Major tournaments in League of Legends regularly attract high viewership on YouTube and Twitch. Now they’re also streaming on Kick. Riot aims to reach more e-sports fans, but many view the decision critically.
This is the announcement: On June 26, 2026, Riot announced on the official website that the platform Kick would be part of the streaming roster. From now on, co-streaming tournaments in LoL, Wild Rift, Valorant, and TFT on Kick is allowed: A streamer can broadcast and comment on a match live.
The decision took effect with the MSI 2026. The Mid-Season Invitational is one of the most important tournaments in LoL and started this year on June 28 in Daejeon, South Korea. Ironically, Korea and China are reportedly set to be excluded from the new streaming rule.
The partnership also opens the possibility for Kick streamers to become official co-streamers of the events.
The next Worlds could also be officially seen on Kick:
From a Gambling Platform to a Boom in Latin America and the Middle East
Why is this difficult? Kick has a challenging position in the streaming scene. The platform emerged in late 2022 as a response to the tightened gambling regulations from Twitch. The platform is backed by the online casino Stake, which was affected by the changes, with gambling streamer Trainwreck acting as a consultant.
Kick attracted attention with million-dollar deals and a revenue split favoring creators. The platform became a refuge for streamers whose content wasn’t considered “family-friendly” and who were left out of the big exclusive deals from Twitch and YouTube.
In this country, Kick is primarily known for openly allowing gambling, and it takes a more lenient approach to issues like copyright and moderation. Yes, there have been scandals and questionable decisions on Twitch over the years. However, it cannot be denied that the type of content that thrives on Kick is too extreme for YouTube or Twitch.
Riot seems to be aware of this issue, as the post emphasizes that they will apply the same standards to streamers and enforce moderation practices as on other platforms.
What is behind this? The answer might be indirectly revealed by Riot in the statement. They state that they primarily want to reach e-sports fans in Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. These are regions where Kick has significantly eroded Twitch’s market in recent years:
- Spanish is one of the most important languages on Twitch. Streamers like ibai, Rubius, and AuronPlay attract tens of thousands of viewers, even if they might be less known here. However, streamers in Latin America have long criticized their earnings compared to their English-speaking counterparts. As a result, many have migrated to Kick, where the sub-split is more lucrative and advertising revenues are higher (source: Zack Bussey via YouTube).
- Kick is also extremely popular in parts of Europe and the Middle East. The MENA region is experiencing a massive streaming boom, driven by high gaming investments in Saudi Arabia and the popularity of role-playing games in GTA Online and shooters. According to a research by the analysis platform Stream Hatchet, this boom, however, is taking place on Kick: In the first quarter of 2026, Kick is expected to account for 81% of the streaming audience in the Middle East.
- According to a report from Kick itself, Poland leads the list of European countries with the most users, followed by Spain, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, SullyGnome shows that Polish streaming on Twitch has decreased by 15% over the past year compared to the previous year.
It shows: Kick is no longer just a sleazy platform for streamers banned on Twitch. For some creators, it is a serious alternative – also because they might be able to make a better living from their content there. For Riot, Kick could serve as a bridge to reach these users.
LoL Streamer Sees It as “One of Many L’s”
How is this being discussed? On Reddit, the decision is received with mixed feelings. Many view the connection to gambling critically. Some wonder if there will be gambling advertisements in the streams in the future. Others joke: With such a toxic chat in LoL, Kick would be just the right platform.
A user quips: Riot has banned gambling sponsors for teams, now they themselves accept gambling money. Indeed, Riot relaxed its strict gambling sponsorship rules in 2025, allowing sponsorship from betting service providers. However, these are still subject to regulations. Fans now fear that these regulations could be further loosened.
The German LoL streamer NoWay refers to the partnership on X as “one of many L’s lately” and writes: “I love e-sports, but it just hurts to see how uncompromising it seems without any loss of morality.”
However, other users argue that Twitch has also lost a lot of moral superiority in recent years. They find the criticism of Kick hypocritical.
Who Pays Whom?
In the Reddit thread, the question also arises of who is actually paying whom: Is Kick paying a lot for the streaming rights, or is Riot paying for the reach? Riot is tight-lipped about the details, but this question can be answered with a fair amount of certainty. Historically, it has been the platforms that have paid a lot of money for exclusive streaming rights.
With the rise of co-streaming, the focus is less on exclusivity: Rather, one pays for the opportunity for its own streamers to broadcast an event widely. Because they have been attracting more viewers than the official broadcasts for a while now.
The deal here seems clear: Kick buys some legitimacy with the streaming rights – moving away from the sleazy image towards a serious mainstream alternative in streaming.
However, one might question whether they are willing to pay the price in terms of morality. The fact is: We are in the e-sports winter and even the Korean LoL league is making losses. Do we have to compromise more and more to keep e-sports sustainable? Is this truly the complete loss of morality that NoWay refers to? Discuss with us in the comments!
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