Chosen from 111 uploads across 24 major channels. Bonus: a complete calendar to help you find everything else you missed.
By LA Today·Updated Aug 6, 2026 Verified August 2026
The short answer
Start with IShowSpeed at the World Cup final, the first streamer ever to perform at a FIFA ceremony, who then took the record for the most-viewed Instagram Reel in its first 24 hours. Then Logan Paul peeling 1996 Pokémon cards while the community he built turned on him. All ten picks below are embedded, so you can watch here.
Speed was the first performer onto the field at the closing ceremony before Spain versus Argentina, in an all-white suit, with drummers and dancers, for roughly three minutes in front of a crowd of over 82,000. He performed "World Cup (Champions)" from the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Album.
FIFA approached him. He shared the bill with Post Malone, Robbie Williams, Jennifer Hudson, Madonna, Burna Boy, Shakira, BTS, and Uganda's Ghetto Kids across the day's ceremonies, alongside the first World Cup final halftime show, produced by Coldplay. His livestream of the final reportedly drew around 60 million cumulative views.
Then he broke a platform record. On July 21 the behind-the-scenes Reel he posted with BTS hit 300 million views in 24 hours, the most-viewed Instagram Reel in its first day, ever. The two accounts have roughly 130 million combined followers. The Reel did more than double that.
Not an LA storyThe final was at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, not SoFi. Speed's own recap is the July 26 upload above.
2
Logan Paul's Pokémon Peel
Jul 24Live peel Jul 30Pokémon Odyssey
Why it mattersThe best three-act story of the month, and the community wrote act two.
Act one. Paul begins peeling individual cards off 1996 CoroCoro pre-production sheets, the earliest Pokémon cards that exist, to submit them for grading. The first results come back PSA 2 and PSA 5. He announces a July 30 livestream where he will peel a pristine sheet chasing the first PSA 10 earliest-Pikachu.
Act two, July 24. The backlash. The complaint is not about the cards. It is that treating them as commodities worsens the scalping that prices younger fans out.
PLEASE get this man OUT OF THE POKEMON COMMUNITY I DONT CARE JUST LEAVE US ALONE YOU RUINED IT ENOUGH ALREADY
A collector, in the comments
The defense came from the same community: he was not smiling because he had pulled a $20,000 card, he was smiling because he had pulled his favourite Pokémon.
Act three, July 30, 9:30pm ET. The live peel fell short. A Pikachu and a Jigglypuff both survived intact, but neither looked like a PSA 10. Paul, on stream: "In my heart, I think it's a nine. It's that centering." Nothing was graded live. Peak concurrent viewership was around 31,000. Along the way he pulled two 1st Edition Charizards from a $450,000 box and five Michael Jordan rookies from a $160,000 basketball box.
The $16.5 million Pikachu was not JulyThat sale was February 16, 2026, at Goldin Auctions, bought by A.J. Scaramucci. It holds the Guinness record for any trading card, and it keeps getting attached to this story by mistake.
3
MrBeast Granted 100 Wishes
Jul 26With Disney and Stand Up to Cancer68 countries
Why it mattersCharity content underperforms stunt content even at this scale, and he keeps making it.
Roughly 30 million-plus views, reaching viewers in 68 countries, with Disney and Stand Up to Cancer.
For most channels that is a career video. For MrBeast, who routinely clears 100 million, it is soft. Charity content underperforms stunt content even at this scale, and he keeps making it anyway.
The number worth knowingRoughly 90 percent of donors to the campaign were first-time donors to the organisation. He also pitched a zombie show to Joe Rogan the same month.
4
Jake Paul's MMA Debut
Jul 31After the MVP and PFL mergerCalled out Nate Diaz
Why it mattersA YouTuber-founded promotion consolidating with an established MMA league.
Following the MVP and PFL merger, Paul confirmed both an MMA debut and a boxing comeback, and called out Nate Diaz as his first opponent. He also publicly told fighters to finish their existing contracts and join MVP-PFL, after trading jabs with Dana White.
