Hello, friends.

We made it through the first week. Thanks for being along for the ride.

On the slate for Creating Sports IV:

• NBCUniversal is sending 27 creators to Paris for the Olympics

• Good Good put on the Midwest Open

• Halftime entertainment from Allie Ostrander

• Top Sports creator and industry news you need to know

• One last thing about Bryson DeChambeau

Let’s dig in.

NBCUniversal Launches “Paris Creator Collective”

The Summer Olympics will get underway in just over a month, and NBCUniversal – which holds the broadcasting rights through 2032 – is pulling out all the stops to grab the attention of young people.

This week, NBCUniversal announced that it has partnered with Meta, Overtime, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube for what it is calling the “Paris Creator Collective.” In teaming with the media giants, NBCUniversal is sending 27 creators to Paris to tell stories with “unprecedented on-the-ground access.”

Who will be in Paris on behalf of NBCUniversal and its partners:

• Meta: Chris Matthews, Criss Jackson, Katelyn Ohashi, Lecrae

• Overtime: Megan Eugenio, Maddy Sells, Peter Dunks, Kieran Hickey-Semple

• Snapchat: Duke Dennis, Enisa, Harry Jowsey, Kai Cenat, Olivia Dunne

• TikTok: Clarke Peoples, Daniel Macdonald, Richard Chao, Jasmine Nguyen, King Asante, Molly Carlson, Shannon Burns

• YouTube: Carter Kench, Haley Kalil, Sandra Jeenie Kwon, Matthew Meager, Kristy Scott, Zhongni “Zhong” Zhu

Big business, big investment: It’s fitting to start this line with the letter “B.” NBCUniversal paid $7.6 billion for the rights to air the Olympics through 2032, and by April it had sold $1.2 billion in advertising for the 2024 Summer Olympics. So, while sending 27 creators on an international content creation journey is a massive expense, it’s a worthwhile endeavor for a company with such an enormous amount of money on the line. NBCUniversal understands that in order to maximize the ratings through the duration of its contract, it needs to reach young people. So, creators won’t be hard to find in Paris.

Good Good Returns to Live Events with Midwest Open

Back in February, Good Good dove head-first into live golf events by hosting the “Good Good Desert Open” in Arizona. Broadcasted on Peacock and YouTube with a sizable crowd watching golf’s top creators, it was a successful venture. So, Good Good ran it back.

This week, it held the “Good Good Midwest Open” at French Lick Resort in Indiana with $100,000 on the line. A total of 18 pairings – with everyone from Marques Brownlee to Paige Spiranac to Grant Horvat to Austin Reaves participating – teed off. With fans both in attendance and watching on Peacock and YouTube, Michael Block and his son, Dylan, took home the win (you can see the highlights on the Golf Channel’s YouTube channel).

The Good Good YouTube channel alone has more than 750K views on its two Midwest Open videos – Day 1 + Day 2 – in less than two days. Don’t expect this to be the last Good Good event that pops up…

Live events tell the story: Do you want to know how dedicated a creator’s fan base really is? Host a live event and see what happens. Good Good already had plenty of believers in its ability to put on live events – remember, Peacock has been its broadcast partner since the beginning – and these two are the proof of concept Good Good will take to grow these events further.

Halftime Entertainment

Steeplechase isn’t typically one of the most-viewed Summer Olympic sports. But if Allie Ostrander can qualify (and she’ll know very soon), she will bring a crowd of fans along with her.

Ostrander has given her YouTube audience an up-close view of what it’s like to attempt to earn a spot in the Olympics, including the highs, lows and everything in between. Her latest – “The Beauty of Chasing a Dream” – recaps the journey and is well worth a watch.

10 Of ‘Em: Creators & Content & Changes

• The Umpire Channel umpired the Savannah Bananas at Fenway Park.

• Numerous prolific creators play in the “Game of Legends.”

• Jake Paul will box Mike Perry after Mike Tyson fight falls apart.

• Deestroying explained the effects of his neck injury.

• Oshae Brissett dropped a behind-the-scenes vlog of the Boston Celtics winning the title.

• Bryson Dechambeau posted a video of his U.S. Open highlights.

• Crystal Sorem announced a PWHL draft pick.

• Cody Ford goes mega-viral for the wrong reasons.

• The Burlington Sock Puppets brought in Sir Yacht as their manager for a game.

• Several creators, including EricRayweather, played Madden 25 early.

One Last Thing

The transformation of Bryson DeChambeau’s public image cannot be overstated. Fans turned on him, and he feuded with fellow golfers. Back in 2021, he said he “can’t pretend to laugh off” the hate.

Well, that’s in the past. Nowadays, DeChambeau is a fan favorite – and he owes a lot to his YouTube channel, where he has 750K+ subscribers and regularly tops 1M views. Both ESPN and Golf Digest dove into his online following this past week as he won the U.S. Open with the crowd at his back.

One question not as many people have brought up that has been bouncing around in my head: Who’s next?

Copycats are coming. Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? No, all of the above. People across all sports have taken notice, given DeChambeau’s stature, and that includes publicists and managers interested in boosting their clients’ popularity. Athletes, and those looking out for their image, will try to replicate DeChambeau’s success.

One thing for them to keep in mind: DeChambeau makes it look a lot easier than it is for a professional athlete to produce high-quality content. It takes a level of time, investment and commitment that most won’t – or can’t – offer. Just take a look at the text he was sending Dude Perfect's Chief Brand Officer, Chad Coleman.

It’ll be a lesson plenty don’t heed. But that won’t stop athletes from trying.

See you next week

Week two of Creating Sports is in the books.

Thanks to all of you who are reading. It’s exciting to see this grow, and I’m psyched that you are along for the ride. If you haven’t subscribed, please do!

Talk soon,

Colin