YouTube‘s extensive push into the world of sports is starting to pay off. As the platform plots new content initiatives led by creators like iShowSpeed, it is launching new sports-themed ad lineups within the YouTube Select program.
YouTube Select, which succeeded Google Preferred in 2020, offers guaranteed ad space next to curated lineups of popular YouTube channels. The themes for existing packages span popular categories like makeup, cooking, and gaming, and YouTube is now deepening its Select offerings in the wide world of sports.
The two new ad packages promise more monetization opportunities for top-performing creators who benefit from name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. A YouTube Select lineup centered around college sports connects to the NIL world in an obvious way, since student athletes are in the best position to leverage those deals. The new lineup catering to women’s sports can also be connected to NIL as well; the current amateur sports landscape has created new opportunities for female athletes to find sizable audiences.
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On its surface, the YouTube Select update caters to the growing number of advertisers who want a piece of premium sports content. The new lineups are also a logical path for YouTube given its flurry of activity in the sports world. The platform is paying $2 billion per year for the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, and it has looked to recoup those costs by turning its homegrown stars into spokespeople for its football coverage.
One example of that promotion effort is an upcoming flag football game in London, for which rappers Gunna and Aitch will draft star-studded teams. For viewers who prefer on-demand programming to live spectacles, a new series called Speed Goes Pro puts streaming star iShowSpeed in contact with legendary athletes like Tom Brady.
The decision to greenlight originals like Speed Goes Pro can be linked to Sunday Ticket, but YouTube’s new ad lineups show that it is looking for multiple means of monetizing its sporting spree. NFL-loving customers can provide a substantial revenue stream — but so can NIL-loving brands.
