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Who Monster Energy should pay next

Monster Energy has 31 recorded sponsored YouTube videos across 14 creators. Four rivals hold more than 4,000 between them, almost all of it aimed at gaming.

Dennis Ksendzov
Dennis KsendzovVerified

Senior Partnerships Manager · August 20, 2026 · 8 min read

For influencer marketers in energy drinks we analyzed what the influencer landscape is like for Monster Energy, including which influencers are the best value leading into Q4 2026.

Influencer Advisory is 100% an influencer data broker, meaning all we do is look at data to produce the best influencer partnerships.

We found this.

Currently Monster Energy focuses on four avatars

Monster Energy has paid for 31 sponsored videos across 14 creators since 2023. That is a small recorded YouTube programme for the biggest name on the shelf, and the shape of it is the interesting part.

The fisherman. One channel carries more than a third of everything we hold, and it is the only avatar Monster goes back to at any depth.

The action sports rider. BMX, freestyle and stunt content, the audience Monster has owned offline for twenty years.

The fighter. Combat sports and the podcasts around them, bought in one burst rather than across a year.

The competitive gamer. The smallest avatar here and the one every rival is fighting over.

  • Scump 2 videos · 2026 January to 2026 February

Meanwhile their competitors in the energy space include

Gamer Supps. The gaming creator, at a volume nobody else on this shelf comes close to, 2,813 videos across 270 creators.

G Fuel. The same gaming audience, bought slightly narrower, 844 videos across 100 creators.

  • JEV 49 videos · 2023 July to 2026 June
  • NoisyButters 47 videos · 2022 April to 2026 June
  • Fortunate 33 videos · 2023 December to 2026 July

EHPlabs. The gym audience rather than the gaming one, 301 videos across 32 creators.

Ghost Energy. Lifting and physique, 253 videos across 25 creators, and a roster it keeps for years.

  • Kayla Lojas 33 videos · 2023 January to 2026 April
  • Jay Kara 26 videos · 2023 July to 2026 May
  • TCaptainX 23 videos · 2025 February to 2025 November

DUBBY Energy. Gaming again, and the newest of them, 190 videos across 26 creators almost all bought in 2026.

Alani Nu. The one buying a completely different person, 32 videos across 4 creators, all women in fitness and lifestyle.

Four of the six rivals are buying the same gaming creator, and between them they hold over 4,000 recorded videos there. Monster holds two.

The lane Monster actually owns, action sports and fishing, has almost no competing bid on it at all.

Based on goals read off their own spending rather than quoted from the company.

Turning 14 creators into a roster, when the closest rival runs 270.

Holding the action sports and outdoor lane nobody is bidding against them for.

Getting a second video out of more than one person, which so far only Cooper Gallant Fishing has been given.

So using some data sets, we put together a campaign that we would theoretically create.

The theme. The hour before. Not the trick and not the win, the ordinary hour before somebody does something hard, filmed with the same person every month so the audience sees the run up rather than the highlight. It works because Monster already owns the highlight everywhere else, and the run up is the part nobody has bought.

The avatar. The person who watches other people do difficult things and half believes they could. They are the unlock because that viewer is already Monster's offline audience and is barely served on YouTube by this brand, while every rival is spending its budget in the gaming lane where the price is set by four bidders.

Creators for each part of the funnel follow: top, middle, bottom.

Top of funnel

Airrack 9.57M avg views · 2.5% engagement

Why they fit: The format is one large physical stunt per video, which is Monster's whole brand told by somebody else, and 35 deals across 26 brands means the audience is used to seeing sponsors here without switching off.

Track record: SoFi (11x, 2022 July to 2026 March), Whop (3x, 2025 November to 2026 January), OpusClip (3x, 2025 April to 2025 July).

The ask: fund the stunt rather than buy a mention, and get the can in the hour before it, not in the celebration.

Danny Gonzalez 4.07M avg views · 6.1% engagement

Why they fit: 6.1% engagement at 7.23M subscribers is unusually high for that size, and Current, HelloFresh and SoFi all came back, which is three separate subscription businesses saying this audience converts.

Track record: Current (7x, 2021 June to 2022 June), HelloFresh (6x, 2022 May to 2023 December), SoFi (5x, 2022 December to 2025 December).

The ask: let him be sceptical on camera. This audience punishes a straight read and rewards a mocked one.

ThatWasEpic 1.12M avg views · 5.9% engagement

Why they fit: Social experiments filmed in public, so the product ends up in strangers' hands rather than the host's, and Ridge coming back five times over three years is a hard goods brand proving the format sells.

Track record: Ridge (5x, 2023 August to 2026 June), Surfshark (2x, 2023 April to 2025 August), Lenovo (2x, 2023 December to 2024 May).

The ask: a giveaway built into the experiment, measured on redemptions rather than views.

Middle of funnel. People weighing it up

Diane Jennings 19K avg views · 14.2% engagement

Why they fit: 14.2% engagement at 302K subscribers is the highest ratio on this page, and she has taken exactly one sponsor, Raycon, three times in five months, so a first deal here is unusually likely to become a standing one.

Track record: Raycon (3x, 2026 February to 2026 June).

The ask: a three video deal from the start, priced as a series, before anyone else notices the engagement.

The Purple Palace 16.8K avg views · 10.6% engagement

Why they fit: BetterHelp has booked this channel twelve times across nearly five years, which is the longest single relationship on this page and the clearest sign the audience acts on what they hear.

Track record: BetterHelp (12x, 2021 August to 2026 April), Skillshare (8x, 2024 July to 2026 January), Lingoda (4x, 2021 October to 2024 February).

The ask: a long form integration rather than a pre roll, and let the read sit in the middle where this audience is still watching.

Olurinatti 333.2K avg views · 8.8% engagement

Why they fit: More views than subscribers, which means these videos are found rather than followed, so the read keeps working long after the campaign, and Aura, Ground News and Raycon all renewed.

Track record: Aura (4x, 2024 September to 2025 February), Ground News (3x, 2024 October to 2025 June), Raycon (3x, 2024 August to 2024 December).

The ask: a search shaped title and perpetual usage rights, because the long tail is what is being bought.

Bottom of funnel. People ready to buy

WolfeyVGC 1.01M avg views · 4.3% engagement

Why they fit: Competitive play at the top level with 2.27M subscribers, and Raycon booking 11 times in 15 months is a hardware brand that has measured what this audience does at checkout.

Track record: Raycon (11x, 2025 February to 2026 May), Holzkern (5x, 2024 June to 2025 September), Crystal of Atlan (2x, 2025 June to 2025 November).

The ask: a tournament day integration with a code, judged on redemptions only, and buy it before Gamer Supps does.

OC Racing 37.1K avg views · 4.0% engagement

Why they fit: 131 recorded deals across 25 brands, and three separate rig makers have each booked him 17 times or more, so this is an audience that buys equipment for a hobby rather than watching one.

Track record: Next Level Racing (21x, 2023 November to 2026 April), 6SIGMA Sim Racing (19x, 2023 November to 2026 April), SimShield (17x, 2023 November to 2026 April).

The ask: a standing endurance race slot, one a month, and treat it as a conversion buy rather than a reach one.

Danny Lee 14.5K avg views · 6.6% engagement

Why they fit: Small, technical and trusted on gear, with GT Omega at 14 bookings and Asetek at 10 over two years, which is what a channel looks like when the audience buys what it recommends.

Track record: GT Omega (14x, 2024 February to 2026 March), Asetek (10x, 2024 March to 2026 February), Sim Demon (7x, 2024 April to 2025 July).

The ask: a small paid test, one video, judged on code redemptions only.

None of these nine has been paid by Monster Energy, and none has been paid by a rival on this shelf in the last twelve months, so there is no exclusivity to buy out and no rival roster to outbid.

What the numbers do not show

The goals above are ours, not theirs. We read them off what the brand has actually spent. Monster Energy has not published a creator strategy and we are not quoting one.

This is the biggest coverage gap on the page. Monster Energy runs one of the largest athlete, team and event sponsorship programmes in the world. Almost none of that is on YouTube in a form we can read, so 31 videos describes what we hold, not what the brand spends.

Two kinds of view number sit on this page. Expected views is modelled and average views is measured over 150 days, and each creator is quoted with whichever one we hold. Do not add them together.

A repeat booking is evidence, not proof. It says a brand spent money twice on the same person. It does not say what that brand made.

What we would do first

Stay out of the gaming lane this quarter. Four buyers are already in it and the price shows. Take the action sports audience Monster has owned for twenty years, put a real roster behind it on YouTube for the first time, and book the same people twice.

This is the same read we run for any brand before a quarter starts, and we are happy to run it on yours. If you want the version of this page with your own brand in it, speak with us and we will pull your shelf.

Up: the brands buying the most YouTube sponsorships in 2026. Across: the three gaming brands that own 83% of energy drink creator deals. Risk: what has to be disclosed before any of this ships.