Entertainment
The Sidemen’s Media Empire: How 7 Friends Built a Content Conglomerate
What began as seven friends recording themselves playing FIFA has now become a hugely successful entertainment and commerce company. The Sidemen (KSI, Zerkaa, Miniminter, TBJZL, Behzinga, Vikkstar123, and Wroetoshaw) have turned a decade of internet clout into a diversified, nine‑figure business. Their output looks less like a creator channel and more like a small network that programs different formats for different levels of engagement. That structure gives them both the attention and the operational footprint of a lean digital studio with its own product
The Sidemen operate a compact media built around a flagship YouTube channel for larger videos, auxiliary channels for gaming, behind‑the‑scenes, and reaction content, and their premium streaming service Side+, as a subscription tier for the most invested fans. Together, they reach tens of millions of subscribers and deliver a consistent baseline of content that also helps them mark their brands. Their calendar leans on set pieces such as long‑form challenges and charity football matches that play more like live events than standard uploads, with weekly videos and shorts filling in the gaps between those spikes. Their latest charity match filled a Premier League stadium, attracted millions of live viewers, and raised a multi‑million‑pound total for U.K. charities, showing how a creator‑led match can now move audience and capital at the scale of a mid‑tier sports property.
The group’s first meaningful business move outside of content creation was Sidemen Clothing, positioned from the outset as a standalone apparel line rather than a basic merch shelf. The brand has shifted toward seasonal drops and collaborations that sit closer to streetwear than fan gear and gave the group a direct‑to‑consumer revenue stream with higher margins than standard ads. From there, the playbook expanded into category‑specific brands that could stand on their own. Sides, their fast‑food concept, uses ghost kitchens and franchise partners to serve customers across multiple markets, with reporting that the business has reached seven‑figure weekly revenue as it scales locations and delivery volume. XIX Vodka, their move into spirits, lets the Sidemen monetize an aging core audience through a premium product that can live in retail, nightlife, and events where creators usually appear as short‑term endorsers rather than long‑term owners.
Analysts and business press now estimate that the broader Sidemen ecosystem is worth nine‑figures when adding up channels, brands, and IP, with most of the upside sitting in assets they control. Ads across their channels are estimated to generate millions of dollars per year on their own, but the more material story is how that attention converts into subscriptions, food orders, alcohol sales, and apparel purchases where the group participates as equity holders. Internally, equal revenue splits and a shared company structure keep all seven members aligned, which reduces the incentive to peel off for individual deals and helps explain why the group has stayed intact through multiple growth phases. That alignment also supports slower, more capital‑intensive bets such as brick‑and‑mortar Sides locations and in‑house production infrastructure that would be hard to justify inside a looser collective.
Their latest phase is about turning a decade of uploaded content into catalog and licensing opportunities. The Sidemen Story, their documentary distributed on Netflix, moves part of the business away from platform‑dependent content toward a film‑length asset that can live across territories and windows and sit alongside traditional entertainment IP. For a company built on weekly releases, that type of project functions as a hedge against changes in recommendation systems and ad markets and puts them on the radar of partners who do not normally transact at the YouTube channel level. Around that core, the group continues to run live events, recurring charity matches, and new product launches in food, beverage, and merchandise that do not rely on a single platform to succeed. The result is a creator business that now looks less like an influencer collective and more like a self‑financed entertainment and consumer brand portfolio with seven founders still on screen to market what they own.
As of early January 2026, an AI Twitch channel surpassed every human streamer on the platform in paid subscribers, counting over 162,000 active subscribers at one point. Meet Neuro-sama, a Twitch channel hosted on creator Vedal’s account vedal987.
Neuro isn’t operated by a hidden human. Her speech, reactions, and presence come from machine-driven models that analyze chat and gameplay in near real time. Sometimes even reacting to what she “sees” on screen.
She has a community that funds her growth. A majority of her subscriptions are “gifted” by viewers, meaning fans are buying subs as a way of indirectly investing in her future development which is something almost unheard of in traditional streaming economics.
She’s setting records no humans has yet. During a long subathon push last December, Neuro-sama broke Twitch’s Hype Train records reaching levels no human streamer had previously.
This isn’t novelty. It’s dominance.
