller, the new study underlines the success of the gambling sector in diversifying its workforce. The president and CEO acknowledged that gaming companies need to dedicate further efforts in that field, but at the same time, acknowledged the progress achieved in the last decade. Finally, Miller said: “The AGA will use this research to engage our membership on how we can collectively advance DEI in gaming in the months and years to come.”
“As today’s report shows, our industry has made impactful strides toward becoming more diverse, but there is more work to do.“
Bill Miller, CEO and president of the American Gaming Association
The Gaming Industry Hires More Minority Employees
The new study uncovered that the gaming industry has more employees from minorities when compared to other sectors. For example, AGA said that minorities within the total US workforce are at 42% and 52% within the broader hospitality sector. In contrast, that percentage increases to 62% within the gaming sector, reaffirming that there are more minority employees.
Some 19% of the gaming employees are Black, while 23% are Hispanic. Those results are higher when compared to the hospitality industry and the national workforce. Moreover, Asian employees have a significant presence within the gaming sector with 14%, which is double the national workforce, says the new report.
Additionally, the new report revealed that over the last decade, the workforce racial diversity within the gaming sector has seen an increase. For example, back in 2011, some 20% of the operator employees were minorities, while the share of workers who are Black was only 12%.
“Importantly, across job levels, gaming’s leadership pipeline is significantly more diverse than national averages at the first/mid-level manager and professional levels: 45 percent of first/mid-level managers are minorities while 43 percent of professionals are minorities, both 10 to 12 points above national and hospitality benchmarks,” explained AGA’s recent report.
Last but not least, the new study confirmed that manufacturers within the gaming vertical have a more diverse workforce when compared to other electronic manufacturers. Some 45% of the employees of gaming manufacturers are from minorities, compared to 38% of employees within other electronic manufacturers.
If you’re into your gambling streamers and haven’t been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve likely heard the name Kick crop up once or twice. You might have even visited the platform to take in the latest content of big names such as Trainwreck and Xposed, who have made the shift to the new site.
Kick-owner Stake was one of the operators that made Twitch’s naughty list of banned casino sites last year, along with other crypto casinos such as Roobet and Duelbits. Since Twitch’s most popular gambling streamers had promotional deals with these sites, the ban essentially put an end to their money-making schemes – that is until Stake decided to launch its own platform.
Kick is fighting its war by stealing content creators
Since then, Kick has been engaged in a bloody marketing war with Twitch – one far different from other brand rivalries, such as the Coca Cola wars of the 1970s-80s. In contrast to marketing conflicts of the past, Kick is mainly fighting its war by stealing influencers from its opponent, and so far it seems it could be winning.
Taking streaming by storm
Launching shortly after Twitch announced its casino ban in October 2022, Kick first made clear that it could pose a serious threat to its rival the following month. Roshtein and Xposed confirmed that they were making the shift to the platform as the first big names to transition. Combined, they have more than 1.6 million followers on Twitch and have even both collaborated with global rap superstar Drake.
What was to follow blew both of those signings out of the water, however. In December, Trainwreck, real name Tyler Niknam, made the shift to Kick after claiming Twitch had “lost its grasp on reality.” With 2.1 million followers on Twitch, the Texan is by far the most popular gambling-focused streamer. As a result, Stake has given him a leading role in developing its platform from the ground up.
Since then, the big-name signings have kept on coming. These include controversial content creators Heelmike (7.1 million+ Twitch followers) and Adin Ross (7 million Twitch followers before his ban). The latest star to join the Kick team is chess streamer GMHikaru, a grandmaster boasting more than 1.8 million followers on Twitch.
twitch and all its puppet f*ck faces will be shook.”
Not only this, but Kick claims it has plenty more signings lined up. According to Trainwreck, GMHikaru is just one of six total signings soon to be announced by the platform. Niknam certainly wasn’t worried about riling up his former platform when announcing this either, claiming that when the signings are uncovered “twitch and all its puppet f*ck faces will be shook.”
Differing arsenals
Every war needs its weapons and this one has plenty.
The biggest asset in Twitch’s arsenal is its existing number-one streaming site position. The Amazon-owned brand has also been around since 2011, meaning it has more than a decade of interface development in its past to ensure it works well for users. In contrast, as a new platform on the scene, Kick is certainly not without its issues. Even Trainwreck has noted that Kick has some improving to do before it can compete, recently drawing attention to a viewbotting issue.
Kick offers its streamers 95% of subscriptions
Aware that it will likely remain substandard to Twitch in terms of capability for some time, Kick is fighting the marketing war with alternative weapons. Mainly, the platform is attracting streamers by offering a much more favorable subscription fee rate. Kick offers its streamers 95% of subscriptions, a huge difference to the 50% provided by Twitch. The latter recently confirmed it had no intentions of changing that deal, despite pressure from Kick.
