If you open up Twitch this week and sort by viewership, you’ll see that IRL (in real life) is still the number one category. And within IRL, the meta has undoubtedly become marathons. Just this week, the two biggest streams have been iShowSpeed’s America Tour and Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon. Other streamers have been marathon streaming too. Agent and Extra Emily (shoutout to YourRAGE too) just ended their marathon series with a Pokémon Go tournament, while Stable Ronaldo attempted the first 1-second subathon, which lasted 11 minutes. Is it all just a coincidence, or do they know something we don’t?
Why Are Marathon Streams So Popular?
One of the big reasons creators started doing marathon streams was to gain a large number of paying subscribers. I still remember Ludwig’s “subscription marathon” in 2021, when he became the first streamer to hit 280K subs, beating Ninja’s previous record of 260K. Another reason to marathon stream is that Twitch rewards consistent live behavior. If you’re not live, you’re not making money from subscribers or ads, which is very different from YouTube where SVOD is the primary source of revenue for creators.
Viewers want to feel like they’re getting real value when they spend $5, $10, or even $20 a month. If you’re live for a week or even a full month, it’s a lot easier to prove that value compared to being live only three days a week for a few hours at a time.
Popular marathon livestreams this year
At the time of writing, Kai is approaching 215K subscribers. All those people know he’ll be live for a full month, and they know they’re getting a month of Mafiathon ad-free, which makes the five-dollar investment worth it.
Why Does This Matter For Creators?
We’ve been seeing the shift from video game content to more IRL and big events on Twitch for a while now. These large-scale productions are the ones breaking records and keeping people engaged. Kai’s Mafiathon 2 broke the Twitch subscriber record, and Ibai’s fifth edition of La Velada del Año broke the viewer record.
Everyone is competing for attention every single day, and big events and marathons are some of the best ways to keep viewers locked in for long stretches of time. I expect to see a wave of new marathons on both Twitch and YouTube in the future. They’re engaging audiences, driving viral clipped moments across social media, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the platforms start leaning into the trend even more.
The Big Takeaway
The rise of marathon streams is proof that the most successful creators know how to win in the attention economy. These events combine nonstop hours with high-production moments that keep viewers locked in and paying. As audiences get used to this kind of nonstop entertainment, the bar will only keep rising. Expect creators to push for bigger productions, longer runs, and even more spectacle in the years ahead.
Each week during Mafiathon 3, I’ll be tracking how close Kai gets to 1 million subs. If he hits that goal, LeBron James will cut his hair.
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