Streamer IShowSpeed Is Gen Z’s ESPN

In the days leading up to the 2026 World Cup, the streamer IShowSpeed—one of the most watched people on the planet, who occasionally moonlights as a rapper—released the music video “World Cup (Champions),” a song about flexing national pride where he mentions all 48 teams. As with everything the 21-year-old born Darren Watkins Jr. does, the video was instantly everywhere. The song racked up over 7 million views on YouTube in under 24 hours. The internet rushed to christen it as the anthem of the tournament, even though the World Cup already has one. FIFA, following a ridiculous outpouring from fans and perhaps realizing the massive instant exposure he could bring, added the song to its official album. That is the power of Speed—a one-man, always-on media network. Speed started posting on YouTube as a teenager in 2017. But it wasn’t until the Covid-19 lockdowns, in 2020, that the Cincinnati, Ohio, native committed to streaming full-time. His passion for soccer, particularly his admiration for his favorite player, Cristiano Ronaldo, shaped his earliest broadcasts, where he played FIFA and NBA 2K as people watched along. His virality came thanks to the kind of scream-laden occasionally controversial antics the internet loves, but over time Speed ditched the stereotypical streamer playbook. The future of his brand existed outside of his bedroom. As his audience expanded, so did his mission. Streamers succeed by getting fans to sit and watch. Speed doesn’t. The goal, he tells me, is to become a conduit of inspiration to his nearly 55 million subscribers. When he started engaging with people beyond his computer screen, it gave him purpose. He wants his audience to have that too. So in 2024 he leveled up and started recording travelogues from various countries, turning his stream into a global group chat where he introduced his young audience to different cultures. He has raced a cheetah in South Africa. Sparred with Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines. Was mobbed by fans in Jamaica and Barbados. While in Indonesia, he hit 1 million concurrent live viewers, making him the first English-speaking streamer since the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing to break the record on YouTube. Last year, he embarked on a monthlong, nonstop livestream tour across 25 US states, never once turning the camera off, even while asleep. His rise intersects with a complete transformation in how sports are consumed. Linear television is dead. Streaming services struggle to retain viewers turned off by rising costs. People are their own media platforms now. Few have pulled that transition off with more daring—and reach—than Speed, who is basically inseparable from soccer’s global storytelling apparatus at this point. For generations Z and Alpha, he is practically ESPN. For this year’s World Cup, Speed is bringing his love of the game to stream from different host cities. FIFA estimates the 2026 cup will draw more than 6 billion total viewers globally across the tournament’s month-plus of play. Speed’s livestreams, no doubt, will add even more eyes to that number. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. JASON PARHAM: You got into the game early, but now everyone wants to be a streamer or a podcast host. Is your level of fame still attainable? ISHOWSPEED: It’s possible. Obviously, I have played a big, big role in this current generation of streaming, but years from now there are going to be people who are better at it than I was. There’s a big history behind it, with YouTube and Twitch, but the industry is still being born. What defines your generation? I am part of the first generation of media streamers. We are the mainstream. I mean, I would say a channel with 50 million subscribers is 100 percent a network. Even a channel with 1 million subs or 500—that’s the reason why streaming is so popular. This industry is a game, but at the end of the day, you can’t beat anybody else. I have to keep continuing to get better with who I am. Your streams have broken multiple records, and the tours are considered appointment viewing at this point. Is there such a thing as giving fans too much access? That’s a pretty crazy question to ask me. But it can be about as much access as you want it to be. I’m more of a personal streamer, as raw as it can get, and I want to be as close to the viewers as I can. I want them to be transparent with me and give me advice. But there is a point where it’s like, yeah, that’s personal. Has that ever worked against you? Social media is known to enable parasocial relationships. I encountered a lot of that early in my career, but as I grew I realized that’s what the job comes with. It really, really, really used to bother me when I was younger. People still troll; they still do their thing. I’m curious how you think about access and what it means to let people in, because there was a moment during your recent Caribbean tour this spring where you collapsed live on stream. See, the thing about me, I never really lose energy. But I am human. My muscles got very tired. But I was still conscious. It was a weird feeling, because I could still hear everything, I knew what was going on, but I couldn’t open up my eyes or move my body. I was just like—yup, GGs. [GGs, or good game, is streamer slang meant to show good sportsmanship or respect to other players.] I was fine though. I just needed to chill. I was very over-fatigued. When you stream five countries in one day, something’s bound to happen. If anything, I was surprised that that was the first time it was really happening. What makes you say that? People don’t understand