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.

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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 strategy behind Formula 1’s pole position on the YouTube grid…

We’re halfway through the 2025 Formula 1 season and the excitement as ever has been electric on-grid with the usual F1 storylines we have come to expect.

But as ever, F1 have created a product that generates as much excitement off-grid. The long-awaited release of ‘F1: The Movie’ is on the horizon, featuring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, creating another exciting touchpoint for fans.

F1 are the experts when it comes to leveraging their off-grid storylines for excitement on YouTube. They have built an ecosystem of content that meets fans at every touchpoint, across demographics.

But how are they doing it? And how can you use this to improve your strategy?

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

Before diving into their strategy, here are the headline stats that show how F1 ranks against other major sports leagues.

1. Drive the conversation of key moments 🗣️

The F1 YouTube channel acts as the one destination F1 fans will always find themselves at during race weekend. And becoming the F1 content HQ wasn’t an accident, it was by design.

Their YouTube channel it packages the entire emotional spectrum of race weekend. From last-lap drama to pit wall panic, post-race interviews to team radio gold, they capture the full arc of the F1 experience in real time.

It’s this immediacy that drives results. Their channel pulled in 146.1M views in the last 30 days, surpassing the NBA on YouTube during peak playoff final interest, despite also having almost half the subscribers as the NBA. F1 have built habits amongst fans. Fans know they can turn to the F1 channel right after lights out for the best bits, delivered faster and framed better than anyone else.

This positions them less like a traditional rights-holder and more like a media outlet. Agile, prolific, and laser-focused on relevance.

Key Takeaway: Think about the different ways you can package your content during peak interest periods. If you’re a football club don’t just post highlights during the weekend - what are the emotions on the sidelines? The pre-game feelings from fans and players?

2. Beyond the Grid 🏁

The success of Drive to Survive rewired how audiences view motorsport. Less about lap times on the grid and more about the personalities off the grid. Where Netflix laid the foundations, the F1 YouTube channel has built on this. F1 has doubled down on giving fans direct, consistent access to the personalities behind the drivers.

The Beyond The Grid podcast, for example, offers a different pace, long-form interviews that delve deeper into the stories behind fans’ favourite drivers. Paired with the short-form challenge style videos that are created to entertain, it creates a complete flywheel for fans.

This has allowed drivers like Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and even mid-pack personalities to become social media fixtures. Not just because of on-grid performance, but because of who they are as people off the grid.

Key Takeaway: Everyone has a story and a personality that will resonate with a different audience segment. Start viewing your athletes and personalities as characters to tell your story and distribute your rights.

3. Next-Gen Racing 👶

F1’s YouTube strategy isn’t just reliant on storytelling, it also understands and values the importance of developing fandom amongst future generations.

They know that fandom is forged early. And in an attention economy, you can’t wait until someone’s 18 to win them over. You have to build those rituals in childhood.

That’s why their F1 kids content is one of the smartest plays we’ve seen in the YouTube space. The use of child presenters, colourful cartoon overlays, and simplified race analysis doesn’t just make F1 more accessible, it reimagines it through a new lens entirely.

This new lens for Gen Alpha, creates an alternative viewing experience that resonates deeper with the potential next generation of F1 fans. It presents a low-friction entry point that gives Gen Alpha a reason to care, and builds a long-term relationship early.

Key Takeaway: Future-proof your rights, understand what the next generations of fans want and how you can create formats that resonate with them. Their fandom habits start early.

Final Thoughts

Formula 1’s YouTube strategy has created a comprehensive content flywheel. It’s not just short-form and long-form, more importantly they’ve developed formats that resonate with each specific audience segment.

By capturing all the key weekend moments, heroing the personalities of their drivers, and proactive in future fan engagement, they’ve created one of the most balanced content ecosystems in sport. And their viewership numbers reflect that, with high retention, strong growth, and a clear identity.

For any rights-holder looking to turn engage fans across demographics across all touch points, F1’s blueprint is worth studying.

• YouTube integrates Google’s new Veo3 AI tool into Shorts. CEO Neal Mohan announced at Cannes Lions that YouTube will embed Google’s Veo 3, an advanced AI video generator, directly into Shorts later this year. With major uplift potential in Shorts creativity and production for users.

• YouTube leads streaming market with 12.5% of total TV viewing. In May, streaming services accounted for 44.8% of U.S. TV usage. Marking the first time streaming overtook both broadcast and cable combined. YouTube alone achieved a 12.5% share, more than any other streaming platform

• MrBeast’s AI thumbnail tool sparks major backlash. MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) launched an $80/month AI-powered thumbnail generator via Viewstats, which lets creators "inspire" thumbnails from other channels. The tool’s been accused of stealing designs and poses questions around ethical issues of AI.

• Australia’s eSafety Commissioner pushes to include YouTube in under-16 ban. The eSafety Commissioner is arguing that YouTube shouldn’t receive exemption in Australia’s upcoming December “no social media for under‑16s” laws. Citing research that 37‑70% of 10‑15 year olds saw harmful content on YouTube.

• MLB takes stake in Jomboy Media. Major League Baseball acquired a minority share in Jomboy Media, the popular sports commentary brand with 2M+ YouTube subs. Signalling a deeper alignment between legacy sports and digital-first creators.

Peter Hutton, joins Paola to discuss global strategy and business models in sports and tech

This week we are joined by Peter Hutton who is a seasoned veteran in the sports and tech industries. Currently Peter is serving on the advisory boards for the Saudi Pro League and The FA amongst others. In this week’s episode Peter shares his strategic insights from travelling the world and operating in these markets for global names in these industries. Check out the episode below and let us know your thoughts!

We have exciting news to share with you this week! We have a masterclass launching on the 15th July, with strategic insights on How to Win on YouTube in the 2025/2026 Sport Season. Make sure you sign-up here to ensure you are prepared for next season on YouTube!

Also if you missed out on our previous masterclasses, don’t worry they are now available to watch on the BuzzMyVideos YouTube channel!

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