Why It Matters
This moment is bigger than an AI hitting No. 1. It’s a cultural shake-up in how audiences decide what and who deserves their attention and money. YouTube shook up AI creators a few months ago when announcing they were tightening up heir monetization policies in regards to fully AI generated content.
For decades, creators have had to hustle constantly showing up live, grinding content schedules, battling burnout, and juggling personal life. Now with AI unlimited outputs seems more than possible. Neuro-sama doesn’t sleep or get tired. She doesn’t take holidays. She shows up every day in ways human creators simply cannot.
And consumers don’t seem to resent that.
They support it. Other creators however, it’s too early to tell.
We’ve yet to see any big Twitch streamers collab with an AI streamer.
What Does This Reveal About Consumers?
People don’t just want to watch they want to belong, influence, impact. They want to feel as if their involvement matters not just as a consumer, but as a contributor. Neuro-sama’s subscribers aren’t tipping for perks, they’re underwriting her evolution.
That’s a creator economy we haven’t quite seen before.
What’s Next?
There are several things that I could see happening in the very near future:
More AI creators. If one AI streamer can reach the top, expect others to emerge. There may be perhaps genre-specific AIs (gaming, music, education). The only limiting factor becomes imagination + compute power.
Humans creators will collab with AI creators. Real creators lean in to the trend and some may even mimic a robot style character or NPC. The tension won’t be human vs. AI but human-AI collaboration.
Fandom economics will change. Audiences are already proving they will financially sustain something they believe in even when that something isn’t human. That shifts the balance of power from hosting platforms and algorithms to communities themselves.
Neuro-sama isn’t just a streamer anymore, she’s a case study in community-powered entertainment.
Whether you love that future, fear it, or just don’t fully understand it, more change is coming.
This moment marks a new chapter in creator culture. Are you excited for what’s to come?
At the center of Diamond Gym’s social media rise to fame is Haddy Abdel, whose approach to social growth isn’t rooted in hype, gimmicks, or temporary attention. His focus has been on documenting the legendary diamond gym’s culture in a way it wasn’t before. Their unique style of intense gym reels that capture the middle of some of the most insane gym workouts you’ve ever seen has created a huge social buzz for them. Their success has come with many critics but in the words of Wallo267 “your haters are your marketing team”. And Diamond Gym has had some incredible marketing.
Alongside him is the OG of the gym, Unc, who represents the grounding force of the gym. Many refer to the New Jersey gym as “the most dangerous gym in America” and a large part of that has to do with Unc. He demands a high level of commitment, effort and grit in every work out session regardless of who is coming by. The culture is largely influenced by Unc’s rarer as a fire fighter and he faces deadly situations on the regular. Unc applies that same attitude to the gym with his famous, “now we die” catch phrase.
Likewise, Haddy shared a similar sentiment with his “Till The Death” catch phrase which would go onto to become the brand that this whole movement is built on.
The Brand
Diamond isn’t loud for the sake of attention. Members seem to show up not just to just to work out but for the sense of community. In a recent workout they did with comedian, Matt Rife, Unc went on to explain why people decide to join their gym:
To have a real friend group is a blessing… a lot of them [Diamond Gym members] are dealing with things, whether it’s father issues, school problems, taking care of loved ones, or life stress. Their support system manifested in the gym.”
Diamond has naturally developed into a community where discipline is normal, conversations have depth, egos get checked, and brotherhood actually means something.
From Physical Gym to Media Ecosystem
Diamond Gym’s impact doesn’t stop at the four walls of the gym.
Through lifestyle content, celebrity collabs, gym moments and conversations Diamond has unintentionally built a media empire. Their media page @train.to.failure currently has over 441K followers on Instagram, Unc instagram @smthedon191 has over 468K followers on Instagram, and Haddy has over 1 Million followers on his page @haddy_abdel with over 360K subscribers on his Youtube where all the long form Diamond gym videos are uploaded.
TTD The Brand
Alongside the gym comes Till The Death, the clothing brand and cultural emblem born out of the Diamond ecosystem.
Now, if you pay close attention to the Diamond gym videos you’ll notice that they’re very intentional about their product placement. In every video those participating in the workouts are wearing TTD merch especially the celebrity guest. From Alex Eubank, to The Tren Twins, to social media fitness star, Ashton Hall. They’ve all worn TTD merch while working out in Diamond’s gym.