This is creator-economy news more than sports news, and the clearest signal yet of where creator capital is going. Conor McGregor did the same thing three weeks earlier, announcing his UFC return on a podcast. Two of July's biggest fight stories, neither of them on a broadcaster.
5
Ryan Trahan's American Series
Jul 18Ten-part destination seriesLos Angeles included
Why it mattersA top-tier creator pointing his audience at the places this city sells itself on.
The most useful video here for anyone who cares about Los Angeles. Trahan's July series is a ten-part run through the American landmarks a general audience searches for, Los Angeles among them, alongside New York City, Las Vegas, the Golden Gate Bridge, Washington D.C. and Niagara Falls.
Watch which version of LA he shows, then see what got left out. The version with the addresses is in our Los Angeles travel guide.
6
Dhar Mann, the Studio Nobody Names
Jul 30Burbank13 uploads in July
Why it mattersThe largest creator employer in the Los Angeles area, and LA never covers it.
Dhar Mann Studios is in Burbank, and it is the largest creator employer in the Los Angeles area: roughly 125,000 square feet, around 200 staff, approximately 2,000 actors a year, and up to eight crews shooting simultaneously. Dhar Mann ranked number two on Forbes' Top Creators list with an estimated $65 million, holds an NFL "Chief Kindness Officer" role, and signed a Fox Entertainment vertical-video deal in January 2026.
His July output ran 13 videos, roughly every other day, on a slate that is essentially a television studio operating under a YouTube channel name. LA covers its film industry obsessively and this operation almost never.
7
Danny Duncan Went Looking for Trouble
Jul 29Also Alaska on Jul 26With Bam Margera
Why it mattersTwo of the better pieces of only-in-America footage anyone shot last month.
Duncan closed July in a swamp, three days after attending the Glacier View, Alaska Fourth of July Car Launch, an actual annual local event where cars are launched off a roughly 300-foot drop. Bam Margera was there with his wife Danni Marie, having teased it beforehand as a "redneck 4th of July car launch."
No LA angle, no controversy, and the strongest pure footage in the month.
8
See You in Court, Tom
Jul 30Logan PaulUnresolved
Why it mattersThe strangest upload of the month, and nobody has explained it yet.
On July 30 Logan Paul posted a video titled "See you in court, Tom." No filing, no statement, and no news coverage followed it in July.
What we know, and do notWe could not confirm who Tom is, what the dispute is, or whether anything was actually filed. It is here because it is the loudest unanswered question July left behind, and because it is the kind of thing that turns into a real story in August.
9
Airrack Got Banned From an Arcade
Jul 14Signed with UTA in 2023LA base unconfirmed
Why it mattersThe purest version of the format he built a channel on.
Eric Decker spent a video reverse-engineering arcade redemption games until a venue threw him out. That is the format he built a channel on: pick one dumb premise, take it further than anyone sane would, get removed from the premises.
He turns up on every "LA YouTubers" list. He has run LA-based stunts and signed with UTA in 2023, but we could not confirm that he is currently based here.
10
Dude Perfect Hit 250
Jul 10OVERTIME episode 250No viral moment
Why it mattersThe most durable thing in creator media is a format that survives a decade of algorithm changes.
Overtime reached its 250th episode, which makes it one of the longest-running formats on the platform and the reason Dude Perfect turned into a company rather than a channel. Nothing in it went viral. Nothing in it has needed to for ten years.
The LA Creator Map, Corrected
Confirmed in LA: Dhar Mann Studios, Burbank, detailed above.
Not here, despite what you may assume:
Veritasium is no longer LA-based. Derek Muller has been reported as living in Europe and travelling since 2025. He formerly lived in Los Angeles, where he met his wife.
Joe Rogan and Kill Tony are Austin, not LA. The "Sunset Strip Comedy Club" on Deathsquad's site is an Austin venue named as homage. Same correction runs in our July podcast roundup.
IShowSpeed's World Cup moment was at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Airrack has done LA-based stunts and signed with UTA in 2023, but we could not confirm a current LA base.
And one blank: there were no verifiable LA-specific creator events, meetups, collabs or drama in July 2026. If it happened, it did not leave a public trail.
The Business Underneath
Six things happened in July that will still matter in a year.
Patreon cut 20 percent of its workforce, citing AI as what enabled the restructuring. Structurally, the biggest story of the month.
Peacock and YouTube announced a bundling deal: Peacock Premium for YouTube Premium subscribers, starting in early 2027.
Substack partnered with the AI-detection tool Pangram to flag AI-generated newsletters.
Arizona State University launched a content-creation major through its journalism school.
Jacksepticeye relaunched Thankmas as a six-month campaign with a December livestream finale, having already raised $90,000 for Make-A-Wish and granted nine wishes against a 300-wish target.
Dave Jorgenson's Local News International hit 424,000 YouTube subscribers in its first year.
The Full July Calendar
All 111 uploads from the 24 channels we track, each linked straight to the video. Filter by category, then open the channel you want. Three published nothing in July, which is worth knowing if you were waiting on one: Mark Rober, Zach King and CoryxKenshin.
IShowSpeed performing at the FIFA World Cup final closing ceremony at MetLife Stadium on July 19, the first streamer ever to perform at a World Cup ceremony. Two days later his behind-the-scenes Reel with BTS became the most-viewed Instagram Reel in its first 24 hours in the platform's history, at around 300 million views.
Why did Logan Paul get backlash over Pokémon cards in July 2026?
He began peeling individual cards off 1996 CoroCoro pre-production sheets, the earliest Pokémon cards in existence, to submit them for grading, culminating in a July 30 livestream. Collectors argued the practice treats irreplaceable artifacts as commodities and worsens scalping that prices younger fans out. The July 30 live peel did not produce the PSA 10 he was chasing.
How did MrBeast's July 2026 video perform?
"I Granted 100 Kids Their Biggest Wish!" reached over 30 million views across 68 countries, which is soft by his channel's standards and consistent with charity content underperforming stunt content. The more meaningful figure is that roughly 90 percent of donors to the associated campaign were first-time donors to the organization.
Which big YouTubers are based in Los Angeles?
Dhar Mann Studios operates out of a 125,000 square foot facility in Burbank with roughly 200 staff, making it the largest creator employer in the LA area. Several creators widely assumed to be LA-based are not: Veritasium's Derek Muller is no longer LA-based, and Joe Rogan and Kill Tony both record in Austin, Texas.
Did Ryan Trahan make a video about Los Angeles?
His July 2026 series covers the top ten places to visit in America and includes Los Angeles alongside New York City, Las Vegas, the Golden Gate Bridge, Washington D.C. and Niagara Falls. We link the series entry from his July uploads rather than a standalone LA episode, because we could not verify a separate LA-only upload.
How many videos did the channels you track publish in July 2026?
111 uploads across 24 active channels. SSundee was the most prolific with 23, followed by Dhar Mann Studios with 13 and SSSniperWolf with 12. Mark Rober, Zach King and CoryxKenshin published nothing.
The Verdict
Two things changed in July.
The ceiling moved. FIFA asked a 21-year-old streamer to open the World Cup final. Not a brand deal, not a watch-along. The ceremony. Whatever "creator" meant five years ago, it does not mean that anymore.
And the floor got shakier. Patreon cut a fifth of its staff and named AI as the reason. MrBeast's charity video underperformed while his stunt videos do not. The economics underneath all of this are moving faster than the highlight reel suggests.
Watch the Trahan series, then read the Patreon story. They are the same month.
Get August's ten picks the day they drop. We do this every month, and it goes out first in The LA Today Newsletter, free, with the calendar attached. Subscribe free →
