If you aren’t between the ages of 12-22, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard the name Logan Paul before. The 23 year old internet sensation has built up an insane, cult-like, following of over 18 million subscribers on YouTube. He’s no stranger to making headlines, as at the start of the new year he turned heads when he filmed a dead body for a vlog. However this time, the story is all about his bank account.
Over the weekend Paul went head to head in the ring against a fellow YouTuber, KSI, for an amateur boxing match that was streamed live through YouTube and Twitch. As I mentioned in the headline, over 750,000 viewers paid the $10 fee to see the fight. Do the math. That’s a giant chunk of dough.
Besides the ridiculous amount of money the event pulled in, there were other interesting tid-bits that are interesting from a digital media standpoint.
- More users streamed the bout on Twitch than YouTube. The largest legitimate Twitch stream had over 400,000 users on it.
- As it is with many streamed events, this one was heavily pirated. Many unofficial streams were popping up throughout the fight. While they were quickly pulled don by the platform, new ones generated throughout the night.
- While the official numbers haven’t come in, many believe the amateur fight brought in more money than the UFC event that also took place over the weekend.
- Attendees also gobbled up the 15,000 tickets to see it in person.
Disappointed in @Twitch today for not actively banning streamers rebroadcasting the #KSIvLogan fight.
They may have tried but to see that 1,000,000 we’re still watching it shows they didn’t try hard enough. pic.twitter.com/XZdelDen9j— Tom ? (@ProSyndicate) August 25, 2018
Its easy to get caught up in the numbers, and for a lot of reasons, you should. The way that Paul and KSI leveraged their following is nothing short of incredible. Influencers are starting to realize they can generate plenty of money on their own without the help of a brand or advertisers. Something that would have been laughed at several years ago.
While many will joke about the fight over the waercooler, there’s something to be said for an influencer literally sticking his neck out there to make a buck. Its event more impressive when they’re willing to do it twice – the rematch is already on the books.
