SAN FRANCISCO — Inside a warehouse tucked into an industrial park during Super Bowl Week, Cam Skattebo is on his feet, screaming and yelling.

The eccentric running back is taunting Los Angeles Chargers All-Pro safety Derwin James from across the warehouse as Skattebo’s teammate for the day, popular livestreamer Justin Parker, known online as JayCinco, scores a touchdown against James’ team in the video game Madden NFL 26.

James’ teammates are recording artist Ty Dolla $ign and streamer Yugi2x, whose real name is Rudy Arzu. Skattebo’s side also includes popular Madden livestreamer Kylie Cox, who goes by the pseudonym Sketch online.

To his right, Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders plays with his team of streamers against Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and his group on the opposite side of the room. At the far end, Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons argues with his streamers as they quickly fall behind Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean and his team.

The only people actually in the building watching Wednesday’s “Streamer Bowl VII,” hosted by the livestreaming platform Twitch, are a few hundred in the mezzanine. A mix of agents and managers look on, along with some recognizable faces, including Sanders’ mother, Pilar, and Shareef O’Neal.

Thousands more are watching online, commenting in real time, experiencing the event alongside the athletes, off the field and unfiltered, through various streaming channels. Twitch said the Streamer Bowl accounted for about seven million total minutes watched.

“I feel like those livestream fans are actually right there,” James told The Athletic, drenched in sweat after the day’s activities. “Not to say fans in a stadium aren’t there, but the livestream viewers are right there. They capture every moment, everything you say, every thought, every facial expression. They comment on all of it.”

From left, streamer Yonna Jenkins, streamer Tamir Omari and Carolina Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan work through a trivia question during the Streamer Bowl. (Justin Figeroa-Atteshis for Twitch)

It’s a level of intimacy players say is nearly impossible to replicate inside a stadium filled with 70,000 screaming fans. It’s why so many have taken up daily or weekly streaming on Twitch and other platforms.

Most play video games while thousands watch and comment in a live public chat, which the streamer and viewers can read in real time. Others set the controller aside and just talk. It’s a space away from the stadium, where players can be themselves and cultivate relationships with the people following along.

Or in Skattebo’s case, “Just get on camera. Do dumb s—,” he said.

In a stadium, most words lobbed at players are swallowed by the churn of noise that surrounds a game. Streaming strips away that distance, bridging a more direct connection.

“It’s hard to interact with one person when there are 50,000 people there,” Skattebo said. “With chat and the stream, you can connect with two or three people when there are only 1,000 people on there.”

Craving connection

Humans are scientifically and evolutionarily wired to crave human connection. “Why do people watch others play video games? An empirical study on the motivations of Twitch users” by Max Sjöblom and Juho Hamari, was published in the journal “Computers in Human Behavior” in 2017. In it, the two explored the societal, mental and evolutionary motivations as to why viewers idly watch livestreams for hours a day.

At the time, NFL players weren’t streaming as often, but eSports was a growing industry.

“Research within eSports has indicated the importance of knowledge acquisition, escapism, social interaction, sharing emotional connections, and the competitive atmosphere as important motivators,” the study reads.

The desire for connection is carried by streaming and, more specifically, the live chats.

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo is carted off the field during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. (Photo by Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

When Skattebo suffered a gruesome, season-ending dislocated ankle in Week 8, the Giants rookie turned to Twitch under his online pseudonym “sk4tpack.” He gamed for three hours every morning while hundreds, sometimes thousands, watched and chatted along. He’s amassed 148,000 followers on the platform and says there are several viewers he knows by name, regulars who are present in almost every stream.

When Skattebo was criticized in November for banging his head against his chair on stream, he leaned on that inner circle.

“They all know me,” Skattebo said. “They watch the stream all the time. They know I’m a good dude. I just like to have a good time. I’m not actually dumb. I like to have fun, make people laugh, and have a good time.”

While players are criticized for a range of behavior on social media platforms such as Twitter, Twitch has become a comparatively safer space.

It is not immune to negativity, but players like Skattebo employ moderators who actively monitor the feed, filtering out harmful comments. He is quick to remind viewers at the start of his streams what he’s looking for: “Have a good time. Talk your mind, ask questions. I don’t want to hear no negativity. If I see negativity, mods, get it out.”

Streaming provides deeper access and, with it, a deeper understanding of players who were once distant, untouchable figures on viewers’ television screens.

“It’s the future,” Cox said. “The more they get out there, you get to see their personality more. People realize how likable they are beyond just shoulder pads and helmets.”

Bad comes with the good

Players flip on their cameras and invite the public in. But the camera never blinks, even in moments players may wish it did.

