Media making a difference: a ringside seat at Media Fight Night with Twitch

With 1,200 people in attendance each year, Media Fight Night has become an important event in the media calendar. That’s not just for the charitable causes it supports, which have so far included Head & Neck Cancer Foundation, Off the Ropes and (new for this year) Carney’s Community, but also for the industry players who make it happen.

Strength in community

While the action itself happens inside the ring, the community that surrounds Media Fight Night is a prime example of media coming together to make a difference. That’s true for the final 16 who have undergone a strict training regime to prepare ahead of taking to the ring at the event, as well as for the other 100+ participants who threw their hat in the ring at the beginning of the year to take part.

“The camaraderie I’ve built with people within the setup, what I’ve been able to achieve, the money that we’ve raised for charity – that’s something that I can say I was part of and I’m proud of,” says Abbas Agoro, executive director at OMD. “I can have a professional accolade, but this is something different. This is something that we’ve worked hard for as a team, a group of us that have all collectively done something special.”

And the community extends beyond the boxers. In 2022, 50,000+ unique viewers livestreamed the event through Twitch, cheering their boxers on and donating to the Just Giving fundraising page directly through ‘chat’.

This brought a new dimension to the event, one that Twitch is particularly well-suited for, thanks to the inclusive, diverse, and highly engaged communities that thrive on the service.

Twitch streamer, boxer and sports commentator Claire Lim (aka /Wee Claire) will also be returning this year bringing humor and silliness as commentator for all the action. Wee Claire’s channel features all sorts of fun shows with special guests in a positive, welcoming community.

Cheering for charity

One of eight female fighters taking part in the boxing event this year (up from just two in 2015) – and captain of ‘team black’ – is Katie Batchelor, pan-EMEA account director at Twitch.

“This was an amazing opportunity to give back to the community, help support and provide special funds that can help the charity do what they need to do,” she says. “Twitch is no stranger to charity fundraising. Streamers regularly take time out from their normal content to host streams and events in aid of charity. Streaming is a great way to create a buzz while raising funds transparently and engaging the community.

“My hopes and expectations for the night is to have as much fun as possible and enjoy it for everything it is. We’ve put in so much hard work over the last six to eight months. For those supporting, I want you to cheer as loud as possible and donate as much money as you can. For those not joining in the crowd, you can get a ringside seat on Twitch where we encourage you to get involved in the community and cheer on the teams, in a way that you can only do on Twitch.”

Batchelor and Agoro will be taking part in this year’s event on November 2 at 8.30pm GMT alongside fellow participants from Active International, AdAlliance, Channel Factory, Flux London, GroupM, News UK, Pubmatic, RTL Ad Alliance, SilverPush, Spotify, The Corner London, Warner Bros Discovery and Wavemaker.

As John Maloney, global chief investment officer, mSix&Partners and the founder of Media Fight Night (MFN), told The Drum back in 2021: “Our industry is capable of incredible things and when we put our energy into something, can bring about positive and meaningful change.”

Readers of The Drum are encouraged to tune into the Twitch livestream of Media Fight Night and get involved with the community in chat. Click here for more details.