Most celebrity guests bring their own camera crews so the content captured in the gym sessions are mutually beneficial for everybody but TTD is able to get more than just content. Through collaborations their merch brand is able to establish even more notoriety, credibility and desire.
Haddy’s business partner and fellow diamond’s gym member, Anthony Lorenzo, has played a huge role in the brand’s success as well. Addressing some internet rumors in the summer time due to a fallout with one of their previous member, Skolla Da Legend, Anthony addressed his role with the brand.
People associate the clothing brand with hardwork, grit and those who get after it in the gym. That is something people want to feel and the sales have showed. Haddy and his team have shared several reels showing how quickly the merch drops sale out every time.
They’ve been able to master what many have yet to, how to monetize attention.
Why It Matters
Whether you watch workout videos or you’re a diamond gym fan is not the point.
What diamond has shown us as consumers is a master class in marketing, branding and ownership. It’s easy to promote some else brand but to scale your own takes intention. They’ve used their virality to attract big names and indirectly promote their brand. Very subtly but very efficient.
Diamond isn’t trying to be part of a moment.
They’re trying to build something that outlives one.
Take notes.
For years, the streaming economy has sold the same promise: turn on the camera, build an audience, stay consistent, and the money will come. What rarely gets discussed is the psychological cost of being “on” every day — not just as entertainment, but as a brand, a personality, and a product.
Lately, some of the biggest names in streaming are pulling back the curtain.
Kai Cenat’s Hiatus
At the recent Streamer Awards, Kai Cenat broke his silence. After months away from streaming, he revealed his personal mental health struggles and hinted that they played a role in his prolonged break. He also spoke openly about wanting more from life than just streaming.
That admission alone, sparked a lot of conversation about the change in maturity and focus from Kai.
If this was from coming from a smaller creator perhaps the conversation would fall on deaf ears but Kai is the exact opposite. He’s arguably the most influential streamer of his generation. His Twitch dominance and marathon streaming has carved out a large market share of the streaming world. If someone at his level is stepping back, it forces an uncomfortable question: What does success actually cost in this space and is it sustainable?
IShowSpeed’s Tough Start To His Africa Tour
Just yesterday on Sunday January 4th, IShowSpeed echoed a surprisingly similar sentiment during his Africa tour stream.
“No, I’m not mad, chat… I’mma be completely honest, bro. My mental has not been the best this tour… I’m trying to make everything go right, and a lot of s*** just been going on behind the scenes. So Africa is a tough tour. Very tough.”
Speed described overworking his mind, struggling to think, feeling mentally overwhelmed just one week into a demanding global tour. The image he painted wasn’t dramatic for clicks it was honest and vulnerable.
So why does this matter?
Speed is often framed as the counterexample, the streamer with “inhuman energy,” the one who never stops, never slows down, never seems affected. Yet even he hit a wall.
Many in the media have critiqued Kai’s choice of taking a longer break.
The fear from media talking heads isn’t just about money. It’s about relevance. Step away too long, and the door opens for the next star. Algorithms don’t wait. Audiences move on. Energy shifts.
The Real Question Isn’t “Is Streaming Worth It?”
The real question is whether the current model is sustainable.
Mental health isn’t just a personal issue in this space, it’s becoming an economic one. When top creators burn out, entire platforms feel it. When stars step back, brands lose leverage. When energy drops, audiences feel it immediately.
Cenat’s presence on Twitch alone boosted engagement tremendously. His ground breaking project, Streamer University, changed the podcasting landscape spring boarding many streamers careers.
Is Mental Health “Destroying” Streaming or Exposing A Small Issue?
Creators like Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed aren’t quitting, they’re recalibrating. They’re acknowledging that infinite output isn’t human, even if it’s profitable. They’re testing whether longevity can exist without self-destruction.
The next era of streaming may not be defined by who streams the longest but by who learns how to step away and come back whole. Many popular streamers like DDG have taken their own smaller breaks and even posting the infamous “This is my last stream” tag. Perhaps hinting at a deeper issue.
If the biggest stars are already struggling in their early 20s, the industry may be approaching a necessary reset.
Not with views.
Not with money.
But with peace of mind.
The question isn’t whether streaming can survive mental health conversations.
The question is whether it can survive without changing.
