From Kickoff to Clicks: How the NFL is Expanding Its Digital Game

Is the holiday season really upon us? Amazon says so, announcing that Prime Big Deal Days will return on Oct. 8-9 in 19 countries. Will online shopping sales eventually replace Black Friday? We will see.

A peek into today’s edition:

The NFL‘s reach across social media
Snap unveils new AR glasses
Amazon announces new biz and faces a lawsuit

The NFL’s relationship with social media has evolved significantly over the years, transforming the way fans engage with football. In the early days, platforms like Twitter and Facebook became central to real-time fan commentary, reactions, and highlights. We’ve watched the league partner with platforms for exclusive content, and fans have long been able to keep up with their favorite teams via official team accounts.

In recent years, the NFL has further embraced social media’s evolving landscape, adapting to the unique strengths of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Social media networks have also been working overtime to bring content creators into the fold, both online and in real life at games.

The NFL is strategically expanding its global reach and the engaged audiences of creators offer exciting opportunities for the league.

Much about professional football has remained the same, but the NFL’s digital presence continues to expand. Let’s examine how some social media platforms are approaching the 2024-25 NFL season.

TikTok & NFL Partnership

TikTok and the NFL renewed their partnership through a multi-year agreement that will bring more long-form content from the league to the platform. Since partnering in 2019, the NFL’s official TikTok account, which has over 14 million followers, has launched team channels that have collectively amassed over 5 billion views in 2023. As part of the deal, the NFL will also produce behind-the-scenes access and highlights that showcase football culture on and off the field.

2024 NFL Kickoff Presented by YouTube TV

Top names like IShowSpeed and Brazilian streamer Casimiro joined the NFL for the league’s first-ever game in Brazil. The NFL welcomed a group of creators for the Eagles-Packers matchup as part of the 2024 NFL Kickoff presented by YouTube TV. Pro football player and creator Deestroying hosted his signature 1ON1 competition with local football clubs in São Paulo. After locking in a three-year streaming deal with the NFL, Casimiro livestreamed his experience from his CazéTV channel on YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.

As part of the 2024 NFL Kickoff weekend, NBCUniversal also unveiled its Transcontinental Tailgate, where it took a group of creators on the road to three NFL games, including the international matchup.

Creator of the Week on YouTube

The NFL and YouTube launched a second season of their “Creator of the Week” program. The series will take various YouTube creators to games each week, where they can showcase their experiences to fans via YouTube Shorts on the official NFL channel on YouTube, which boasts more than 13 million subscribers. Funny Marco, Evelyn Gonzalez, and The Can Family are a few of the creators expected to participate in the program this season.

The NFL on Instagram

While the NFL doesn’t appear to have an official partnership with Instagram, the league’s presence across the platform is strong. The official NFL account has over 30 million followers, with all 32 clubs boasting millions of followers on their own. Each channel releases various content, including funny behind-the-scenes bits and fit checks with players.

Prime Insights on Prime Video

Amazon introduced nine new AI features on Prime Video specifically for Thursday Night Football. The top new feature, dubbed Prime Insights, can analyze defensive and offensive formations before the snap, track defenders disrupting plays, and identify defensive schemes in real-time. This announcement comes as the NFL expanded its partnership with Amazon Web Services to continue leveraging AI across the league.

Snap unveiled the fifth generation of its AR glasses, Spectacles. The new oversized AR glasses offer a larger field of view, new software, and hand-tracking capabilities. Snap will only allow approved developers who commit to a year-long $99/month subscription to purchase the fifth-generation Spectacles. Meta and Ray-Ban might be gearing up to compete with Snap since the pair expanded their deal beyond 2030 to continue developing smart glasses.

Amazon will produce a Shark Tank-esque competition called Buy It Now, The Wall Street Journal reported, inviting entrepreneurs to deliver a 90-second pitch of their products in front of a studio audience and judges. Comedian JB Smoove will host the new show, and the winners will receive $20,000 and see their items advertised in a new marketplace.
It’s not all positive new business in Amazon‘s world. Five contestants from the upcoming Beast Games reality competition show on Amazon Prime Video are suing the e-commerce giant and MrBeast‘s production company for alleged mistreatment, unpaid wages, and more. Elsewhere, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that employees have until Jan. 2, 2025, to return to the office five days a week.
UFC 306, the first sports event at the Las Vegas Sphere, generated $22 million in revenue. All 16,024 tickets for the 10-fight showcase were sold, and the UFC also had the largest merch sale in its history.
OpenAI and T-Mobile announced a multi-year partnership to build a customer service system powered by AI agents. T-Mobile’s IntentCX platform will use OpenAI’s latest tech, which will be implemented next year.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan unveiled a suite of new AI changes that will be coming to the platform over the next year. The new features include a new communities space, real-time engagement and reactions on livestreams, and the ability to take six-second AI-generated video clips and merge them into YouTube Shorts. YouTube also announced that creators can now organize their content into seasons and episodes.
ByteDance‘s Lemon8 downloads are surging again, as the social media giant went back to court this week to challenge its impending TikTok ban in the US in January. The court hasn’t delivered an updated decision, though the three-judge panel said that blocking the app could violate users’ First Amendment rights.
Lionsgate signed a deal with Runway to let the video and AI research firm train a new AI model on its film and TV content. Lionsgate will use Runway’s findings and tech to inform future film and TV projects.

Netflix is in talks with BuzzFeed to air live episodes of Hot Ones explicitly created for the popular streamer. While negotiations are happening, I’m going to bet that YouTube will throw a deal BuzzFeed’s way to keep the popular series exclusive to its platform.