Whether it's a Grand Prix car or a 3-on-3 basketball mini-tournament, videographers are pulling the cards together, bringing together hundreds of thousands of people online and in stadiums. A phenomenon observed in France, where this type of format (car race between web stars, football match between French and Spanish influencers ...) have multiplied since 2020 and the emergence of the Twitch streaming platform.
"There is a sharp erosion of pay-TV audiences, especially among young adults. Twitch has become their TV, YouTube their VOD (video on demand, editor's note)!", slices Michèle Benzeno, CEO of Webedia, one of the major players in online entertainment.
For her, it is the advent of the "match-show", a "hybridization" between champions and content creators, who are the "new heroes" of the younger generations. "They are not top athletes, but they are trained and it remains very watchable," according to Michèle Benzeno.
The latest event: the 3V3 contest, organized in mid-May by Domingo, one of the most followed French streamers. "The goal is not necessarily to bring back the biggest names from Twitch or YouTube like Squeezie, or InoxTag. Because seeing guys who suck at basketball, it's terrible, "assumed before the tournament Domingo who wanted to "have a happy medium with influential personalities and who are also passionate about basketball". The tournament, won by the team of legend Tony Parker, gathered 4000,75 people in Levallois, and an average of 000,<> "viewers" live on Twitch, in an atmosphere of madness.
- "New perspectives on sport"
These audience successes, which are similar to those of traditional sport, are part of a global context where content creators are at the center of new strategies.
American YouTuber Loga Paul before his boxing fight against British YouTuber KSI on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles © Michael Tran / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
"At the marketing level, these creators speak directly to their community, and have an influence that many companies can't even imagine," said Joe Markowski, CEO of DAZN Group in North America.
In 2019, the digital platform DAZN seized a golden opportunity, by putting on a boxing ring the British KSI and the American Logan Paul, two of the most influential YouTubers in the world (more than 100 million subscribers on social networks in cumulative) who had been provoking each other for months on the internet after a first fight in 2018.
It was a hit: 20,000 spectators at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, millions of live viewers and interactions on the networks.
Since then, DAZN, which also broadcasts football matches and professional fights, has capitalized on this success by helping to structure "YouTube Boxing". The platform regularly broadcasts battles between content creators (19.98 pounds in pay-per-view), which fascinate as much as they divide as to the respect of the "noble art". "The idea was to bring fresh perspectives to the sport," says Joe Markowski. "Some forget that sport is above all entertainment! The figures confirm it: there is a strong interest and these events are sold out."
Mixing genres
Taking advantage of this craze, the American boxer Floyd Mayweather, 46, would have pocketed at least $ 10 million for an absurd fight against the British YouTuber Deji.
In Spain, it is the former Barça star Gerard Pique who is riding the wave, with his Kings League, a 7-a-side football championship mixing web stars and personalities from the world of football (Sergio Agüero, Andrea Pirlo ...), designed to captivate an audience tired of football. Here too, the figures are dizzying: 90,000 people at Camp Nou in Barcelona and 700,000 viewers on Twitch for the finals of the first edition.
In the United States, where celebrity matches are common, another hybrid competition is held from June 1 to 4: The Soccer Tournament with 32 teams mixing young talents from professional clubs, former legends and internet stars. They will compete for the title - and a million dollars promised to the winner - in 40-minute 7-on-7 matches on a small court. Among the guests: soccer legend Clint Dempsey or Spanish world champion Cesc Fabregas.
In France, streamers are already preparing for the second edition of the GP Explorer on September 9, with one goal: to break the record of 1 million simultaneous viewers.
© 2023 AFP