A pilot landing his two-seater on a moving train. A cyclist precisely timing a hair-raising jump through two passing semi trucks. A snowboarder cranking double corks on a near-vertical drop.
These feats of athleticism all have two things in common: One, they were sponsored by Red Bull, and two, they were posted on YouTube.
The “gives you wings” energy drink company was one of the first brands to embrace YouTube. It uploaded its first video in 2006 and went on to set a record for the platform in 2012, when it sponsored (and livestreamed) Felix Baumgartner‘s stratosphere skydive. The jump was a lifetime achievement for Baumgartner, and a big moment for Red Bull–not just because of the external attention, but because it helped solidify Red Bull’s unique approach to its partnerships with nearly 1,000 athletes and content creators.
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What is that approach, you ask? Simple: it lets those athletes and creators use its money to do whatever the hell they want.
Nowhere was that more apparent than at the Red Bull Legends Inn, conceptualized and hosted by longtime Apex Legends pros and content creators ImperialHal and iiTzTimmy. I was invited to the second iteration of the event this past December, and as both a day one Apex player and a reporter in this space who’s been burningly curious about Red Bull’s approach to YouTube content, I had to say yes.
Hal, who signed with Red Bull’s esports arm in 2024, and Timmy, who signed in 2023, came up with the kernel of Legends Inn. They wanted an immersive tournament where players and fans could gather for something more casual than the cutthroat competitions Apex is known for.
Like the above-mentioned feats of athleticism, their tournament would take an enormous organizational effort–and financial injection–to pull off. They wouldn’t be able to do it by themselves.
That’s where Red Bull came in.
With the brand’s support, Hal and Timmy rented out multiple floors of Chicago’s sleek Godfrey Hotel, transforming it into a full-scale Apex-themed destination. When I rocked up to the 2025 event, the Godfrey, whose Cubist facade already gives it a sci-fi glaze, looked like it had been plucked straight from the Apex universe. (For those of you not familiar with the game’s lore, Apex Legends is set in the 2700s and follows the galaxy’s premier source of bloodsport entertainment, with a thriving fandom for dozens of celebrity combatants.)
The entire front of the hotel had been redone with art showing life-size versions of the game’s characters next to Hal and Timmy, and its glass-ceilinged bar/lounge, where the two would play on a branded desk surrounded by fan attendees, was decked out with Apex throw pillows, posters, and displays, plus Red Bull minifridges and ads for a special Red Bull vodka.
Each of the tournament’s 19 two-player teams–a mix of pros, amateurs, and content creators–got their own Apex-decorated hotel room (also complete with fully stocked Red Bull minifridges). The rooms were rigged with lighting effects, so whenever a duo was eliminated from a round, spectators in the bar below would see their room plunge into darkness.
True to Hal and Timmy’s intentions, the Legends Inn tournament was structured to avoid being a sweatfest. Instead of having competitors play Apex‘s standard battle royale mode, the tourney threw them into rounds with challenging and playful modifiers. One round, for example, was melee only, and another had every team playing the same two characters. (Make no mistake, Apex players tend to be bloodthirsty by nature, so things did get tense at times, but the intent was there.)
That casual feel carried over to the audience. While attending other Apex esports events, like the annual Apex Legends Global Series, is impossible for most fans (me included) due to price and/or exclusivity, tickets to the Legends Inn cost less than $15 and came with a free drink. Anyone 21+ who (a) had 15 bucks and (b) could be in Chicago on Dec. 5 was allowed to show up.
Just before the tournament kicked off, I got the chance to chat with Hal in his own Apex-themed room, where he said he’d always wanted to host a tournament for the game he loves.
“When it comes to third-party events in Apex, there really aren’t many that stick around. A lot of companies come and go,” he told me. “Red Bull, though, has a track record. When they host something, they do it right.”
Joining Red Bull in 2024 “felt like the perfect opportunity to showcase Apex in a big way,” he added. “I had ideas for what I wanted to do, and Red Bull had the resources to make it happen. It just came together naturally.”
Hal, who has over 2 million followers on Twitch, became an esports pro in 2018, and began playing Apex when it came out in 2019. As a competitor, “one of my favorite parts of my career has always been going to LANs, seeing friends from online and competing in person,” he said. “This event is kind of my dream, in that sense.”
Red Bull pitched him on hosting it in Chicago, which made sense because “it’s a huge U.S. city with a big Apex fanbase, including on my own channel,” he explained.
Here at Tubefilter, we’ve written plenty about how IRL events are becoming more and more popular with savvy creators. A decade ago, most creator meet-and-greets took place at events like VidCon; now, folks like Hal are holding their own events and installing their own pop-ups, getting closer to fans in person with unique and limited-time–but still accessible–experiences.
“Apex has been around for a long time, and there haven’t been many opportunities to experience it differently,” Hal told me–and, he pressed, Red Bull was the key to making this particular opportunity available.
“Compared to other third-party organizers, Red Bull is doing a lot more,” he said. “They support creators in a real way. If you have a crazy idea, they’ll try to make it happen. That’s rare.”
In Godfrey’s lounge, surrounded by hundreds of screaming Apex enthusiasts, I could feel the ‘craziness’ of Hal and Timmy’s original idea crystallized into an event that truly felt like a warm welcome to the game’s passionate fandom. There was Red Bull branding everywhere, but somehow it was never intrusive (the dream scenario for brands targeting finicky young consumers). Instead, Hal, Timmy, and their fellow competitors were soaking up the spotlight.
And that’s just how Red Bull wants things. You’ll see a similar branding style across its thousands of YouTube videos. Sometimes the Red Bull wordmark is painted across a piece of set. Sometimes an athlete downs a can of its signature drink before attempting a stunt. But sponsored creators and athletes are never overtaken by the branding–and, like with Legends Inn, these videos show Red Bull is willing to spend big money on bringing partners’ “crazy ideas” to life.
When I asked for a quote about its approach to creator sponsorships to include in this piece, Red Bull’s response was a polite but firm no.
It prefers to let creators speak for themselves.
