Two worlds collide

Fans of rap music and Twitch got the crossover they’ve always dreamed of last week when global music superstar Drake met up with streamer Trainwreck. While it’s certainly not the first time the pair have gambled with millions of dollars on camera, it is the first occasion they have done it together.

“This is long overdue my brother Train man,” Drake told Trainwreck in a snippet shared to the latter’s Twitter account on Thursday:

The video, uploaded in full to YouTube, shows Trainwreck securing more than $2.2m from one roulette spin as Drake cheers from the sidelines. While it’s an eye-catching figure, the real importance lies in the presence of the two men who are arguably the most important figureheads in online gambling at the moment.

a whole new phase of growth

Both have sponsorship deals with Stake.com, the largest online cryptocurrency casino in the world. The company has reached new heights this year mainly by utilizing content creators for market exposure, and this latest collab could spell a whole new phase of growth for the online gambling beast.

Making gains

Earlier this month, a mysterious buyer acquired one of the most valuable properties ever sold in Australia. The Melbourne mansion went for $80m. Notably, its new owner – a 27-year-old entrepreneur called Edward Craven – already owned another Sydney property worth $38.5m, along with a string of other multimillion-dollar houses.

Real estate news site Herald Sun shared news of the $80m purchase on Twitter:

That mysterious buyer is the co-founder of Stake, having created the company in Melbourne in 2017. As evident from his lavish lifestyle, Craven’s company has gone from strength to strength in its five-year existence. Some onlookers have estimated that the Stake boss has now made more than $10bn through the company, and this growth is far from slowing down.

According to many onlookers, one of the main reasons for the company’s success lies in its marketing strategy, which has set the firm apart from rivals in the competitive space. To understand the significance of the Drake/Trainwreck tie-up, it is important to take a look at this approach to advertising.

Twitch gamblers

One tactic that has set the company apart is its partnerships with the famous faces of Twitch. Before Stake burst onto the scene, it remained a relatively untapped advertising option for gambling operators. Now, a long list of popular content creators such as Trainwreck, xQc, Xposed, and Roshtein all partner the gambling website.

far better than other types of online marketing

Research suggests this Twitch advertising is far better than other types of online marketing, with one study outlined in an article shared on Craven’s Medium even suggesting that it is 250% more effective in converting viewers to customers. This is partly a result of the time spent watching streams as opposed to advertisements, with viewing time often reaching into multiple hours.

Arizonian content creator Trainwreck is Stake’s ultimate weapon on Twitch. He is among the most popular Twitch streamers, having amassed 2.1 million followers on the platform. By partnering with potentially the most famous member of the Twitch gambling community, Stake has cemented its place as the go-to site for high-stake gambling.

Global superstars

In his posts on Medium, Craven also outlines his strategy of partnering with global sports and music superstars to appeal to younger generations. In addition to Drake, real name Aubrey Graham, this includes the likes of ex-Manchester City player Sergio Aguero and UFC’s Alexa Grasso.

There is some reasoning behind these choices. Craven asserts that the company never teams up with a star that is not a fan of Stake already. Drake was supposedly playing on Stake for six months before the company approached him for promotions. “If you’re not a player you won’t resonate authentically with our audience,” Craven explained.

Stake pays him $20m+ each month to gamble

Undoubtedly, the Drake partnership is a home run for Stake. Fans of the Canadian rapper stretch across the globe and it is rumored that Stake pays him $20m+ each month to gamble on its site. In one of his first live gambling streams, the rapper gave away more than $1m of Bitcoin to fans as he gambled for hours in front of tens of thousands of viewers.

The perfect storm

Now, Stake’s two marketing strategies have collided through the Trainwreck and Drake collaboration. It utilizes the reputation Trainwreck has among the gambling community on Twitch, along with the global superstardom of Drake to sell Stake as the ultimate choice for gamblers.

While other operators are fighting for market share with more traditional forms of advertising, Stake’s outside-the-box strategy is appealing to a whole new generation of gamblers. It is undoubtedly tactics like this that will ensure Craven and his fellow Stake execs can afford all the multimillion-dollar mansions they set their eyes on for the forseeable.