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Most student-athletes spend a lot of time creating content (or just spending time in general) on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. (This is for both NIL and non-NIL purposes.)

Some post content on other social media sites as well such as LinkedIn (which athletes should heavily invest in for their long-term goals), BeReal, Facebook, etc.

However, more student-athletes should post content on YouTube - especially when it comes to NIL partnerships.

Why

• Search engine

  • YouTube is owned by Google. And while Google is the largest search engine, YouTube is second.

    • Therefore, it makes sense for athletes to be on YouTube - especially if they are starting or running a business and are trying to attract customers via social media.

    • If you are easier to find by brands, then more brands will want to work with you on NIL deals.

• Take advantage of Shorts

  • Similar to the platforms previously mentioned, YouTube has a Shorts feature that is vertical video and content that lasts up to three minutes.

  • Additionally, athletes can take their Instagram Reels and TikTok videos and repurpose them easily for YouTube Shorts without having to create net-new content.

• Unique NIL partnerships

  • While most NIL collab take place on Instagram or TikTok, there are numerous brands that offer partnerships for YouTube that generally have higher payouts than other social media sites.

Which college athletes do YouTube well?

• Christian Weddington (Shameless plug for one of my athletes.)

  • The Fordham University track athlete does a great job with his YouTube channel with track/student-athlete content and lifestyle content.

  • With over 9,000 subscribers, Christian continues to create unique videos for the platform.

• Allen Ortiz

  • With nearly 25,000 subscribers, the New Mexico State football player does a phenomenal job of giving a glimpse into the life of a Division I athlete. Sample content includes Day in the Life on gameday and behind the scenes at Fall Camp.

  • Several of his videos have reached six figure views, with a few hitting 1M+ views.

• Brendan Delaney

  • The Stanford football player has carved out a sizable YouTube audience (57,000 subscribers) by focusing on what he eats in a day.

  • What makes his content unique is that he will do daily eating comparisons (ie., Division I football player diet vs. Division I soccer player diet) or copy a star athlete or celeb’s diet for a day. (ie., I ate like John Cena for 24 hours.)

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^{I discuss insights and news related to NIL and personal branding for athletes every Wednesday at 12p ET/9a PT.}

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