Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid鈥檚 Kansas City Chiefs face Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh鈥檚 Los Angeles Chargers in the most accessible game to viewers on Friday night in Brazil.
It鈥檚 the first NFL streamed on YouTube and there will be plenty of unique elements surrounding the broadcast.
The league and YouTube have assembled a lineup of content creators to enhance the viewing experience.
Cam Newton, Brandon Marshall, Derek Carr and Tyrann Mathieu will be part of a pre-game and post-game shows hosted by Kay Adams.
Donald De La Haye, known as 鈥淒eestroying鈥 to millions of social media followers, will serve as a sideline creator 鈥 as opposed to the usual sideline reporter.
Four creators will host their own 鈥淲atch With鈥 streams on YouTube and YouTube TV 鈥 IShowSpeed and Tom Grossi in English and Robegrill and SKabeche in Spanish.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an awesome journey. I used to do this at high school games, JV games and stuff, and now the fact that I鈥檓 doing it at the highest level is amazing,鈥 Deestroying said. 鈥淎nd it kind of carved out this brand new role as a sideline creator. It鈥檚 awesome, man. It鈥檚 new to everybody. It鈥檚 knew to me. It鈥檚 new to YouTube, new to the NFL, but I think it鈥檒l be awesome and we鈥檒l see a lot more of it to come.鈥
Deestroying is no stranger to football. He played college ball at Central Florida and was a kicker for the San Antonio Brahmas of the United Football League.
Growing the sport globally has become a top priority for the NFL, which dominates ratings in the United States. The league has promoted flag football to increase participation in the sport around the world, helping it become part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Using content creators and influencers is a natural step forward.
鈥淚 think that it starts to show just the convergence of the creator world, the creator economy, together with the NFL,鈥 league executive Ian Trombetta said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much interest in what our players are doing and you鈥檙e seeing that clearly across the league, whether it be with our existing players or our legends like Cam Newton and others who鈥檝e really leaned into YouTube as a platform. The Kelce brothers are another great example of that. So it鈥檚 just this wonderful convergence of creativity and sport. And I think that led us to this place where they鈥檙e integrating and give YouTube a lot of credit. They鈥檝e found ways to put forward creators that make sense in these different environments and different situations.鈥
Grossi, a Green Bay Packers fan, has been watching games with fans on YouTube for almost a decade. He鈥檚 aiming to break his streaming record of 51,000 people watching a game with him.
鈥淚 love football and I love the Packers,鈥 Grossi said. 鈥淭o be able to stream these games and have actual fan interaction throughout the game and kind of create that communal sense of we鈥檙e all fans watching the game together, I think it just gives folks a different way to engage with football that maybe they haven鈥檛 before.鈥
Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, has embraced his creating content. He has the largest following on YouTube among players at 1.7 million subscribers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not just broadcasting a game; we鈥檙e creating an experience,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e merging a traditional sports broadcast with the creator-led content that has made YouTube what it is. It鈥檚 a new era of sports media, and I鈥檓 excited to be a part of it.鈥
The NFL has exclusively streamed games before on NBCUniversal鈥檚 Peacock, Amazon鈥檚 Prime Video and Netflix, but those required subscriptions. The Chiefs-Chargers game is available to anyone with access to the internet. That makes it a first.
鈥淥ur thesis around bringing an NFL game to YouTube wasn鈥檛 just sort of lift and shift from any other network, it was about how do we make it feel uniquely YouTube?鈥 YouTube executive Angela Courtin said. 鈥淎nd the thing that is unique to YouTube, more so than any other platform, is our creator community. And that means bringing creators who are football fans, who talk about their content around football.鈥
___
AP NFL:
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation