Kick has had no trouble signing Twitch and YouTube stars since launching at the end of last year, but co-founder Trainwreck said it’s becoming harder because streamers are exaggerating how much they’re earning in their contracts, and prospective signings are basing their negotiations on those numbers.
Trainwreck said its “really fucking up” the negotiation process with other creators during his stream on Aug. 17, and although it’s good advertising in the sense that it makes Kick seem like more of a destination place than its rivals, it’s doing more harm than good.
During negotiations, a lot of streamers are asking Trainwreck things like, how was another streamer with less than a third of the followers than them offered more money, when in reality, the streamer is actually earning one-tenth of what they said.
Train didn’t name-drop anyone, so any one of the streamers Kick has signed could be guilty. The biggest earner is xQc, who signed for $100 million and might have even become a co-owner in the process. Amouranth is believed to be the next biggest earner, followed by Adin Ross. As for which streamer he was negotiating with, it could have been Dr Disrespect.
Despite the exaggerated numbers hindering negotiations, Kick still has the highest revenue split of all the platforms, which is enticing to streamers. Kick only takes five percent of earnings from subscribers, whereas Twitch and YouTube take 30.
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For that reason, and others, Kick has managed to add some of the biggest streamers to its ranks, even if they’re not exclusive deals, and cement its place as an industry-leading platform. Its latest acquisition is YouRAGE, who signed on Aug. 14. It will be interesting to see who follows—especially whoever Train is negotiating with now.
