At the age of 21, Jude Bellingham has already become one of the biggest soccer stars in the world. In 2024, the English winner has already made a deep European Championship run with his national team while also winning the Champions League with club side Real Madrid.
Now, Bellingham has added another item to his list of 2024 accomplishments: After beating rival soccer clubs on the pitch, he is now beating them on YouTube. Bellingham is using his personal YouTube channel to distribute a documentary called Out of the Floodlights, and he’s attracted more than 700,000 subscribers in less than a month.
Out of the Floodlights is a typical athlete puff piece that recaps some of the brightest moments from Bellingham’s year-long stint at Real Madrid. The first episode depicts his arrival in the Spanish capital, the second elaborates on some of his biggest highlights, and the third relives Real Madrid’s run to the Champions League title. Along the way, the doc mixes in match footage and behind-the-scenes commentary from the titular footballer.
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So far, Bellingham’s YouTube doc has been as big of a smash hit as his career. Forbes noted that only eight clubs in the English Premier League have more subscribers than Bellingham. At the rate his channel is growing, he’ll overtake more of those franchises in no time.
It’s not like Premier League clubs are ignoring social media, either. The English champions, Manchester City, recently made a play for young fans by setting up an experience within Fortnite. But that target audience seems more interested in player viewpoints than team-oriented perspectives. That would explain how Cristiano Ronaldo’s new YouTube channel is already challenging MrBeast for YouTube’s subscriber crown. Bellingham isn’t CR7, but he’s looking to follow in his fellow Madridista’s footsteps.
The rise of player-centered sports content is part of a larger trend that positions players — not teams — as the object of fandom. Lebron James is the epitome of that phenomenon. His creative choices result in millions of views, and platforms across the social landscape are eager to recruit him (and his ardent fanbase).
The rise of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals is shifting even more loyalty toward individual athletes. For the first time, college stars can claim significant name recognition even if they don’t sign a pro team. The result is a new era of sports content sweeping across the globe from the U.S. to Spain and beyond.