In a demonstration of its tongue-and-cheek marketing tactic, Kick recently shared a video to Twitter utilizing its F1 partnership with Alfa Romeo to mock Twitch for its substandard rate:
It’s not only Kick shouting about this either, Trainwreck and other streamers who have shifted to the platform are making sure the world knows it’s a better deal for influencers. Only last week, Niknam took to Twitter again to promote the platform’s rate. He argued that streamers had been incorrectly “conditioned” to believe that sub revenue is a primary profit driver for Twitch and Kick.
The Texan is also quick to repost any praise of the sub split from other creators, which has become regular on Twitter as streamers of all sizes make the switch:
A month of streaming on Twitch non-stop on a Subathon vs 2 Days on Kick. Idek what to say. I cant imagine Twitch running 2 days worth of ads and i can barely make more than what i did on @KickStreaming in 2 streams with 0 ads. I wish i could understand but i just dont pic.twitter.com/5VuwmkWKx4
As the newcomer to the scene, it is evident Kick will require more feathers to its bow if it wants to compete with the experienced Twitch to steal major streamers. The final weapon it has in its arsenal is its lax rules, not only in relation to gambling streaming but also in regards to controversial content that might result in lengthy bans on its rival site.
One demonstration of Kick’s laissez-faire policy came shortly after Heelmike joined the platform in February. On one of his first Kick streams, the controversial influencer engaged in an on-stream sex act with a girl. While this would have undoubtedly led to a lengthy, if not permanent, ban on Twitch, Kick suspended Heelmike’s account for just one day.
many have called out Adin Ross for his behavior since joining the site
Similarly, many have called out Adin Ross for his behavior since joining the site. The influencer, who has received a permanent ban from Twitch, is well known for spreading hateful messages. He recently had to apologize after claiming his pronouns were “kill/them” in response to a video about non-binary pronouns. Kick has continued to allow Ross to stream on its platform despite his recent divisive behavior.
More to come?
With streamers such as Heelmike and Adin Ross finding a home on Kick, many predict that other controversial stars could follow. One name mentioned is BruceDropEmOff, a creator with 1.3 million followers who recently returned from a one month ban from Twitch. According to Ross, other possible Kick signings include Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed.
Regardless of the tools Kick uses to reach its goal, each of these major signings could prove vital in the streaming marketing war. So far, its highly aggressive and somewhat controversial tactics appear to be working, and the next five signing announcements could prove a real milestone for the fledgling platform.
Kick certainly seems to think so anyway:
I don’t think you understand what’s about to happen
The Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF), Brazil’s soccer confederation, wants additional funding in the form of sports betting taxes. Amid discussions for revolutionizing the gaming system, the body asked to receive a 4% share of licensed operators’ revenues. The CBF said that the proceeds, if granted, would be distributed among its leagues.
The confederation’s proposal basically seeks to benefit more from the growing sports betting market. Since 2018, the CBF has been receiving 1.63% of operators’ revenues, as outlined in the law.
However, the organization hopes that it will be able to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to secure extra funding.
Several notable soccer clubs have even expressed their desire to participate in the decision-making regarding the tax changes. These include Botafogo, Corinthians, Flamengo, Fluminense, Palmeiras, Santos, São Paulo and Vasco da Gama. They slammed the CBF for not providing them with a platform to voice their own opinions.
The clubs have various financial concerns amid the ongoing restrictions of sponsorship agreements with offshore sportsbooks. Many teams, especially Series A and B ones, are concerned that this will be a major blow to their financial well-being.
CBF Seeks Discussion with the President
The CBF, meanwhile, remains firm that a part of bookmakers’ proceeds from betting should be used to fund Brazilian soccer. The confederation even demanded meetings between its leadership and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and finance minister Fernando Haddad.
The latter is expected to soon present a new tax framework for sports betting in the country. He believes that Brazil is currently experiencing severe losses because of its lack of a proper taxation regime. Haddad hopes to fix the outward flow of money as he believes that the LATAM country can generate as much as $3 billion from betting taxes.
Brazil failed to fix its taxation system last year, so Haddad hopes to make a breakthrough in 2023.
New Bodies Will Protect Sports and Betting in Brazil
In other news, two weeks ago, several major gambling operators joined forces to form the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming. The newly-formed body will seek to contribute to the ongoing discussion and development of the gambling market in the LATAM region.
The institute will collaborate with all sectors of society, helping Latin America establish a strong, reliable and safe gambling ecosystem.
Earlier in March, a new non-profit organization called the Brazilian Association for the Defense of Sport Integrity, vowed to protect the integrity of professional sports.
