Content creators acquiring sports rights, the new ace up YouTube’s sleeve?

French U21 national soccer team to French streamer Zack Nani. From October 2025 until June 2027 (the start of the UEFA European U21 Championship), games will be streamed on his free YouTube and Twitch channels on an exclusive basis. Although somewhat unexpected, as the incumbent broadcaster and FTA channel L’Équipe, or the newly launched Ligue 1+ platform, could have been perceived as suitable candidates, this deal actually came as a half surprise. First, because the FFF had already resorted to broadcasting the U21s’ games on its own YouTube channel in September, as it had not yet succeeded in signing a new rights deal. Second, and more importantly, sports leagues and federations have been increasingly embracing content creators as potential media partners. While YouTube keeps gaining ground in the battle for eyeballs, this deal comes under scrutiny. Content creators as broadcasters, the new norm? Indeed, since the start of the 2025-2026 season, Zack Nani has already been the new FTA broadcaster of the Saudi Pro League in France, showing up to 3 games per matchday, and de facto the exclusive broadcaster, as Canal+ decided not to renew its pay-TV rights. At a time when broadcasters are rationalizing their investments and focusing on must-have top-tier competitions, SPL’s reportedly poor audiences in France justified Canal+’s decision to walk away. Zack Nani’s move echoes a wave of similar deals in other countries. In the UK, Mark Goldbridge secured the rights to up to 20 Bundesliga games on Friday nights to show on his That’s Football YouTube channel for the 2025-2026 season (and the same goes for Gary Neville’s The Overlap channel). Still in the UK, influencer Tim Cocker acquired the streaming rights for the UK & Ireland to showcase the French rugby second-tier league Pro D2 for his FR-UK Rugby YouTube channel. Finally, probably the most successful example, Brazilian streamer Casimiro Miguel’s CazéTV platform (close to 23M subscribers on YouTube) delivered a successful coverage of prominent competitions such as the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics.  Even though this type of media partnership is expected to multiply and become more common, it should not be perceived as a threat of a full alternative to traditional broadcasters any time soon. Rights owners are only adapting to consumption shifts in the media landscape, especially with younger generations. Multiplying the types of media partnerships enables leagues to reach and engage with the whole diversity of their fans, find audiences wherever and however they consume content, and open new revenue streams. Ultimately, it helps leagues answer their main dilemma: how to arbitrate and find the right balance between media rights’ value and exposure. In the example of the Bundesliga in the UK, on top of Mark Goldbridge’s partnership,...