Each summer time, the Spanish Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos hosts a livestreamed boxing event referred to as La Velada del Año (The Night of the 12 months). In simply 4 years, it has gone from a comparatively small occasion that includes matches between a number of influencers from Spain to an unlimited international phenomenon that includes over 20 combatants and a bunch of musical performers. A record-breaking 5.9 million Twitch customers tuned in to see this yr’s occasion, held July 13 at a packed 80,000-seat stadium in Madrid.
The largest identify on the invoice was Will Smith, who appeared as a headlining musical act and led the crowd in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air TV show theme. The Oscar winner was the primary English-speaking performer within the occasion’s historical past, however he wasn’t the preferred a part of the night. In response to information from StreamsCharts, the most-viewed moment in the course of the stream, which additionally set a document with 3.8 million simultaneous viewers, was a boxing match between two influencers, one from Spain and one from Chile.
The occasion makes for an ideal cross-section of what web reputation seems to be like in 2024. For a begin, there’s the boxing matches. Mano-a-mano fight has been a promotional tactic for influencers for years. Examples seem throughout the spectrum, from controversial YouTuber turned MMA fighter Logan Paul all the best way to tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who made serious preparations for a cage match final yr earlier than Zuckerberg called it off. In an period when cultural cachet is outlined by parasocial stan armies, who reside as much as their identify by entering into fierce, bitter rivalries with different followers, there’s an indelible energy to seeing these well-known figures actually commerce blows.
After all, in actuality, these influencers and web personalities perceive it’s probably not a contest. Ibai frequently collaborates with different streamers from throughout the globe, combining their audiences and fan bases for extra engagement and the next profile. The identical day as La Velada del Año, YouTuber MrBeast uploaded a video entitled “50 YouTubers Fight For $1,000,000.” The video is completed in MrBeast’s ordinary frenetic model, however the format itself appears clearly impressed by Ibai Llanos’ event. Ibai himself is among the 50 YouTubers who seems within the video, forestalling any accusations from followers of both streamer.
The competitors being conceived for Twitch broadcast additionally means it’s modeled after an esports event as a lot as a UFC struggle. Ibai, who serves because the MC and commentator for the night’s matches, first achieved success on Twitch as a Spanish-language League of Legends announcer. He has parlayed his streaming success right into a media empire, together with a televised talk show and cofounding the Kings League, a soccer league that optimizes the sport for streaming by including video-game-inspired guidelines like power-ups. Video video games are already a huge industry, however they’re beginning to turn out to be popular for marketers, suggesting occasions like La Velada del Año, which convey the tradition of gaming into extra conventional areas, will solely turn out to be extra frequent on Twitch and off.
Twitch itself is in an odd, paradoxical place. The streaming platform has seen an overall decline in consumer and income development for the previous few years and has never turned a profit since being acquired by Amazon in 2015. In February, the location completely withdrew from Korea, which had been one among its largest international markets. On the similar time, although, Twitch streamers are larger than ever as the final viewers for livestreams grows. Spain specifically has turn out to be an enormous market for Twitch streamers, since they’ll stream to a worldwide Spanish-speaking viewers whereas benefiting from lucrative European marketing offers.
