Twitch’s Sponsorship Dashboard: Lowball Offers or Big Opportunity?
After nearly three years in testing, Twitch has finally launched its Sponsorship Dashboard. The program promises to streamline how creators find paid opportunities, acting as a direct bridge between streamers and brands.
Currently available only to Partners, the system is straightforward: Twitch sources deals (usually playing a specific game for a set duration) and offers them to creators who match the demographic requirements.
However, the launch was a bit messy.
Initial Payouts
When the dashboard first went live, streamers saw rates that didn’t make much sense. Reports flooded in of offers equating to roughly $0.10 per Concurrent Viewer (CCV).
To put that in perspective, the typical market rate for these types of bounties usually sits between $1-2 per CCV. Twitch’s opening offer was roughly 90% below market value.
For a smaller Partner averaging around 75 viewers, a standard deal might net them anywhere from $75 to $150. Under Twitch’s initial launch rates, they were looking at earning just $7.50 for the same work. That is obviously not sustainable or worth the effort for most creators.
The Correction (and the Speculation)
It seems the feedback worked. When declining a sponsorship in the dashboard, creators can select “Pay not sufficient” as a reason, and it looks like a lot of people clicked that button.
Since the launch, rates in the dashboard have jumped to around $0.75 per CCV.
While we haven’t hit that standard of $1-2 yet, $0.75 is significantly closer to a respectful rate.
So why the lowball start? Twitch hasn’t commented on the reasoning, but the speculation among creators is that Twitch was testing the floor. By setting the rates incredibly low, they likely wanted to see if the convenience of an integrated dashboard was enough to get streamers to accept lower pay, allowing Twitch to keep a larger cut.
A Win-Win… Eventually?
Despite the rocky start regarding rates, the existence of the Sponsorship Dashboard is fundamentally a good idea.
Sponsorship deals have been happening off-platform for years. Twitch has had zero control over them, and crucially, made zero revenue from them. By bringing this ecosystem in-house, Twitch can facilitate safe, reliable deals for creators and take a small cut for the trouble.
This is very similar to what YouTube is doing with their BrandConnect program. If executed correctly, this opens the door for:
- Diverse Opportunities: Beyond just game titles, we could see physical products and lifestyle brands entering the space.
- Security: Guaranteed payouts from a trusted entity rather than chasing invoices from random agencies.
If Twitch can settle on a fair market rate, this could be a massive win-win. But if they try to squeeze the creator’s share to pad their own margins, the dashboard will likely remain unused.
Pete’s Content Corner
Delve into my weekly selection of content creation highlights – handpicked videos, podcasts, and tweets that promise to captivate, educate, and entertain.
- Recap Season is officially here. This week saw the release of the Twitch Recap, YouTube Recap, Discord Checkpoint, and Spotify Wrapped, giving creators a chance to relive their statistics and milestones from the past year.
- The Streamer Awards took place on Saturday. Huge congratulations to IShowSpeed for taking home Streamer of the Year. Other notable winners include Kai Cenat (Best Just Chatting, Best Event), Caseoh_ (Gamer of the Year), and FaZe Clan (Best Content Org).
- YouTube is rolling out A/B testing for titles and thumbnails. Eligible creators on desktop can now test up to 3 variations of titles and thumbnails on long-form videos. The system runs the test for up to 2 weeks and automatically selects the winner based on watch time.
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read Stream Report.
Pete ✌️
