COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BRIGHTEST STARS, DRESSED IN THEIR SNAPPIEST SUITS, ASSEMBLED BENEATH GRAY SKIES AND THE BEAUX-ARTS GRANDEUR OF UNION STATION IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, THIS PAST APRIL FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE 2023 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DRAFT
As Roger Goodell, the NFL's longtime commissioner, revealed each team's pick and called rookies to the stage, a roving camera crew hovered around the velvet sofas in the sprawling room inside the station where top players sat with their families.
“I bring me. I'm bringing a man of God. I bring a leader,” quarterback and two-time Heisman Trophy finalist C.J. Stroud said after being selected second overall by the Houston Texans, tears in his eyes and diamonds in the shape of a 7 around his neck.
Live footage of Stroud's comments played on oversize screens for thousands of fans gathered on the lawn outside Union Station. But an even bigger audience surveyed the scene from a distance via the world's largest video platform: YouTube, home to 2 billion–plus monthly active users. On the NFL's main channel, which has more than 11 million subscribers, nearly 600,000 people watched the live coverage, and millions more the highlights. On ESPN's YouTube channel, commentators livestreamed their reactions, attracting more than 1.5 million views. A similar stream from Bleacher Report surpassed 260,000 views.
That was only the beginning of the NFL draft's ricochet around the internet-native culture factory known as YouTube. More than a dozen creators sponsored by YouTube hyped the event on their own channels, packaging it alongside reviews of Kansas City barbecue and encounters with star players. Elsewhere on YouTube, Madden gamers shared their best scoring plays executed with first-round picks, and sports analysts weighed in on how Stroud's addition will help the Houston Texans’ rebuilding strategy. The Texans franchise even took 60,000 viewers behind the scenes with Stroud as he fielded a call from one of his new coaches.
Of course, the 2023 draft aired on ESPN, ABC, and the NFL Network as well. But those broadcasts hit the dead end that is the traditional linear TV living room. On YouTube, the draft became the raw material for endless reactions, remixes, riffs, and rebuttals.
Starting this fall, YouTube is going even further,
