The NFL sought to reach beyond its traditional audience of dedicated sports fans to engage casual viewers who might be more interested in the entertainment and cultural aspects of football than the actual game statistics. To accomplish this, the league launched an unprecedented "Creator of the Week" program that invited diverse content creators from gaming, food, music, fashion, lifestyle, comedy, and other non-sports backgrounds to experience NFL games with VIP access.
These creators captured and shared their unique perspectives through YouTube Shorts, providing their followers with an insider's view of the NFL experience and showcasing the league's cultural relevance. The campaign spanned the entire season, featuring 27 creators across 22 teams and 24 games in just 23 weeks, generating over 50.8 million views and successfully positioning the NFL as inclusive, diverse, and appealing to a broader audience beyond traditional sports fans.
The NFL aimed to drive social engagement around games and enhance its perception as inclusive and diverse — showing that the league offers much more than just football. While already having the attention of diehard sports fans, the NFL wanted to reach and engage casual fans: those who attend Super Bowl viewing parties for the snacks, who stop scrolling when they see Taylor Swift at a game, and who appreciate the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment. YouTube, as a longtime partner, provided an opportunity to reach this broader audience through the increasingly popular YouTube Shorts format.
Traditional sports broadcasts primarily serve dedicated fans interested in the game itself. To attract diverse audiences, the NFL needed to showcase more culture than competition: behind-the-scenes access, stadium-specific experiences, game-day highlights and reactions, interviews with superfans, team trends, and challenges. This approach would make the NFL more relatable to casual viewers from all walks of life. The most effective way to reach these audiences was through people they already follow and trust: content creators who set the tastes and preferences for their communities.
The campaign targeted a broader audience than typical NFL viewers, focusing primarily on younger, online, casual fans more interested in the stories and culture surrounding the games than the sports competition itself. Research indicated that this audience, predominantly gen Z and millennials, already had strong connections with creators:
The creative strategy centered on bringing new creators into the NFL ecosystem by providing them with unprecedented access to games, behind-the-scenes areas, and exclusive experiences. This approach allowed creators to experience a world they might not be familiar with and, in turn, give their followers a new perspective on the game. By sourcing creators from diverse content categories like gaming, food, music, fashion, family, lifestyle, and comedy, the NFL could tap into various aspects of pop culture and connect with different audience segments.
The media strategy focused on YouTube Shorts as the primary distribution channel, with additional content shared on creators' own channels. Notably, the NFL released all claims to their intellectual property, allowing creators to fully monetize the content — creating a win-win partnership that incentivized authentic and enthusiastic participation.
The "Creator of the Week" campaign represented the NFL's most ambitious creator collaboration to date, with 22 NFL teams across 24 games featuring 27 creators in just 23 weeks. The execution involved selecting a different creator for each week of the season and partnering them with their local or state team to explore the stadium and the team's unique culture.
The NFL provided creators with exclusive VIP access to everything from the sidelines to the locker room, allowing them to engage with fans, players, and coaches. This access generated authentic, engaging content that showcased the NFL experience from fresh perspectives.
Creators shared at least two YouTube Shorts on their channels, while the NFL captured enough content for six additional YouTube Shorts per creator. These videos were produced and published with remarkable speed to share with fans during and immediately after each game, maintaining relevance and timeliness. All content was posted to a dedicated NFL YouTube Shorts playlist, with extra footage appearing on creators' own channels.
The logistical execution was impressive, with the campaign team traveling across the country — and even to Germany — to support creators on the ground. At any given time, the team was simultaneously working on content for four different games, demonstrating the scale and complexity of the operation. From week one of the regular season to the Super Bowl, the campaign maintained consistent quality and engagement while showcasing the diverse cultural aspects of the NFL experience.
The "Creator of the Week" campaign delivered impressive results across key performance metrics:
Awareness
Engagement
Growth
Beyond these quantitative results, the campaign generated significant positive sentiment among viewers, as evidenced by numerous enthusiastic comments:
These comments demonstrate that the campaign successfully positioned the NFL as culturally relevant, inclusive, and entertaining to audiences beyond traditional sports fans. By tapping into new audiences more interested in the culture than the competition, the NFL effectively proved that it has something for everyone and expanded its cultural footprint among younger, more diverse audiences.
