The crackdown last year by Twitch on gambling streamers frustrated many in the community but Twitch CEO Dan Clancy is standing by the company’s decision to only allow streaming on licensed, regulated sites.
“The thing that was growing was these unregulated offshore gambling sites. For people that don’t understand, these are sites that there’s nobody overlooking to see, for example, what are the odds on the craps tables, are they tweaking them, do they change them, cause they’re not regulated,” Clancy said in an interview with streamer Filian.
The move was initially seen as a means to prohibit cryptocasino streaming from sites like Stake.com but also includes offshore and unlicensed casinos. Clancy elaborated on the decision, including noting that while there were a few people benefitting from these unregulated sites being streamed, their was a very clear consolidation of who was profiting.
“The amount of money that was flowing, where our creators were building these communities and connections that they formed on Twitch, to drive people to these sites, it was a significant amount of money to a small number of creators. And we decided we didn’t think that was good for the community, so we banned the unregulated. In general, there is no problem with regulated, but we do have a problem with these unregulated sites,” he said.
On Tuesday’s episode of iGaming Daily, host James Ross and CasinoBeats journalist Danny Lee discussed the choice by Twitch to limit content:
While the new rules pertain to casino streamers, poker streamers are still allowed to stream from unregulated sites such as Ignition Casino and America’s Cardroom are still allowed, as the ban only extends to “slots, roulette, and dice games.”
Meanwhile, regulated companies like MGM Resorts are becoming more cognizant of players wanting to stream on property.
The company’s new streaming and video policy walks back the long-held and enforced rule that phones cannot be used in any capacity while seated at a table game. The new rules allow for phones to be used for texting and photos, so long as they are not of the gaming equipment and do not slow down the game.
There is still no video streaming at the tables and there are a different set of rules in play for those wanting to stream while they play both at table games and on slot machines. Streamers fall under the “quasi-commerical” use category and need prior authorization from MGM Corporate Gaming. If it is a monetized, commercial stream, the filming must be approved by MGM’s Public Relations department.
