In an interview, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy spoke about gambling streams and the problems he sees with the providers.
What is the deal with gambling on Twitch?
- Gambling streams have long been considered a problem on Twitch. Streamers made deals with online casinos, earning a lot of money and could offset their losses – but that wasn’t the case for their viewers. There were accusations that the streamers were leading their viewers into addiction and bankruptcy.
- In October 2022, Twitch cracked down on gambling streams, after some major streamers threatened to protest
- Since October 18, 2022, stricter rules have been in place, and online casinos like Stake.com are banned in live streams.
What does the Twitch CEO say now about gambling streams? Dan Clancy is the CEO of Twitch. In an interview with the streamer filian, the 59-year-old talked about gambling on Twitch, the ban and the operating sites.
During the interview, the streamer brought up the gambling ban to clarify misunderstandings about what is prohibited on Twitch. As an example, she mentioned a stream in which she played poker, and some viewers thought it was prohibited.
Clancy then explained the ban, specifically referring to casino sites like Stake: “Our position was: ‘People can decide for themselves what they want to see.’ But the issue that spread were these unregulated offshore gambling sites.”
Clancy further states that he sees a problem in that these sites are not regulated: “On these sites, no one sees how the odds at the tables are. Are they manipulating them? Are they changing them? Because they are not regulated. It seems like they decide what they want to do.”
In general, Clancy reiterates that streaming gambling has not been a problem. However, the situation is different when it comes to showing unregulated third-party gambling sites:
But in general, we have no problem with streaming gambling. But we have a problem when someone streams on these unregulated third-party websites.
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy via Twitch
You can see the statements of Twitch CEO Dan Clancy in this clip on Twitch:
Twitch’s ban on gambling sites depends on regulation
Could gambling streams return? After Clancy talked about the problems he sees with unregulated websites, the streamer asks him if Twitch could lift the bans on unregulated sites.
Clancy then explains his personal opinion on the matter, saying that it depends on whether these sites agree to be regulated and accept the consumer protection regulations of the countries.
If these sites are regulated, if they are willing to comply with the regulations of most major countries regarding the requirements for a gambling site, then I say: ‘Of course!’ But if they say: ‘No, we will not do the things that most major countries consider important regarding consumer protection,’ then we believe that we do not want our community on Twitch directed to these unregulated sites. I would not feel good about this aspect.
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy via Twitch
Currently, gambling sites like Stake do not seem to want to change anything about their concept. Stake even launched a Twitch alternative with Kick, to which some gambling streamers moved.
Meanwhile, MontanaBlack talked about what offer he would switch to Kick for:
