Every summer, Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos hosts a live boxing tournament on Twitch, La Velada del Año (The Party of the Year). In just four years, it has grown from a relatively small event featuring matches between a few influencers from Spain to a huge global phenomenon featuring over 20 fighters and a host of musical artists. breaking records 5.9 million Twitch users tuned in to watch this year’s event, which took place on July 13 in a packed up 80,000 seat stadium in Madrid.
The biggest name on the bill was Will Smith, who appeared as a musical headliner and led the crowd into the The prince of Bel-Air TV Show ThemeThe Oscar winner was the first English-speaking artist in the event’s history, but he wasn’t the most popular of the night. According to data from StreamsCharts, most watched moment During the stream, which also set a record with 3.8 million concurrent viewers, there was a boxing match between two influencers, one Spanish and the other Chilean.
This event is a perfect sample of what internet popularity looks like in 2024. For starters, there are boxing matches. The mano-a-mano fight has been a promotional tactic of influencers for years. Examples appear across the spectrum, from Controversial YouTuber Turned MMA Fighter Logan Paul to Tech Billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon MuskWHO made serious preparations for a cage match last year before Zuckerberg canceled it. At a time when cultural cachet is defined by parasocial armieswho honor their name by entering fierce and bitter rivalries For other fans, there’s an indelible power in watching these famous characters literally trade blows.
Of course, in reality, these influencers and internet personalities understand that this isn’t really a competition. Ibai regularly collaborates with other streamers from around the world, combining their audiences and fan bases for more engagement and visibility. On the same day as La Velada del Año, YouTuber MrBeast uploaded a video titled “50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000”The video is done in MrBeast’s usual frenetic style, but the format itself seems clearly inspired by Ibai Llanos’ tournament. Ibai himself is one of 50 YouTubers featured in the video, which preempts any accusations from fans of either streamer.
The competition, designed to be streamed on Twitch, is as much inspired by an esports tournament as it is by a UFC fight. Ibai, who serves as MC and commentator for the night’s matches, first found success on Twitch as a Spanish-language commentator. League of Legends advertiser. He turned his streaming success into a media empire, including a TV talk show and co-founder of the League of Kingsa football league that optimizes the game for streaming by adding video game-inspired rules like bonuses. Video games are already a huge industrybut they are starting to become popular with marketerssuggesting that events like La Velada del Año, which bring gaming culture into more traditional spaces, will only become more common on Twitch and off.
Twitch itself finds itself in a strange and paradoxical position. The streaming platform has seen a general decline in terms of user and revenue growth over the past few years and has never made a profit since its acquisition by Amazon in 2015. In February, the site completely removed from Korea, which was one of its biggest foreign markets. At the same time, Twitch streamers are more numerous than ever, as the overall audience for livestreams is growing. Spain in particular has become a huge market for Twitch streamers, as they can broadcast to a global Spanish-speaking audience while enjoying lucrative european marketing offers.
