Hey you!

First off, Happy New Year - I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

I'm thrilled to be back in your inbox and I hope you’re ready to kick off 2025 with some exciting updates and insights from the world of sports marketing.

Here’s what I’ve got for you today:

• Netflix & WWE

• The Kansas City Chiefs Make YouTube History

• Sports Marketing Trends To Watch In 2025

Netflix Takes Over WWE Raw (Yeah, It's Really Happening)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Netflix is the new home of the WWE in 2025.

And if you know anything about me…

You’ll know that I LOVE WWE, and will 100% be tuning in.

Honestly, the fact that mainstream sporting events are now on streaming sites like Netflix is both crazy and exciting to me.

Crazy because Netflix has always been the place to watch sitcoms and movies. 

I bet in 2007 when Netflix went “online”, nobody would have predicted they’d be watching sports on here too…

But here’s why I’m so excited and why this is such a big deal (pun intended 😉)

1. No more rushing to fit everything into a strict TV schedule. Remember those times when a match got cut short because they had to switch to the next show? Yeah, that's not happening anymore.

2. Smart ads that actually make sense. Netflix isn't just copying the old TV playbook here. They're bringing their tech game to wrestling. Think targeted ads that actually match what you're into. Just like what we see crushing it on YouTube right now - but with body slams.

3. Global reach, baby… This is the part that gets me excited. WWE Raw is about to be available in over 190 countries. That's huge for expanding wrestling's fan base. Plus, imagine being a brand that can reach that many eyeballs in one shot.

If you’re in the sports marketing space, my advice:

Watch and learn how content and advertisers are adapting to this shift in media consumption.

There’s a lot to learn from how advertisers are promoting their brands on netflix, much of which can be applied to your youtube strategy. 

Speaking of big news in YouTube…

The Chiefs Just Made YouTube History

The Kansas City Chiefs just became the first NFL team to hit 1M subscribers on YouTube. 

That's INSANE. 

They basically doubled their following between August and December in 2024 alone by gaining over 330k followers.

Here's some of the content that’s been working for them:

• Game previews that get fans hyped (their pre-game content is consistently pulling 500K+ views)

• Breaking down the best plays (with actual insights, not just replays)

• Taking fans behind the scenes (their locker room content is pure gold)

• Raw, unfiltered player moments (Travis Kelce's post-game interviews? Chef's kiss)

Whilst the Chiefs have had huge success when it comes to audience size, in my opinion the best YouTube Channel in the NFL has to be the Eagles.

It’s a hot-take I know…

But I much prefer avg views as a metric to track a channel’s health and engagement with their community vs subscribers…

Which let’s be honest - is a vanity metric.

Eagles do these 3 things very well:

1. Posting highlight compilations that other football channels aren’t, so why don’t they do it since they own the content and won’t be copyrighted?

   

2. They have excellent, colorful and contrast heavy thumbnails that create intrigue - they’ve even “social hacked” proven, popular formats like “Locker Room Essentials” just like GQ sports, and Day in the Life content

   

3. Mic’d up + behind the scenes content that nobody else has access to, an absolute no-brainer for every sports team and league

Bonus: They aren’t afraid to have fun with their content…

IMO, the Eagles might just have the best YouTube team in football.

I expect many more teams in the NFL, and teams across the NBA, MLB to follow suit…

2025 is going to be a great year for YouTube as everyone continues looking for a solution to the slow death of legacy media.

For inquiries on working with TDAY, tap the button below to schedule a call with our team!

What's Actually Going to Matter in 2025

Let me cut through the noise and tell you what I'm seeing for this year:

YouTube is about to explode even more.

More teams…

More athletes…

More businesses…

More creators/personal brands…

…are finally getting serious about YouTube. They're seeing what the Chiefs pulled off and realizing "oh shoot, we need to get on this."

AI is actually useful now 

Not the fluffy stuff - I'm talking real tools that help understand what fans want and deliver it to them. The smart teams are already using this for everything from fan service to content planning.

Story > Stats 

The brands crushing it right now? 

They're the ones giving us the real, raw stories. Not just highlight reels - we're talking about the journey, the struggles, the human side of sports.

We’ll 110% be seeing a lot more of this going forward.