YouTube star iDubbbz revealed that Creator Clash 2 lost a quarter-million dollars due to piracy and increased costs for the charity-based influencer-boxing event.
Creator Clash 2 kicked off on April 15, 2023, marking the second iteration of the charity-based influencer-boxing extravaganza.
The first Creator Clash, which took place in 2022, raised over a million dollars for various charitable organizations and was widely considered a success by many.
However, Creator Clash 2 did run into some problems before fight night — and although the event itself went off without a hitch, featuring high-profile creators in pre-shows and interviews, it looks like things were decidedly less rosy for its second go-round.
iDubbbz claims Creator Clash 2 lost $250k due to piracy
In a candid YouTube video published on July 3 — nearly three months out from the event — iDubbbz, organizer and participant in Creator Clash, claimed that the event had actually lost money this year… $250,000, to be exact.
iDubbbz claimed that a big reason for this loss was due to piracy. While fans could purchase a stream key via Moment to catch the event live and donate to charity, it appears that many didn’t want to pay up and instead looked to unofficial sites to watch the action.
“We didn’t have any anti-piracy measures,” iDubbbz explained. “We weren’t prepared to deal with what ended up happening.”
The YouTuber claimed there were around 800 streaming sites pirating Creator Clash 2, which had garnered between 1.3 – 3 million viewers despite the event only selling 50,000 pay-per-views.
It’s also worth noting that last year’s Creator Clash event was uploaded in full to iDubbbz’s YouTube channel for free after the event was over. This time around, fans could only watch Creator Clash 2 if they purchased it, even after the event was long over. iDubbbz revealed that he made this decision thinking that it would result in more pay-per-view buys.
“I foolishly thought that the success of last year should be a minimum for what we’re able to do this year, and that wasn’t true,” he said. “…we did half as well as we did the first year. 50,000 [views], compared to 100,000 the first year. I was wrong, and I feel a lot of shame, because a lot of people were trusting me and trusting our team to protect the event and protect the charities and protect the whole thing.”
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iDubbbz also detailed the increased costs of this year’s event due to bringing on more creators and securing a bigger venue.
iDubbbz shuts down rumors of “pocketing” Creator Clash funds
That’s not all; the YouTuber also shut down any rumors claiming that he and Creator Clash’s organizers were “pocketing” money made from the event.
“That’s extremely hurtful, because it has been nothing but the opposite,” he said. “I understand some people out there don’t like me. I’m okay with that. But the thing I’m not okay with is just lying to people and making up sh*t for the sake of clicks.”
iDubbbz reveals plans for Creator Clash 3
iDubbbz went on to throw out a few possibilities for next year’s Creator Clash, saying that he “can’t even think about” putting on another event for the time being.
“I can’t even think about doing a Creator Clash 3,” he admitted. “We lost money, and there’s no money for charity. So, what are we gonna do to solve that?”
Alex Wassabi lead the crowd in a chant for iDubbbz to have one more fight pic.twitter.com/E28lsRbIiL
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) April 16, 2023
Despite appearing to agree to take another fight after an emotional moment with opponent Alex Wassabi, it seems as though Creator Clash’s future is in major jeopardy and a future event is off the table at the moment.
iDubbbz says someone is trying to “take over” Creator Clash
That’s not all; iDubbbz also claimed someone is “trying to take over Creator Clash,” although he didn’t name any names.
“Additionally, another thing that’s been eating at me is that someone is trying to take over Creator Clash,” he added. “I know that sounds like the plot of a video game or something, but it’s real, and it’s been taking up a lot of my time.”
For now, Creator Clash’s future is uncertain as iDubbbz’s apology has sparked a major conversation about the event across social media. For more influencer boxing news, check out our page right here on Dexerto.