Sports Explosion, Going Long on YouTube, and More

Soccer in the US Is Here to Stay. What Are Brands Going to Do About It? by Daniela Silva

The fútbol (or soccer, for us Yanks here at Sounds Profitable) craze has officially taken America by storm, with events such as the CONMEBOL Copa America and Leagues Cup building excitement for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Adweek found that the fanbase in the states mainly skews towards Hispanic Gen Z viewers, who largely consume content via social media sites like Instagram and Tiktok. Brands are beginning to recognize the power of courting these formerly more niche sports audiences, as the rise of fútbol in the US coincides with women’s sports seeing a global explosion in its own fandom. Brands are also looking to reach both of these audiences through podcasting, such as iHeartMedia and Deep Blue launching a podcasting network dedicated to women’s sports earlier this year.

Sports streaming fragmentation is a boon for advertisers by Jasmine Sheena

Sports fans looking to stream their favorite team’s next game are being forced to subscribe to an increasing number of streaming services in order to do so. Advertisers are watching to see if this causes fans to drop some sports and/or teams due to lack of easy access. However, since the packages streamers purchase are often specific to certain teams or gathered data, advertisers are also taking advantage of the specificity when targeting potential customers. It remains to be seen whether this potential increase in value can make up the difference if some fans call it quits.

Kantar: Australians more receptive to brands advertising within sports content

According to a study done by Kantar for Google Australia, Australian sports fans are especially receptive to advertising. In a survey of over 1600 Australians, 59% reported positive feelings towards brands when shown ads during sports-related content. 61% of study participants also actively seek out additional content alongside team matches, such as interviews, podcasts, and highlights on social media.

The era of the in-depth brand and gaming creator partnership has arrived by Alexander Lee

In the gaming space, brand-creator partnerships are shifting to being more significantly integrated into creator content and their communities. According to the article from Digiday, brands are moving away from single-use collaborations on specific intellectual properties and towards partnerships that integrate the brand itself within the creator’s persona and fan spaces. Settling in for the long haul with creators means a deeper connection to potential customers, and the ability to take advantage of parasocial relationships to leverage product. Podcasting is often built around these personal relationships with fans, and may see a reflection of this as the year progresses.

Why longer videos are becoming more commonplace on YouTube by Tim Peterson

Whether it’s a four hour deep dive into the now-defunct Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser, or a two-and-a-half hour autopsy of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd adaptation, a feature-length runtime seems to be what helps make a video essay go viral. A potential cause is the growing trend of YouTube watch time happening on connected TV screens, with the content going toe-to-toe with film and TV for viewers’ attention. The ability to create content of this length comes from the lack of runtime restrictions on the platform; YouTube’s algorithm switching to watch time in 2012 encouraged creators to up their chances of being featured by playing to the system. Podcasting has had no restrictions on length of content since its beginning, and these shifts on YouTube are great news for video podcasts cross-posted to the platform.

…as for the rest of the news: