While sometimes controversial, there is no denying the popularity and interest in gaming streams – mainly associated with casino, slots, poker, or gambling streams. They are entertaining.
However, content such as this is not new. ESPN broadcasted the World Series of Poker tournament for many years up until 2021 when the World Series of Poker officially moved from ESPN to CBS Sports. ESPN began broadcasting the events since 2002, while CBS was the first to televise the WSOP events during the mid-1970s.
Since then, poker has intertwined with gambling streams, also known as casino streams, on platforms such as Twitch, which came under fire for some of the streamers pushing the gambling content to new heights, raising controversy over it’s place on the platform, but also forcing the company’s hand to roll out new rules around the content as well as the sites associated with it.
This opened the door for a new platform called Kick, backed by Stake, to enter the streaming world and completely embrace the gambling content that Twitch was cracking down with, and pushing it further than Twitch ever did in terms of being a major component of the platform.
While the content certainly has it’s risks, we believe the content has a place in the streaming world, with caveats (of course). We plan to explore this avenue, and all possibilities, to see if and how it can play into Disko, and if Disko can create a casino streaming platform, and/or poker streaming platform, aspect that can suit creators, and audiences, within this space.