Yesterday, news broke that WWE wasn’t done going after its wrester’s Twitch activity. They sent a notice to WWE Superstars that their Twitch accounts would be seized in one month’s time by the company, at which point WWE would be taking a portion of the profits from the accounts. Any money going towards the talent would also count against the backends bake into their contracts.
We now have further information regarding the Twitch presence in WWE going forward thanks to former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Yang has been outspoken regarding the conditions that WWE Superstars work under, and he states that several came to him with information regarding new contracts.
Hearing from talent that WWE is forcing performers to sign new contracts that include twitch. Streaming on twitch will become a work obligation and if talent doesn’t stream they will forego earnings, be suspended or face penalties. Doesn’t sound like independent contractors.
— Andrew Yang?⬆️?? (@AndrewYang) October 2, 2020
Superstars are now being presented with new contracts that include Twitch streaming as a work obligation. In a similar situation to WWE Network show Ride Along, what was once a leisure activity for the wrestlers will become part of the job, and performers who choose not to stream can lose out on earnings and become suspended, among other penalties.
If anyone has watched a Twitch stream for any length of time, they might see the problem with a plan to force performers into playing games or chatting with fans while on the clock. Twitch thrives on a casual atmosphere, and several current streams featuring WWE performers are popular thanks to the small window they offer behind the curtain of RAW and Smackdown. Ironing out these imperfections will likely see a decrease in revenue as fans tune out of something seen as official WWE messaging rather than authentic interaction with a wrestler they love.
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