The German streamer Kevin “orangemorange” Bongers made a name for himself with role-playing in GTA V. He came under criticism for his gambling content on Twitch. Twitch has now put a stop to this, which is why the 29-year-old is apparently looking for new sources of income. However, with his decision to promote sports betting, he seems to have made a misstep: orangemorange didn’t even know where the 2022 World Cup was taking place and that it might be problematic to travel there.
What is behind this? After several major streamers threatened a protest, Twitch announced in September that it would introduce new guidelines for gambling on the platform. These changes came into effect on October 18.
However, gambling streamers quickly noticed that not much had changed: The slots category, where virtual one-armed bandits are played, was explicitly not banned. Only sharing links, affiliate codes, and playing on sites that do not meet certain consumer protection standards was prohibited.
However, the new guidelines affect the online casino Stake, with which many streamers had made extremely lucrative deals. Now they are apparently looking for new partnership opportunities.
At least casino streamers still have income from paid subscriptions.
Bongers: “I sold my soul anyway”
In a stream from October 20, Bongers announced that he had secured a sports betting provider as a sponsor.
He joked: Now that he has completely sold his soul for slots, he can do whatever he wants. He can also do any placement now; it doesn’t really matter anymore.
What should the deal look like? Bongers explained to the viewers that his new sponsor would fly him to the World Cup in Qatar. There, he would be allowed to vlog and enjoy himself in the VIP box at the stadium.
In return, Bongers would only have to “make some bets on stream.” The plan was to allow viewers to vote on the outcome of a game and then place corresponding bets.
Subsequently, Bongers directed a question to his chat: Will the sports betting scandal be as big as the slots scandal? The streamer seemed to doubt this, suggesting that somehow no one had a problem with sports betting like they did with slots.
However, the criticism was not even about the bets.
Now he’s being criticized by people who don’t care about casinos but view Qatar critically
What disturbed people? On Twitter, where a clip of the announcement had been shared, criticism poured in. The World Cup in Qatar has been heavily criticized for some time: It is alleged that there were human rights violations during the construction of the stadiums and the necessary infrastructure. The treatment of migrant workers has caused outrage.
The public broadcasters even released a documentary series on the subject: “Qatar – World Cup of Shame”
Accordingly, the comments were also critical: The highlight video creator for MontanaBlack called it “disgusting” to support such approaches (via Twitter). Even people who apparently had no major issue with gambling streams found this to be too much:
Casino is one thing, but supporting an event where thousands of workers have died due to documented human rights violations, and the responsible parties don’t seem to care at all, that’s disgusting..🤮
— ItsCrimesTV (@ItsCrimesTV) October 20, 2022
Bongers concedes: “I didn’t know”
The Twitter user “minzebeere” apparently managed to reach Bongers. He listed the terrible conditions under which people are supposed to work in Qatar. He linked the sports betting provider tipico as a source – Bongers should pay attention to that.
How did Bongers respond to the criticism? Not well at first, several Twitter users reported being blocked by the streamer after they voiced their criticism (via Twitter). However, Bongers reacted very differently to minzebeere’s post:
Bongers claims he wasn’t aware of the conditions. He doesn’t follow football at all and didn’t know that a World Cup was taking place in 2022. He last followed football during the last World Cup. He watched it with friends and placed bets together, a nice experience (via Twitter).
However, he will not fly to the World Cup, according to the streamer. In response to his critic’s inquiry, he stated that he was really serious about that and thanked them for their constructive criticism.
I didn’t know that. I won’t fly to the World Cup.
— orangemorange (@orangemorangee) October 20, 2022
How is the change of heart being received? That Bongers will not fly to Qatar after all is generally met with approval (via Twitter). But not everyone believes him that he was genuinely unaware. The YouTuber AlphaKevin voiced criticism as well:
Bongers doesn’t want to let this go: On October 21, he posted that it’s unbelievable how one can be attacked for not knowing something.
Apparently, Bongers now wants to educate: He created a poll where people can indicate whether they are informed about the issue. He thinks it’s good that so many are aware, but precisely because some are not, education is so important (via Twitter).
How things will progress for Bongers after the casino ban and the current mishap with sports betting remains to be seen.
Countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia have made a lot of money from oil promotion over decades. This is invested in as many innovative projects as possible, as they apparently want to make a name for themselves in the areas of leisure and sports. That one has to be careful about whom to do business with, another Twitch streamer has already learned:
