Do you know who is the biggest streamer in Brazil? If not, then meet YoDa, nickname of Felipe Piller Noronha. For many people unfamiliar with the internet universe, virtual celebrities may seem like an enigma. How can someone not on TV attract millions of followers, gathering tens of thousands of people on their online livestreams?
Felipe ‘YoDa’ Noronha is one of them – and is now the biggest streamer in Brazil. Streamers are professionals dedicated to broadcasting themselves online on digital platforms such as Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube, usually playing videogames and interacting with their fans.
By the way, did you know that YoDa, before becoming a League of Legends professional player, was a professional swimmer? He competed in 50- and 100-meters pools, and then moved onto long-distance open water races. He was even sponsored by Fernando ‘Xuxa’ Scherer, one of Brazil’s top swimmers.
That is why we at Blog FD have prepared a profile of this businessman entrepreneur, streamer – former swimmer – and former professional LoL player.
The biggest streamer in Brazil: YoDa
With a unique personality, classic catchphrases, and an enviable career on the professional League of Legends circuits, Felipe ‘YoDa’ Noronha was born in the city of São Paulo on September 16th, 1995. His first successful enterprise was becoming a streamer back in 2012, on Twitch.tv.
Back then, YoDa garnered an immense popularity in the gaming community by making a promise during a transmission to his 3 thousand followers at the time: when he obtained 10 thousand subscribers, he would dye his hair blond. It worked, and he did it, and thus was born his first catchphrase: “sehloiro”, a wordplay with “you are crazy” and “you are blond” in Portuguese.
Besides being the biggest streamer in Brazil, YoDa also has an awesome online presence. He has nearly 1.7 million followers on Twitch, and 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube. On Twitter, YoDa has nearly 930 thousand followers; on Instagram, 566 thousand and, on Facebook, 390 thousand likes.
His videos have been watched almost 400 million times – and for more than 85 million hours. From 2016 and 2020, YoDa has streamed for over 6 thousand hours, with an average audience of 18 thousand simultaneous viewers – peaking at 124 thousand consecutive spectators. His videos are watched for a whopping 129 thousand hours every day.
However, YoDa has recently gained extra notoriety by being suspended on Twitch for 7 days, after using the word ‘mongoloid’ during his stream. On Twitter, YoDa wrote: “if I have really offended anyone I apologize from the bottom of my heart”. Other major streamers in Brazil have also suffered the same punishment in recent weeks, like Rakin and Jukes.
Career as a Professional Player
The skills of YoDa as the biggest streamer in Brazil playing League of Legends have drawn the attention of major professional teams. He had played for a couple of amateur squads in the past, but the first high-profile organization he played for was CNB e-Sports Club, between 2015 and 2016. He later joined IDM Gaming (today FURIA Uppercut, on CBLoL).
His next team was RED Canids Kalunga, his most recent team. He played for them for five seasons and became the Brazilian Champion of 2017 over Keyd Stars, and later became the Champion of the Challenger Circuit 2018.
However, between December 2017 and august 2017, YoDa played for the team Submarino Stars, a never before seen project in Brazil which gathered a group of popular streamers into a professional team. YoDa played together with Jukes (who recently played top lane for Cloud9), Pimpimenta, Juzinho, Blury and Gratis150ml. Submarino Stars won first place the Challenger Series Access Tournament 2018 but disbanded shortly after.
On April 3rd this year, YoDa left RED Canids Kalunga and went back to his career as the biggest streamer in Brazil.
YoDa, the Entrepreneur
His most classic catchphrase SehLoiro gave the name of his first company, SehLoiro, established in 2015. The company was set up together with his mother, Adriana Noronha, and it works with gaming projects, offering advisory work in relationship with the public, brand licensing and social responsibility projects.
One of his social projects is the YoGamers do Bem, a non-profit organization whose “main objective is to promote the digital inclusion, access to knowledge of the gaming universe, and promote the social and cultural transformation of youths up to the age of 10 enrolled in public schools”.
Apart from that, YoDa owns two other brands, ÉoQ! and Fon, both based on his other catchphrases, and sells licensed products of his brands, like clothes, accessories, and notebooks.
By Greg Candalez
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