"In 2021, two people you've probably never heard of- FaZe Rug and Adin Ross- faced off in a one-on-one basketball game at a Los Angeles gym. Winner gets $25,000. Sam Gilbert led a two-person team that streamed it live on YouTube from a single iPhone. The players weren't professional athletes, and it was, Gilbert says, "a very below average basketball game." Still, nearly 80,000 people tuned in live, most of them under 34 years old."
"Gilbert saw that something fundamental had shifted in sports consumption. The names mattered in the same way fans tune in to watch Luka Doncic or Victor Wembanyama. But personality and creator fandom trumped talent and quality of play. FaZe Rug and Adin Ross command audiences of millions across YouTube and Twitch-deeply engaged fans who, when the two faced off in real time, showed up."
In 2021 FaZe Rug and Adin Ross played a one-on-one basketball game in Los Angeles with a $25,000 prize, streamed from a single iPhone by a two-person team led by Sam Gilbert. Nearly 80,000 people watched live, most under 34. Gilbert identified a shift in sports consumption where creator personality and fandom can trump athletic talent, prompting Bleacher Report to launch the Creator League. The Creator League stages games — basketball, dodgeball, flag football — featuring social-media personalities competing for cash prizes up to six figures. A 2022 DreamCon dodgeball match generated over 80 million views and 7 million engagements. In 2025 the league generated 606 million views, a 60% year-over-year increase.
Read at Fast Company
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