The NFL has “embraced the burgeoning community of content creators,” and the first time, the league is opening its Access Pass Program -- or “access to game footage to a select group of content creators and influencers so they can craft original content using the NFL’s officially approved footage,” according to Julian Cannon of DIGIDAY. Creators who upload this content to their YouTube channels featuring the NFL’s licensed footage “will have the opportunity to monetize their videos.” This collaboration “ensures that creators receive compensation directly from the YouTube platform,” marking an a “new step toward monetizing NFL content on independent channels and for the NFL to get more eyeballs.” NFL’s Senior VP of Social and Influencer Marketing Ian Trombetta said that there are “tight parameters as to what footage is approved for use by the NFL.” For content creators, the NFL is “working with YouTube to identify new creators and creators within its network that it believes are the right fit for both the YouTube brand and the NFL brand as well as the right fit for the team and the market.” The league has been “working to appeal to younger consumers for years,” whether it was moving from DirecTV to YouTube or “mirroring live game play with animated Toy Story characters and leveraging Nickelodeon’s graphics and IPs when the NFL airs live on that network.” Prophet Senior Manager Danny Pomerantz said in “light of the ongoing Hollywood strike, this influx of relevant content could be hugely beneficial in the league’s ongoing attempt to appeal to the next generation of NFL fans” (DIGIDAY, 9/14).
