After many months of speculation and a certain amount of nervousness, the Velada del Año V is here. One of the most eagerly awaited annual events since 2021, when streamer Ibai Llanos decided to bring together several fellow professionals to put them in the ring.
What at first seemed like a new strategy to get views on Twitch, has become a phenomenon that attracts young people and those interested in sport. This year, it has the added bonus of trying to beat the record of the edition where more than 3.8 million devices were connected at the same time, making it the most watched broadcast in the history of Twitch.
The Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville will be the place chosen to host the 7 1-on-1 fights that will take place during the event. As we have already mentioned, La Velada is not only a sporting event, but such is its impact that once again, great artists such as Eladio Carrión and Aitana will entertain the audience between fights.
To what does it owe its success?
It is a combination of several factors: sport, music and a lot of spectacle.
From the beginning of the organisation of this event, it could be foreseen that this is a format built to succeed. With Ibai Llanos, the world-renowned strearmer, as organiser, it was a safe bet. All that was needed was to add a bit of music and present it as one of those events that nobody could miss.
After the success of the first edition, more and more influencers and celebrities have marked it on their calendars as a fixed date. This is an even greater attraction for the general public, as La Velada is one of those contents that has made the leap from the screen to real life. Twitch continues to be the platform on which to enjoy all the content, but such is its success that some 70,000 viewers will also be able to enjoy it in the stadium itself.
The spectacle has finally won out over the sport, and so the event has a photocall and the presentations of the participants are each one more extravagant than the last.
The audience, Ibai’s great ally
It is clear that Ibai Llanos has already become a celebrity among the younger audience, as more than 80% of the streamer’s followers are between 18 and 24 years old.
According to data from the fourth edition of La Velada del Año, the event achieved a 51.1% audience share among the under 35s. In addition to consolidating the success of Ibai and of the event, this good audience is a great opportunity for brands, as it helps to reach a younger audience that is difficult to reach with traditional media.
The success of this event shows us how digital entertainment formats, the participation of influencers and original and differentiating content, are the ones that will generate greater recall among the Z and Alpha generations, so brands and agencies should take this into account when developing their marketing and advertising strategies.
The role of brands in La Velada
Now that we know what the event is about, the audience it moves and how the audience behaves, it is time to ask: what are the opportunities for brands?
At an event of this magnitude it is not surprising that brands want to be present in a prominent way. To do so, they can apply different formats:
- Sponsorship of the event: the brands that decide to sponsor the event are the ones that have the most privileged position, as they are present from the very first moment in all the advertising about the event. Moreover, since their announcement, many of them, as is the case of Grefusa, Alsa or Revolut, carry out actions created ad hoc for this event.
- Sponsorship of one of the participants: another of the most common ways of being present is by supporting one of the participants. Beyond what happens in the ring, the participants have an active presence from the moment the event is announced. Press conferences, podcasts, presentations, weigh-ins… for this reason, if a brand supports one of the participants, it ensures constant visibility in everything related to La Velada del Año.
- Support to attendees for the photocall: lastly, guests can also be a good source for an advertising strategy. As we have already mentioned, La Velada is an event where influencers and celebrities want to be present. It also has a photocall where they can pose, which means that attendees can also have a few seconds of ‘glory’.
But brand activations do not stop there. Sponsors of the event or of one of the participants must present eye-catching strategies, actions that go beyond their logo appearing in the ring. A good example of this is what was done by the hamburger brand Vicio, which during La Velada del Año IV, decided that the best way to ‘deliver the order’ to the presenter, Ibai Llanos, was by jetpack. So just a few minutes before one of the fights began, all the spectators were able to see how the famous hamburger landed in the ring.
It is clear that the Evening of the Year promises to be a real opportunity for brands to bring out all their creativity and offer different, original and, above all, effective actions to capture the attention of the public both in person and connected to Twitch. We’ll be keeping a close eye on what they surprise us with in this new edition.