YouTube’s soccer community is more than fan culture. It’s a “football revolution.”

Earlier this year, YouTube made a lot of noise about its growing influence in the world of American football. Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, YouTube is shifting its focus to the other football. Its Culture and Trends team has published a report that explains just how big creator-led soccer content has become in Latin America.

The report cites a study performed by Google and SmithGeiger. Those two partners asked Latin American soccer fans how they feel about creator content. The results were clear: 82% of Brazilian sports fans said they visit YouTube at least once a month to take in match coverage shared by fans. And in Mexico, 66% of sports fans between the ages of 14 and 49 said they engage with commentary from creators or fans on a weekly basis.

YouTube is not the first entity to take note of this tectonic shift. In Brazil, top soccer creator CazéTV has nabbed the broadcast rights for the upcoming World Cup. Closer to home, brands like Home Depot have had footy on their minds as they have built in-house creator programs. Top footballers like Jude Bellingham and Cristiano Ronaldo are now YouTube stars, and our rankings of the most-viewed YouTube channels have recently been filled with hubs that are set on the pitch. Even Fortnite is picking up a piece of the action.

The result of all that activity is what YouTube calls a “football revolution.” Through a process the Culture and Trends team dubbed “fandomification,” soccer creators have become go-to sources for live match coverage, interviews with Ronaldo-level stars, and collabs that pit amateurs against pros. Oh, and did I mention those creators are decent players themselves? Just ask the Sidemen

“YouTube football creators have not only transformed the sport’s media landscape but the football industry at large, moving from fan-made content to securing broadcast rights and becoming primary destinations for live matches and analysis once owned by traditional networks,” reads the report. “Creators today are live streaming on YouTube to create sports entertainment that fans enjoy as much as — if not more than — live broadcast television, providing sports coverage that’s interactive, immediate, scalable, and fan-centric.”

If you want to know why the Culture and Trends team is diving into this particular topic right now, keep in mind that the 2026 World Cup is set to kick off in North America this summer. The quadrennial tournament will give tech companies the chance to show that they hold the keys to soccer’s future, and everyone from TikTok to podcast network Goalhanger is stating their case.

If YouTube can position itself as the leading platform for soccer content, it can potentially reap rewards that extend far beyond its creator community. Its activity in the NFL ecosystem has helped it score broadcast rights for regular-season games. Could it be seeking similar deals in the soccer world? The Japanese League, Bundesliga, Saudi Pro League, and Women’s Super League already share match footage on YouTube. Which pro league will be the next one to make that leap?