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YouTube has new features and partnerships up its sleeves.
Today, the social and video sharing platform hosted its annual Brandcast event at the David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center, closing out upfront week once again.
Several executives took the stage, including YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, YouTube Chief Business Officer Mary Ellen Coe, and Google President of Americas and Global Partners Sean Downey, to highlight the power of creators and showcase how the platform drives culture.
The evening featured plenty of talent from YouTube creators Brittany Broski, IShowSpeed, MrBeast, and Sean Evans, with performances by Lady Gaga and Alex Warren. Other appearances included NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski.
There was also a red carpet pre-show, which was cohosted by YouTube creators Haley Kalil and Julian Shapiro Barnum of Recess Therapy. Adam W, Casey Neistat, HopeScope, and Jordan Howlett were among the other creators in attendance.
More sports, sponsorships, and shoppable CTV
During the Brandcast presentation, YouTube announced it is expanding its partnership with the NFL. It will exclusively stream the league’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season, hosted in São Paulo, Brazil, bringing the NFL to a global audience on YouTube and YouTube TV subscribers in the United States. This will mark YouTube’s first time as a live NFL broadcaster, and the game will stream live on the NFL’s YouTube channel for free.
YouTube also announced that it teamed up with the NFL for a multi-year deal for the annual Super Bowl Flag Football Game, which features creators and artists, with additional international flag football games also on the way. The platform previously partnered with the NFL on their Super Bowl LIX Flag Football Game, which received over six million live views. According to global YouTube Internal Data, people spent over 350 million hours watching official NFL content on the platform last year.
YouTube also announced a new package that allows advertisers to further integrate themselves in major cultural moments like awards season, Black Friday, or the PGA Championship, which is a big initiative for the company.
The streamer is also extending its current offering of shoppable CTV, which includes QR codes and send-to-phone functionality, with the introduction of an interactive product feed. Google Merchant Center will power the feature, which lets viewers shop directly from the big screen.
Regarding new ad formats, YouTube’s offering includes tech built with Gemini to identify and match ads with contextually relevant “peak moments” within popular YouTube content and moments where audiences are most likely to be engaged.
YouTube also rebranded its homepage placement with a design to give brands a more cinematic, edge-to-edge canvas for their ads to grab users’ attention. And speaking of attention, the company noted that its internal data found that the platform’s campaigns on CTV drove more than 50 million monthly average users.
YouTube’s brand success
One of the brands that was a featured speaker at the presentation was Volvo, which is leveraging YouTube to create better customer experiences, reach broader audiences, and tap into the culture. According to the luxury car brand, YouTube has become its single biggest driver of brand consideration and incremental registrations.
Other brand case studies include Inspire Brands, the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts, which has reported seeing success with Gen Z. Dunkin’ especially has been popular on YouTube Shorts through its various partnerships with creators during the holiday season, achieving 78% positive sentiment.
Hilton partnered with YouTube during events like F1 and the Grammys, and even doubled down on influential creator partnerships such as Aarava to connect with travelers based on their interests. According to the hotel chain, the approach has led to outcomes like a 5-to-1 return on ad spend.
Meanwhile, State Farm is a sponsor of the PGA Championships, connecting with golf fans through 100% Share of Voice takeovers on Grant Horvat and Good Good’s channels as well as a custom brand integration into Caddie & the Kid, a new golf series premiering on the LOL Network’s YouTube channel.
