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 at the intersection of YouTube, technology, sports, music and entertainment culture. This newsletter is brought to you by Paola Marinone and Bengü Atamer, founders of BuzzMyVideos. We are bringing our exclusive insights from 20 years of experience leading strategy at YouTube and Google.

How Liverpool are winning with their YouTube Content Strategy

Liverpool FC have just won their 20th league title, equalling Manchester United's record! While the two clubs now share the honour of most league titles, Liverpool is in a league of their own when it comes to YouTube performance.

We've been fascinated by their digital strategy lately - not just because of their on-field success, but because they've built something truly special online that's leaving their Premier League rivals far behind.

Let's talk numbers (and it's impressive!)

Before diving into their strategy, here are the headline stats and how they rank against other football giants.

While the Spanish clubs still lead overall, Liverpool's dominance over Man United is striking - they more than double their views despite competing for the same domestic audience. On the pitch, they're now equals in trophies, but in the YouTube space? Liverpool are miles ahead.

So what's their winning formula?

After spending (probably too many) hours analysing their content, We've identified three key strategies that set Liverpool apart:

1. Mastering Monetisation through Membership

This is the strategy we're most impressed by. Liverpool has gone all-in on YouTube’s membership function, creating a tiered system that feels like joining the club itself:

• The Academy: £0.99/month (basic perks like emojis and badges)

• AXA Training Centre: £2.99/month (enhanced content access)

• Anfield: £5.99/month (premium content including exclusive interviews)

An impressive 51% of their uploads last month (36 out of 70 videos) were exclusive to members. When Mo Salah signed his contract extension, they made the full interview exclusive to Anfield-tier members. A brilliant move to entice the biggest supporters to become members and deepen their engagement with their club.

Liverpool are treating YouTube membership as a serious new revenue stream for long-term growth, rather than just a shiny new feature. Liverpool’s tiered membership clearly defines the value at each level. Create a strategy that serves casual viewers with free content while offering premium experiences to your most dedicated supporters.

2. They take behind-the-scenes to another level

While most clubs give fans quick training snippets and call it a day, Liverpool’s “Inside Liverpool” series is practically a documentary production.

The access they provide is genuinely unmatched:

• Real, unfiltered player interactions (not just the polished PR stuff)

• Unique training ground camera angles

• Emotional moments that never make the broadcast

• Long-form content that makes you feel like part of the team

The beauty of this approach? It creates genuine connection. Fans don’t just follow the team, they feel like they’re part of the Liverpool family.

3. Going live beyond the broadcast

Liverpool uses live streaming in a way that creates genuine appointment viewing. Their 3-hour celebration livestream after clinching the title generated 1.7 million views in just three days!

What makes their livestream approach work so well:

• Regular cadence of live content through press conferences, pre-game build up, u-21s games and the big moments. This creates new viewing habits in the fanbase.

• Active community engagement during streams.

• A focus on raw, authentic moments rather than over-produced content

They understand something crucial. In a world of on-demand content, creating “we were all there” moments has special power. Liverpool created a shared experience that fans worldwide could participate in simultaneously. In a fragmented media landscape, these collective moments are increasingly valuable.

Final Thoughts

What we find most impressive about Liverpool's approach is how they've transformed their YouTube channel from a simple content repository into a thriving community hub AND revenue generator.

They clearly understand that different fans want different things - some want quick highlights, others crave deep access, and many will pay for premium experiences. By serving all these segments, they've created the most engaging Premier League football club channel on YouTube.

The YouTube pitch is becoming as important as the physical one, and Liverpool are champions on both.

What other sports teams or leagues do you think are doing great work on YouTube? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Paul McGrath, Senior Director at CBC joins Paola to reveal secrets on data, content & broadcast

The Business of YouTube podcast is back! After a short-break, this week we are joined by Paul McGrath who has spent eight years as a Senior Director at CBC to support the broadcaster in its entertainment strategy and audience development. In this weeks podcast he shares his insider insights, make sure you check it out below!

• NBA Commissioner joins 'Numbers on the Board' podcast. Kenny Beecham's podcast which is produced in partnership with Peyton Manning's Omaha productions, recently featured NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. A move that signals the legitimacy of content creators as key storytellers in the NBA ecosystem.

• YouTube Announces Major Changes to NFL Sunday Ticket. For the 2025 NFL season, YouTube has introduced a monthly payment plan for its NFL Sunday Ticket service. Whereas previously it was a large lump sum payment. A change YouTube will hope increases paying subscribers.

• Piers Morgan Highlights YouTube’s Disruption. Piers Morgan has emphasised YouTube's impact on traditional media. Describing it as a "wake-up moment" as YouTube's flexibility, cost-effectiveness and global reach are attracting both creators and audiences, signalling a significant shift from traditional media outlets.