Over the past five years, Ibai Llanos has hosted annual influencer boxing spectacles across his home country of Spain. The event, dubbed La Velada del Año (“The Night of the Year”) has broken several viewership records on Twitch.
The success of La Velada has made Ibai a known name across Latin America, and Netflix is looking to capitalize on the streamer’s popularity. It has reached a deal to become the exclusive home of the next three editions of La Velada, which will go live in 2027, 2028, and 2029.
The fifth edition of La Velada, held in 2025, became the most-watched Twitch broadcast in history up to that point. Ibai’s official stream for the event drew 9.3 million concurrent viewers, shattering a record that had been set during the previous edition of the event.
In the streaming world, no one does it bigger than Ibai, but the response to the sixth Velada in 2026 showed that the series may have already fulfilled its potential on Twitch. Mind you, the event was still a massive success, drawing 7.67 million concurrent viewers and bringing millions of new fans to Ibai’s social media accounts. But the 2026 boxing showdown didn’t break as many records as its predecessors.
With a move to Netflix, Ibai can continue to build his audience by dipping into the streaming service’s subscribers across the Spanish-speaking world. Netflix has prioritized its growth in Spain by picking up the local broadcast rights for the 2030 World Cup (which will be hosted across Iberia and Morocco). Ibai is hoping that investment can help him take La Velada to “el siguiente nivel” — the next level.
“In 2021, we put together the first La Velada in a concert venue in Barcelona, with no idea how far it could go,” Ibai said in a statement. “Five years later, millions of people have watched it at the same time, and bringing it to Netflix for the next three years gives us the opportunity to make it even bigger without losing what makes it special: the community that makes it all possible.”
Netflix has shored up its status as a creator hub by making deals with some of the biggest draws on YouTube. Everyone from Alan Chikin Chow to The Stokes Twins has gone into the business with the platform once known for originals like Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The agreement with Ibai shows that Netflix also has its eye on the Twitch community. By keeping tabs on streamer culture, Netflix has a chance to deliver an influencer boxing bonanza that’s even bigger than Paul v. Tyson.
From a numbers perspective, La Velada will surely deliver. But can it be the antidote to a string of negative headlines at Netflix HQ? Ibai isn’t the type to shy away from a challenge — and if he can fill up Spain’s biggest soccer stadiums, he can surely boost Netflix’s subscriber count, too.
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