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.

Esports World Cup: The Riyadh Report 🏆

The inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) has wrapped up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, successfully building on the legacy of its predecessor, Gamers8. The multi-title tournament brought together the world's best, creating unforgettable moments in the heart of the Middle East.

EWC By The Numbers 📈

The tournament's digital footprint was massive. Between July 7th and August 24th, the EWC's official YouTube channel saw explosive growth and engagement.

• Content Published:

  • 265 Short Videos

  • 173 Live Videos

  • 46 Long-Form Videos

• Audience Growth:

  • 155+ Million total views

  • ~250,000 new subscribers gained

Star Power Lights Up Riyadh ✨

The tournament wasn't just about the pro players; it was a star-studded affair, blending the worlds of traditional sports and esports.

• Cristiano Ronaldo, this year's global ambassador, was a major presence. He starred in the EWC's teaser film, attended the closing ceremony, and even features as a playable character in FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves, one of the 25 tournament titles.

  

• Chess legend Magnus Carlsen swapped his board for a screen, competing and emerging as the chess champion of the tournament. ♟️

  

• Brazilian football icons Ronaldo (R9) and Kaká reunited for a special showdown, trading their boots for controllers to face off in a thrilling EA FC match.

  

Livestream Showdown: YouTube vs. Twitch 📺

When it came to broadcasting the action, the EWC made a clear choice for its primary platform. YouTube was the central hub for all live content.

• YouTube: 173 livestreams were broadcast on the platform.

• Twitch: Only 8 livestreams were hosted on their Twitch channel.

This strategy focused viewership on a single, dominant platform, making YouTube the definitive home for EWC content.

Inside the Future of Our Newsletter

We’ve been breaking down YouTube channel strategies week after week from UFC’s game plan to which clubs are making the smartest moves on YouTube, now we’d love to hear from you.

This week, we’re pausing the deep dive to ask: what do you want to see more of in this newsletter?

Also, here’s a quick look back at the most-read issues:

📈 Top Reads:

1. The Champions of YouTube: Liverpool FC

2. Want to become the YouTube MVP? Steal this strategy

3. 174M Views in just 30 days... find out how Wimbledon Tennis ace YouTube 🤔 | A Breakdown

4. YouTube secrets from La Liga | A breakdown

If you missed any, they’re worth a revisit.

_{Let’s dive into an episode from the the Business of YouTube, our chat with Eyal Arad, Founder & CEO of Videocites, where we discuss all things sports rights.}

A must listen for anyone who is interested to know more about sports media content and rights management.

✅ YouTube Music Turns 10, Unveils New Fan-Focused Features

YouTube Music is celebrating its 10th anniversary by introducing a suite of new features designed to deepen the connection between artists and fans. The platform is enhancing community engagement with features like comments on albums and collaborative "taste match playlists." To improve music discovery and fan interaction, the update also includes better integration for finding live concerts, new release notifications, and fan badges to recognize top listeners.

✅ Hype Global Expansion

YouTube is expanding its "hype" feature globally to help emerging creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers gain visibility. The feature allows viewers to "hype" up to three videos per week, which gives the videos a chance to appear on a new ranked leaderboard in the Explore menu. Creators can now track the number of hypes and hype points in the YouTube Studio mobile app, with new features planned for the future.