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.