Sign in with Google On September 5, the Los Angeles Chargers faced the Kansas City Chiefs in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and for the first time ever, fans could stream the NFL game live on YouTube free, with no extra fees or subscriptions required.
The demand for brands to be a part of the Friday night game and its surrounding content was high, with ad inventory for the game completely selling out within the first two weeks of opening sales to advertisers. And it wasn’t just the advertisers: the broadcast drew a U.S. audience of 18.5 million, based on a Nielsen average-minute audience (AMA).1 It also set a record for most concurrent viewers of a livestream ever on YouTube, with 19.7 million AMA from over 230 countries and territories tuning in.2
From pre- and postgame integrations featuring MrBeast to YouTube-specific media strategies, brands showed up for viewers with the kind of ad experience only YouTube can deliver, showing what it means to win in a new era of sports marketing.
Verizon: Reaching fans where they are
As the NFL’s official 5G network and technology partner, Verizon followed fans where they watch, reaching the next generation by sponsoring the game’s halftime show on YouTube.
“Sponsoring the NFL halftime show on YouTube allowed us to harness two of the biggest stages in sports and culture, the NFL and YouTube, on a platform where fans are watching, sharing, and engaging more than ever before,” said Haley Paas, Verizon’s SVP of media, marketing effectiveness, and agency management. “This is about more than a halftime show. It’s about how technology and culture move together, and Verizon wants to be right at the center of that.”
By sponsoring the game’s halftime show, Verizon put itself at the center of a global cultural moment, reaching fans beyond traditional broadcasts.
Inspire Brands: Turning viewers into participants
With a multibrand breakout across Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, and Sonic, Inspire Brands fully surrounded the moment before, during, and after the game. As part of its game presence, the company teamed up with MrBeast for a live challenge that unfolded through the broadcast as a viral thread, blurring the lines between sport and entertainment.
Two super fans, one for the Chiefs and one for the Chargers, faced off against each other. The stakes were high: The winner secured two coveted tickets to Super Bowl LX, while the loser was launched as a Human Field Goal.
It was a bold play that tapped directly into YouTube’s creator-led, fan-first content, showing how brands can use YouTube to turn viewers into active participants.
Lucid: Leveraging the new sports playbook
As a disrupter in the electric vehicle space, Lucid moved beyond traditional tactics to create a high-impact brand moment with YouTube at the center. To showcase the unparalleled driving experience of its award-winning vehicles, Lucid partnered with Timothée Chalamet and director James Mangold of Minted Content to craft a beautiful, action-oriented brand story featuring stunts from the driving team of the film “Ford v Ferrari.”
Watch the video
Lucid presents, “Driven,” a brand film featuring Timothée Chalamet and directed by James Mangold.
Rather than relying on a single spot, Lucid took a page out of the new sports playbook, tapping into YouTube’s full ecosystem to build a cinematic arc. Short-form teasers in the days ahead of the game seeded early buzz, a YouTube Masthead featuring a director’s cut set the stage before kickoff, and the global debut during the game itself delivered a premium, big-screen reveal.
By extending the campaign across formats during a tentpole cultural moment, Lucid turned a campaign into a full-journey brand experience. It showed how YouTube allows brands not only to show up in a moment, but to own it, driving brand love and awareness with leaned-in audiences at scale in ways that traditional media can’t match.
Beyond the game: Winning the moments around the moments
Verizon, Inspire Brands, and Lucid show what’s possible when brands think beyond the broadcast. From in-game sponsorships to creator-driven campaigns, advertisers are finding new ways to surround the moment, leaning into YouTube’s fandom to extend their impact far beyond the game itself.
Sports moments ripple outwards on YouTube. Fans aren’t just watching the game; they’re watching the highlights, dissecting plays in creator livestreams, sharing memes, and joining postgame debates. In fact, more than 40 billion hours of sports content is consumed annually on YouTube globally.3
That ecosystem creates more touchpoints for brands to meet engaged audiences than any single broadcast ever could. With opportunities like AdBlitz in February, brands can continue to amplify their reach on YouTube, showing up for viewers before kickoff, during the action, and long after the final whistle.
For marketers, the takeaway is clear. By leaning into YouTube’s unique culture surrounding the game, brands can extend their reach, deepen engagement, and stay part of the conversation all season long.
