For the first time since its inaugural class in 2025, Kai Cenat’s Streamer University has returned for its next semester. This year, Kai opened the door for 120 creators to attend a private university, all while taking classes (taught by over 20 of the best live-streamers), joining clubs, and even playing in an alumni basketball game. This is the second year that Kai has hosted Streamer University, and everyone is definitely feeling the momentum carrying over from last year.
Streamer U Stats
One thing that people may have overlooked or didn't even notice was that Kai was live this year on both Twitch and YouTube. This is the first time that Kai has ever simulcast on both platforms. Here were some of the biggest stats:
Streamer U Twitch Peak (Saturday Night): 1.2M concurrent viewers.
Streamer U YouTube Peak: 403K concurrent viewers.
1.6M+ viewers were watching the broadcast live across both platforms.
This means that, compared to 2025 Streamer U (730K peak), this year's event saw a 120% increase in peak viewership.
Source: Sullygnome Analytics
The Streamer University category on Twitch saw an average of 234,549 viewers, making up 10.9% of all Twitch viewership. Some of the biggest streamers attended this year to help boost smaller creators, with Suburbbaby peaking at 195,356 viewers and JasonTheWeen hitting 161,863 concurrent viewers.
Why Is This So Significant For The Streaming Industry?
Twitch has predominantly struggled with discoverability, and Kai is providing an opportunity for smaller streamers to get discovered through Streamer University. By launching Streamer University, Kai is giving smaller streamers an opportunity to be discovered.
Obviously, the students attending have to take every opportunity to create moments that will give viewers a reason to subscribe to them and come back to their streams after Streamer University is over. This event has become one of the biggest live-streaming moments of the year. We will attempt to add up all the impressions across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, but I would imagine that the final number is over a billion impressions from SU alone.
Next year Kai will Streamer University to Europe.
Moments You need to Watch
As I was scrolling through TikTok on my way back from New York City, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of clips that had over 500K likes. Many of these clips were from new streamers that I had never seen before, not necessarily the biggest live-streamers (although there were a lot of clips of Marlon, Lacy, and Jason). I saw clips of newer streamers either interacting with bigger streamers or having viral moments on their own.
Here were some of my favorite moments from this year:
The Big Takeaway
Streamer University is live-streaming's biggest annual opportunity for discovery. Every year, millions of viewers tune in looking for the next breakout creator, and every student gets a rare chance to turn a single viral moment into a long-term career. As the event continues to grow, getting accepted into Streamer University will become one of the most valuable opportunities an aspiring livestreamer can have.
James Harden and Ray officially unveiled their collaborative adidas Harden Vol. 10 "Ruei" at Fanatics Fest. This release marks the first time a streamer has received their own PE sneaker with a public retail release, making it a milestone for both sneaker and creator culture.
Speed Performs At The World Cup Championship
Huge week for streamers.
Riley Saurage Becomes Face of Forever 21
Huge congrats and well deserved ♥️
Spain Wins
GGs.
