The funnel maths behind pricing a streamer sponsorship (and the formula we put in a free calculator)

Most streamer sponsorship quotes are priced on followers. Followers tell you how many people clicked a button once. They tell you nothing about how many people are watching right now.

We run creator campaigns for a living, so we needed a way to price a live deal on what actually happens during a stream. We ended up with a small set of formulas and turned them into a free streamer sponsorship cost calculator.

Here is the maths, so you can check it or build your own.

Inputs

Cost side:

• number of streams
• creator fee per stream
• production and clip editing
• usage rights and exclusivity
• management, tracking and reporting
• optional payment per first purchase (for hybrid deals)

Delivery side:

• average concurrent viewers per stream
• hours live per stream

Funnel side:

• share of average viewers who click the link per stream
• share of clicks that register
• share of registrations that make a first purchase
• your target cost per first purchase

The formulas

function priceDeal(d) {
  const fixed = d.production + d.rights + d.management;

  const clicks = d.avgViewers * d.clickRate * d.streams;
  const registrations = clicks * d.regRate;
  const firstPurchases = registrations * d.purchaseRate;

  const totalCost =
    d.streams * d.feePerStream + fixed + d.perPurchase * firstPurchases;

  const viewerHours = d.avgViewers * d.hoursLive * d.streams;

  return {
    totalCost,
    viewerHours,
    costPer1kViewerHours: totalCost / (viewerHours / 1000),
    costPerClick: totalCost / clicks,
    costPerRegistration: totalCost / registrations,
    costPerFirstPurchase: totalCost / firstPurchases,
    // the highest fee per stream that still hits your target
    maxFeePerStream:
      (d.target * firstPurchases - fixed - d.perPurchase * firstPurchases) /
      d.streams,
  };
}

The last line is the useful one. It turns the question around: instead of "is this quote fair?", you ask "what is the most I can pay per stream and still hit my number?"

A worked example (made-up numbers)

These inputs are invented to show the mechanics. They are not real rates.

• 4 streams at $1,500 each
• $800 production, $400 rights, $600 management
• 1,200 average concurrent viewers, 4 hours live
• 5% of viewers click, 30% of clicks register, 25% of registrations make a first purchase
• target: $150 per first purchase

Results:

• total cost: $7,800
• viewer-hours: 19,200, so $406.25 per 1,000 viewer-hours
• 240 clicks at $32.50 each
• 72 registrations at $108.33 each
• 18 first purchases at $433.33 each
• max fee per stream for a $150 target: $225

So the quote is roughly 6.7 times what the funnel can carry. You either negotiate the fee down, improve the funnel (a better offer, a pinned link, a clip programme that keeps working after the stream), or walk away.

Why viewer-hours and not followers

Two creators with the same follower count can differ by ten times on concurrent viewers. Concurrent viewers times hours live is the closest thing to a real impression count on a live platform, and it is the number you can verify from public stream stats.

What the model leaves out

• Clip reach after the stream. One two-hour stream can hold 20 to 30 usable short clips. If they are cut and posted, the cost per result keeps falling for weeks.
• Brand lift and retention. The model only counts first purchases.
• Variance. Real campaigns are lumpy. Treat the output as a negotiating range, not a forecast.

If you want the acquisition side in more depth, we wrote up what a casino creator costs per depositing player and how to size a first creator pilot.

Feedback on the funnel assumptions is welcome in the comments.