The Madden competition was one of the final challenges of Wednesday’s event. There was water balloon tossing that devolved into a water balloon fight, James laughing as he hurled them at anyone in range. There was an RC car race, won by Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty and his streamer team. There was trivia, where Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze and his group toiled over answers.

Then came Madden, and with it, the downside of constant visibility. Livestreaming offers unprecedented access, but it also captures moments that would otherwise go unnoticed.

While choosing teams, McMillan, already committed to using his Panthers, wandered over to Sanders’ side after he selected the Seahawks.

“Why didn’t you choose the Browns?” McMillan asked. “You don’t trust your own team?”

He walked away before hearing the response.

So Sanders grabbed a walkie-talkie the teams used to relay messages, delivering his reply once McMillan returned.

“We already had this matchup in the preseason,” Sanders said, referencing the Browns’ 30-10 win over the Panthers in August.

The Offensive Rookie of the Year wide receiver laughed, but the competitive fire had been lit.

Later, with Sanders controlling Darnold and the Seahawks, a late interception sealed an 18-13 Panthers win. McMillan, a man of Polynesian descent, stood, adrenaline still surging, and fired back with a taunt, using the N-word. Foul language used on the field can be lost amid 70,000 voices and millions watching from afar. This time, through the intimacy of a livestream, it was unmistakable.

Yonna looked confused after NFL star Tetairoa McMillan said the n-word during their stream 😳

“He Black?” 💀 pic.twitter.com/ypYp0Hucbk

— Chip (@ChipGotIt_) February 5, 2026

“You could be more yourself, but you also have to watch what you do a little bit more,” Skattebo said of streaming. “It’s all recorded. You’ve got to be a little careful.”

McMillan took to Instagram the following day to apologize.

“Yesterday, while on livestream, I used a term I should not have. There’s no excuse for what I said. I sincerely apologize for speaking thoughtlessly and will do better.”

Statement from Tetairoa McMillan via IG pic.twitter.com/nsyVB9DNfQ

— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) February 5, 2026

One of McMillan’s streamer teammates, Yonna Jenkins, who goes by Yonna Jay, paused for a moment. Twitch has strict community guidelines against what it calls harmful language live on a stream. Later, she mentioned she was on a diet and “only eat salads” while eating a pastry, to which McMillan replied, “You’re eating that, it doesn’t look like you just eat salads.” Potentially a matter-of-fact statement, but the meaning was lost to thousands of viewers looking in live.

It may not have been the introduction to NFL stars Jenkins envisioned, but the event served as a signal of the celebrity and access many streamers now command alongside professional athletes.

Streamers become the celebrities

Cox has 1.7 million followers on both Twitch and Instagram under the name “thesketchreal.” Over three years of streaming, largely as an avid Madden player, he has become a fixture within the broader football community — a celebrity in his own right.

Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin has FaceTimed him, handing the phone to Tom Brady, who wanted to talk. James had already met Sketch during a commercial shoot. DeJean said that while he does not stream, he has seen Sketch’s clips. Skattebo said he was excited to finally meet him.

The worlds have merged. NFL locker rooms now include conversations about streaming, every player interviewed for this story confirmed. It ranges from Skattebo’s teammates ribbing him for his on-camera antics to DeJean’s Philadelphia teammates tracking the latest moments among streamers like Sketch.

Mariana Berrios — who goes by “Mari” online and has 266,000 Twitch followers — never imagined achieving that level of notoriety when she began streaming just over five years ago. She is now 22.

“Back in the day, Twitch wasn’t something where you could even be in the same room with an NFL player,” said Berrios, who teamed with Odunze at the Streamer Bowl. “So being around NFL players, or even someone like Ty Dolla $ign, it’s random, but it’s cool. Everything’s integrating now.”

In 2025, Sanders streamed his historic NFL Draft slide from potential top-five pick to fifth-rounder. In addition to Skattebo’s regular streams, others such as Ja’Marr Chase, Kyler Murray and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns have turned to Twitch and other platforms to build connections.

DeJean and James had never streamed before, but the chance to do so at the Streamer Bowl, alongside streamers they had long heard about, was enough to pull them in.

Enough to have James yelling back at Skattebo’s taunts. Enough to leave him drenched in sweat, not from tackles or touchdowns, but from bouncing between balloon fights, RC car races, and Madden.

All under the watchful eyes of thousands online, absorbing the personality of the Chargers star in real time. Gaming or not, the point is proximity. They are there with him.

“I feel like it allows people at home to live a part of you, to be there with you,” James said. “It gives people access they can’t get elsewhere. That’s why it’s becoming so popular, the next thing.”

Enough that James said he plans to start streaming himself.

All to offer fans another step closer, for better or worse, to the human being beneath the jersey.