Esports Pro “Mande” Turns Down $400K Gambling Streaming Deal

Apex Legends professional player “Mande” has opened up about how he was once courted by a gambling company. Mustering a relatively strong number of followers, with some 300,000 subscribers to his Twitch channel, Mande offered some insight into what gambling companies tend to offer when they approach streamers.

Mande Opts out of Gambling Streaming Deal

His revelations come after other streamers such as “Trainwreck” and “Xpozed” have either been doing gambling streams for years or have also spoken about the relationship that exists between popular streamers and gambling. “xQc” is another big name in the vertical who made a return to gambling streams earlier this year and had a mixed reception from fans.

But Mande held his ground and turned down the deal flat. He spoke about how an unnamed company wanted to offer him around $300,000 to $400,000 for six months and a 4-hour workweek. He said he would be paid a flat $15,000 rate along with $6,000 to spend on gambling any which way he chose.

Mande didn’t go into too much detail as to why he had chosen to turn down the deal, but he acknowledged in a video he posted that turning down a life-changing deal is a very difficult thing to do. Regardless, he was happy with his current routine.

Gambling on Twitch and Popularity of Slots

The popularity of gambling streams has been undeniable. The special category Twitch created in an attempt to appease audiences has been doing almost too well. “Slots,” has been consistently one of the top performers, bringing in many eyeballs and a solid following.

When xQc switched to gambling himself, the category went even further up, thanks to the influencer’s own profile in the gaming and Twitch community. To this day, “Slots” continues to be in the Top 10 on Twitch, making it one of the most frequented audiences.

This is not to say that there has not been a pushback. A Twitch petition floated in May sought to effectively end gambling sponsorships but it has not been able to hit the mark for now. The Amazon-owned giant has remained fairly reticent on the matter offering little to no commentary on what has turned to be a serious issue for many.

Trainwreck, one of the most prominent gambling streamers, is said to be worth millions despite his frequent losses on stream, hence his nickname. Gambling by role models continues to be a serious concern for many and with no proper parental control, the unintended exposure to underage individuals is a serious issue.