The Sidemen are one of the newest British empires — and they’re bringing their YouTube-born brand across the world. Arcade Media, the management company that represents the U.K.’s top creator group, is eyeing global expansion after selling a minority stake to the U.S.-based film studio and VC firm Lumina.
The size of the transaction was not disclosed, but Arcade Media Co-Founder Jordan Schwarzenberger told the Financial Times that the incoming capital will be used to fuel expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. “We’ve been at the forefront of the professionalisation of the creator economy, and trying to level it up in terms of infrastructure and operational scale,” Schwarzenberger said.
“The Sidemen now is a nine-figure business. And scales globally,” Schwarzenberger added. “They get mobbed everywhere they go. We’ve learnt first-hand what it’s like to take that step from being YouTubers with limited human infrastructure to actually having a big business.”
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As part of Arcade’s roadmap for the Sidemen, the management firm has taken cues from creator culture outside of the U.K. MrBeast’s production style and creator products have inspired the London-based septet, which has exploded off of YouTube to venture into fields like retail, marketing, investing, and original streaming content. A seven-figure deal with Viewture has powered that rapid expansion, and Arcade is now joining the fun with a capital injection of its own.
Arcade’s worldwide plans will capitalize on the growing cachet of the Sidemen — and creator culture in general — across far-flung regions of the globe. The group’s annual soccer matches, for example, have recently featured more participants who hail from outside of the British Isles. And while the Sidemen may be the pioneers of influencer football, other creators have hosted star-studded matches of their own. Spain’s Kings League, backed by Twitch stars like Ibai and TheGrefg, has drawn strong fan interest as it takes the pitch at some of the world’s most storied sports venues.
The success of iShowSpeed’s world tour has shown big-name creators that they don’t have to limit themselves to their home countries. Regions like the Middle East are delivering massive YouTube traffic, and Arcade Media is making sure that its biggest stars don’t miss out on their around-the-world opportunity.
