Over the last few years, influencer marketing has enabled online companies to connect with new communities greatly, but as in other areas of gambling, issues such as problem gambling have arisen, meaning rules and regulations have been forced to come into play.
Such rules include Twitch’s ban on outbound links, along with bans on non-regulated sites. The influencer space has also been impacted in regions like the UK and the Netherlands, with restrictions on the use of role models which have a particular appeal to audiences, such as high-profile footballers.
Padveen began by noting: “The market itself is really going through some significant shifts, especially over the last 12 months. The free-for-all that you saw early on in the world of gambling is somewhat tightening its belt.
“The regulatory side is now really catching up with the technology in streaming, which is happening a lot faster than what we’ve seen in some other areas of tech.”
Another prominent topic of discussion involved the aforementioned use of celebrities, which includes the likes of Canadian rapper Drake, who last year handed out $1m worth of Bitcoin to his fans as part of Stake.com’s live stream on Twitch.
“People like to see these huge stakes and the significant amount of risk in live play,” said Padveen. “The problem is there is not much in the way of regulation and oversight when it comes to what can and can’t be shown, or what can and can’t be done.”
The t2 Marketing International Partner also discussed the role that bigger companies will play in the near future, explaining that the likes of bet365, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes will be leading the way when it comes to branding with streamers, with the smaller operators then following suit.
“Online slot tournaments are coming up a little bit more frequently, and you’ll likely start to see a move where there is a really big push in branded partnerships or sponsorships to actually turn a player or streamer into an operator for the brand,” added Padveen.
“I think you’ll see a lot more of that, especially with bigger brands that just want to have their logo out there. If someone wants to stream on a bet365 platform, for example, they just want to have the logo up there. What they are playing or how they are playing it is going to be secondary to having the brand front and centre.”
