The Business of YouTube

A weekly strategic lens for senior leaders into how YouTube is reshaping the business of technology, sports, music, entertainment, and culture.

Welcome!
To your favourite newsletter, The Business of YouTube, brought to you by Paola Marinone and Bengü Atamer, founders of BuzzMyVideos and previously at YouTube and Google. We are bringing our exclusive insights from 20 years of experience leading strategy at YouTube and Google.

🏈 The Million-Dollar Blind Spot: Why Most Sports Fans are Strangers

Hey everyone, it’s Bengu & Paola here. Lately, we have been thinking a lot about building value throughout the whole funnel, from the reach to the conversion.

In the world of YouTube and digital media, we often obsess over the "big numbers"; millions of views and billions of impressions. While big numbers do matter, what is key is to think it as a 360° approach, where YouTube is building the massive reach (and not only) machine, top of funnel, that drives down the funnel casual fans that then become core fans eventually.

A key component to go down the funnel is the capability of identifying, contacting, and building a direct relationship with those viewers.

We recently dug into a fascinating new report called The Anonymous Fan Index by our friends at Dizplai.

It highlights a massive problem facing sports organizations today, and honestly, it’s a wake-up call for anyone in the content ecosystem.

Here are the highlights that stood out to us:

🎭 76% of Fans are "Strangers"

Across leagues, clubs, and federations, organizations only have identifiable data (names/contact details) for about 24% of their fanbase.

In fact, nearly half of the organizations surveyed know who only 11-25% of their fans actually are.

💸 The Financial Hit

Invisibility is a revenue killer:

62% of organizations believe they are losing over $100,000 annually because they can't reach fans directly.

One in three estimate those losses are actually north of $1 million.

📺 The Broadcast Paradox

The channels that provide the most reach, like traditional broadcasting, are the hardest ones to convert into "known" fans.

67% of respondents cited broadcast viewers as the hardest group to identify.

🤝 Sponsorship is Changing

Sponsors are no longer satisfied with "vanity metrics".

87% of organizations face pressure from sponsors to deliver measurable fan engagement data.

60% of sponsorship renewals are now tied directly to digital engagement data.

🚀 Creators vs. Giants

Interestingly, "underdog" organizations and creators are often edging ahead. Because they don't have the massive scale of a top-tier league, they are forced to lean into proof of community.

For underdogs, 35% say more than half of their sponsorship renewals depend on engagement delivery, a band where "giants" didn't show up at all.

The Bottom Line: Technology is no longer the barrier. Whether it’s QR codes, live polling, or membership models, the tools exist to turn passive viewers into an owned community.

The question is: how is your organization doing with the 360° funnel approach?

[Download the full Anonymous Fan Index report here]

Want to discuss your YouTube strategy, reach out to us!

Watch the latest The Business of YouTube Podcast

What are the best opportunities for sponsors in sport for teams and clubs?
Who is doing a great job already? Learn from the expert in the room: Alex Kopilow, Founder of Sponcon Sports

Subscribe to “Sponcon Sports" Newsletter

Boost Your Long-Form YouTube Video (On the House) 

We’re feeling generous!

Growing a content on YouTube is hard work; especially long form content such as branded podcasts.

We want to make the "growth" part a little easier this week.

We’re launching a new promotional campaign, and we want to give you a complimentary 1,000 Guaranteed Views Campaign for your video on YouTube.

No invoices, no hidden fees, and no long onboarding calls.

To get started, we only need two things:

1. The YouTube link for the video you want to boost.

2. Your target country.

Want to claim your 1,000 views? Just reach out to [email protected] or [email protected] with your YouTube video link and target country, and we’ll handle the rest.

INDUSTRY NEWS