how much skill it takes. My form of streaming is most definitely a sport. How so? I do six- to eight-hour streams. A whole day of doing activities. I may just look like I’m walking or meeting with people, but it all has an art to it. I might randomly race somebody out of nowhere in the middle of the street. Then I’ll try their national dish. The food is not even settled, then boom, I might race someone again. I’m truly doing activities the whole time, and my body has to be agile and fast. I burn so many calories. Per stream, I probably burn around 3,000 to 5,000 calories. So I’m eating like 7,000 calories a stream. It’s a whole performance. What are you most excited about for the World Cup? The feeling. The World Cup always brings you a feeling. The last World Cup that I experienced [in 2022] had so many emotions. It just brings out a different side of people. Soccer has never really taken off in the US. You’ll likely have one of the most-watched streams during the tournament. Is it an opportunity to expose more Americans to the sport? Yeah. But the World Cup being in America already exposes so much. A lot of Americans are going to really fall in love with the game. If we didn’t have American football, I think it would be way more popular. Really? I fell in love with European football because it’s very accessible, like the art of it. The whole sport of football is generally just beautiful. A lot of people in America underrate European football. I do try to be an advocate for it. Is your responsibility as a streamer something you think about? My responsibility as a streamer is to always deliver my root message, and my root message is joy. People always yearn for that. We all have different lives, and everybody’s going through something with all the problems in the world, but people tend to forget that they can get through it. You know what I’m saying? I feel like I can be the symbol for them to get through it. Do you mean problems in the world politically? Yes. And not just joy, confidence. They need meaning. Where does that need to give people confidence and joy come from? It may sound crazy, but I was at a bad point in my life, and I came across the anime One Piece. I was inspired by [the main character] Luffy. I don’t care that it’s an anime or what people think of it. It really helped me through the rough times that I had during that time of my life. What was going on at that point? This was during 2020. I was 15. It’s quarantine. I’m not doing anything with my life. Like, nothing. I’m used to going to school every day, kicking it with my friends, and going to football practice. I felt like I had a life. I was stuck in the house. I wasn’t doing anything, just playing video games all day. I wasn’t streaming at the time. I was lost. I was depressed. I had a lot going on at home, personally. People don’t really understand, but I came from a rough background. I didn’t grow up with a lot of stuff. I had to really work from literally ground zero. Is streaming from space still the ultimate goal, or has that changed? I actually wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger. I was very into it in high school, when I was learning about the atmosphere. I’ve always had this explorer side of me, so it’s funny how that is coming to life now through my YouTube career. Elon Musk, the way his mind works, he’s a smart guy. And as of right now, he can make that happen because he has the tech for it. Like, I would drop everything I’m doing right now and go. So there’s no moral dilemma in being associated with Elon Musk, especially since what you do is all about bringing people together? He is someone who has promoted misinformation, allowed harassment to run wild on X, and fast-tracked the erosion of the US government with DOGE. I’m not going to answer that. I’m not going to speak on it. But you haven’t shied away from controversy in the past. Often celebrities and influencers have a tendency to keep a neutral stance on polarizing issues to protect their brand. Yet you’ve been a vocal supporter of Palestine—why speak out and say “free Palestine”? That’s just as simple as it gets. My fans who watch me, they’re Muslim. When I first found out, I was in London, and my friend Chunkz told me about what was going on [with Palestine]. I was like, yo, this isn’t good. And I started speaking out and being an advocate about that. Will you use your platform to engage other issues? I can’t tell. As the person who I am right now, I love to inspire people. My career is going to change throughout the years—I don’t know what I’m going to do later—but bro, I always want my messages to be about fun, joy, and confidence, because that’s who I am at the end of the day. Do you ever worry an AI streamer might replace you one day? No. Obviously, it’s moving at a rapid pace, and we don’t know how it’s going to evolve. We’re already in a whole new era of the internet, and people don’t even realize it. People realize it. The hard part is trying to keep pace with all the rapid change. There are so many AI videos and so much AI that’s uprooting everything. It’s scary. It’s one of those things where you just have to adapt. That’s how humans have been surviving. We adapted by being as creative and innovative as we can. But I am not worried, because people are always going to want a real, organic connection. You think? We are going to really miss that. So it’s always going to be there, lingering. No matter how much AI evolves, people are still going to want that human connection that we were born with. We’re always going to return to that. Let us know what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor at [email protected].