YouTube was the top streaming service in the U.S. each month of 2023 and continues to become a bigger presence in the lives of sports fans after it acquires NFL Sunday Ticket. But YouTube isn’t stopping there.
YouTube global sports partnerships head Jon Cruz joined the Streamtime Sports podcast this week to discuss YouTube’s strategy around live sports rights, subscription channels, and future possibilities with sports creators and pay-per-view.
“What we are trying to do at YouTube is build optionality for our partners,” Cruz told host Nick Meachem. “It is very important to us to make sure that we have all of the content, sports or otherwise, that our users … are looking for. And in order to do that, we recognize that we are going to have to provide rights holders, broadcasters, with different business models, be it ad-supported, be it subscription.”
With Sunday Ticket, YouTube worked closely with the NFL to develop YouTube-exclusive content and developed a new-look product for the service that felt more recognizable to digital video consumers than the previous DirecTV iteration. YouTube also negotiated access to exclusive footage for its creators.
“We wanted to make sure that the experience felt like YouTube and that we weren’t just putting our logo to a stream that was coming from elsewhere,” Cruz explained. “We were able to really partner with our creators to bring fans closer to the game, and also to allow our creators to use NFL IP to create content, to tell stories around the game, be those stories.”
Last year, YouTube launched Primetime Channels, where users can either subscribe to services like Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max through YouTube — or find exclusive ad-supported content from brands like the NFL.
YouTube also quietly bought the rights to the Campeonato Paulista in 2022 and last year experimented with using the massively popular Brazilian soccer Twitch streamer Casimiro as the announcer for the league. Casimiro also hosted streams around the 2022 FIFA World Cup that were successful for YouTube.
“He is attracting millions of viewers to these games and yes the action on the pitch is compelling … but I think it’s the perspective that Caze has brought to the streaming experience that has attracted audience,” Cruz said.
On the brand side, Cruz highlighted DAZN as an example of a sports rightsholder taking advantage of YouTube’s many avenues for connecting with the audience. DAZN creates content for its ad-supported traditional channel, broadcasts events on the platform, offers its NFL GamePass broadcast outside the U.S., and is working with YouTube on a pay-per-view model.
“That’s a good example of a partner who is really taking advantage of or leveraging all of the tooling or monetization options that YouTube has to offer, which we think is great,” Cruz said. “Because our partners are smart, and they’ll figure out the right way or the right strategy for themselves from a monetization standpoint. And from a YouTube perspective, there’s a lot of benefit to us in that we are able to service the sports fans that follow the various properties that DAZN offers.”
Within sports streaming, YouTube clearly saw how Amazon and Apple were buying rights while also keeping users on their services to watch other content. By developing Primetime Channels and hosting more live sports content in addition to the highlights and analysis that have long lived on YouTube, the service is becoming an even more significant player in activating an audience across all aspects of sports consumption.
