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.

YouTube’s 2025 Platform Updates: Strategic Opportunities for Sports Media Organizations

Google has unveiled a series of YouTube updates that sports media organizations can leverage to expand reach, improve production efficiency, and unlock new revenue streams.

YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan is betting heavily on AI and creators to surge growth on the platform, the recent announcements released officially released via the Made on YouTube 2025 event, set a bold vision.

Here’s what media business owners need to know, a straightforward breakdown of the key developments and their implications from our lens.

LET’S CUT THROUGH THE NOISE 👇

Content Localization & Global Reach

• Multi-Language Audio (MLA): Automatically dubs videos into multiple languages and auto-plays in a viewer’s native language.

• Auto Dubbing with Lip Sync: Supports 20 languages with realistic lip-sync for more natural localized content delivery.

Potential Impact: Sports organizations can rapidly scale international fan engagement, making localized content accessible without costly and repetitive production cycles.

Production Efficiency & Content Optimization

• Edit with AI: Generates highlight reels and first-draft edits from raw footage, reducing editing time for matches, training clips, and behind-the-scenes content.

• A/B Testing (Titles & Thumbnails): Up to three variations per video for data-driven optimization of engagement and click-through rates. Get a YouTube Channel Audit now, and get a better understanding of your channel’s growth potential based on real data; learn which of your videos need a thumbnail or title update.

Potential Impact: Streamlined workflows reduce production costs while optimization tools maximize viewer retention and overall content performance.

Live Content & Fan Engagement

• Simultaneous Horizontal & Vertical Broadcasting: Delivers livestreams in both formats, unifying chat and engagement across platforms.

• Members-Only Live: Offers premium streams (training sessions, interviews, tactical discussions) as exclusive membership perks.

Potential Impact: Enhanced live streaming formats and gated access can deepen community engagement and strengthen subscription-based revenue models.

Content Strategy Enhancement

• Collaboration Features: Up to five collaborators per video, enabling co-branded content between clubs, leagues, and athletes.

Potential Impact: Strategic collaborations with creators, brands or fan channels will fuel and widen reach. If you are not sure where to start, learn more about BuzzMyVideos Creator Amplify Programme For Sports Organisations now.

Revenue Diversification

• Flexible Brand Sponsorships: Dynamic ad slots in long-form content, adjustable post-publication to reflect sponsorship shifts.

• Shorts Direct Links: Provides direct traffic attribution for brand partnerships, ensuring measurable ROI for sponsors.

• AI-Powered Product Tags: Automatically displays merchandise and sponsor products during relevant moments.

Potential Impact: New monetization flexibility allows sports media organizations to maximize sponsorship value while proving performance to brand partners.

Rights Management

• Likeness Detection: Identifies unauthorized use of player or organizational content, protecting brand and IP assets.

Potential Impact: Safeguards brand integrity and reduces legal/financial risks tied to unauthorized content distribution.

What do all these YouTube updates mean for your business?

Strategic Implications

These updates collectively support three critical business objectives for sports media organizations:

1. Operational Efficiency

   • AI-powered editing, dubbing, and optimization tools significantly reduce production timelines and costs.

   • Potential Impact: Faster turnaround times keep fans engaged in real-time, especially during peak seasons and tournaments. Get a YouTube Channel Audit now, and learn which of your videos need further optimisations.

2. Market Expansion

   • Multi-Language Audio and Auto Dubbing with Lip Sync enable seamless global distribution.

   • Content can now reach fans in their native language without requiring parallel production cycles.

   • Potential Impact: Sports organizations can expand international fan bases, building stronger engagement in untapped regions and emerging markets.

3. Revenue Optimization

   • Flexible sponsorship slots and Shorts Direct Links provide measurable ROI for brands.

   • AI-powered product tags integrate merchandise and sponsor placements directly into content.

   • Potential Impact: Organizations can unlock new sponsorship value, prove performance to partners, and drive e-commerce sales more effectively.

4. Audience Growth Through Collaboration

   • Collaboration features (up to five collaborators per video) allow clubs, leagues, athletes, and even fan creators to co-produce content.

   • Sports organizations can strategically tap into the audiences of influencers, athlete-owned channels, or fan communities.

   • Potential Impact: Cross-channel collaborations boost discoverability, expand reach, and create more authentic fan-driven storytelling opportunities.

5. Brand Protection & Risk Management

   • Likeness Detection tools safeguard player and organizational IP.

   • This reduces unauthorized content sharing, preserving commercial rights and sponsorship value.

   • Potential Impact: Stronger IP control ensures monetization benefits remain with rights holders and official partners.

Overall: Sports media organizations that embrace these updates early will position themselves as digital leaders, achieving operational efficiency, expanding into new markets, and maximizing revenue while strengthening community-driven engagement.

Want to discuss how to shape your strategy, talk to us.

_{Let’s dive into an episode from The Football Biz Formula, our chat with Scott Debson, Managing Director at Men in Blazers Media Network, where we discuss the US & European opportunities when it comes to the world of Football.}

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