NFL doubles down on creator spotlights with a Kai Cenat vs IShowSpeed Super Bowl pre-game

The NFL has dropped a bunch of creator news this week. The league has long been cozy with YouTube, but now it’s tapped the platform as the official sponsor for its annual Super Bowl Tailgate Concert–and, on top of that, it’s working with YouTube to launch Access Pass for Legends, which will give NFL players and content creators permission to use high-quality NFL footage in their videos without fear of being demonetized.

So, what now?

Well, it’s tagged in two of the world’s biggest creators–Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed–to go head-to-head in an official NFL flag football match that’ll stream on the NFL’s YouTube channel the day before Super Bowl LIX.

In an announcement video, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (who showed up to speak at YouTube’s Brandcast in 2023, btw) rings up IShowSpeed.

“Speed, I was just watching your stream, and it had me thinking…We’re throwing a flag football game down in New Orleans and it’s going to be streamed on YouTube. We’re looking for two of the best to be part of the game.”

IShowSpeed asks Goodell if he can challenge anyone he wants. When Goodell confirms, Speed immediately replies, “Bet. I challenge Kai Cenat.”

Speed and Cenat are two of the biggest creators in the world right now, and they’re no strangers to sports content. Speed filmed videos with Olympic runner Noah Lyles and New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner. Cenat, meanwhile, hit the court with the Little Ballers Association, his own fictional league, where he and a group of kiddos challenged one another in playoffs with just as much fanfare as March Madness. Cenat and his content group AMP took on RDCWorld for an NFL football matchup in April 2023, too; it marked the start of the 2023 draft and was also streamed on the NFL’s official YouTube channel.

Speed and Cenat will each try to lead their team to flag football domination Feb. 8, 2025, starting at 9 p.m. EST.