Whistle Sports teams up with NFL for social media content

While Whistle Sports isn’t a name instantly familiar to everyone, many have probably seen at least one of their videos. They’re renowned for their partnership with trick-shot stars Dude Perfect, their ridiculous stunts, their pranks and their fail compilations, and they’ve created content in partnership with sports organizations like the Canadian Football League and The Basketball Tournament.

On Friday, digital network Whistle Sports announced a branded content partnership with the NFL to create football-themed social media content, with a specific focus on millennial fans.

Whistle Sports’ network of 400 social creators and athletes will create and distribute content to over 257 million aggregated subscribers, fans and social media followers across platforms. 

“This evolution of our partnership is a major stride as brands have been actively seeking ways to leverage social content and creators focused on the NFL on the channels where millennials are following sports 24/7,” said Whistle Sports President Jeff Urban in a statement. “Our audience has always devoured NFL content and we now have the ability to bring brands into the conversation.

“From a brand perspective the agreement enables advertisers to activate around NFL-themed content to reach their audiences via means that have been proven highly effective and have not been previously available through native upload to some of the biggest and most engaged social channels.”

The content will include skill competitions, trick shots, impersonations, comedic short films, workout videos and other various forms of football entertainment. Brands will have the opportunity to sponsor and engage with the content as well.

“Our fans continue to demonstrate an insatiable appetite for NFL digital video content,” said Julie Moeller, Vice President of Media Strategy for the NFL in a statement. “We’re looking forward to working with Whistle Sports and its creators to develop and distribute this exciting new content across a broad range of social media platforms, providing another key touch point for our fans and sponsors to participate in NFL conversation online.”

This seems like something that could have benefits for both sides. The value for Whistle Sports in teaming up with the NFL is obvious; the NFL’s one of the premium sports properties out there, and getting access to some of its athletes could do a lot for them. (If you look at Whistle Sports’ YouTube channel, many of the most-viewed videos are those involving famous athletes, such as the 4,697,956 views for the Dude Perfect guys’ home run derby against Kris Bryant and Mike Moustakas.)

They’ve done some NFL content already, such as this video with Arizona Cardinals’ safety Tyrann Mathieu but this should let them expand their NFL portfolio.

This also feels like a logical move for the NFL. Whistle Sports brought plenty of attention to the CFL through that partnership, and this one sounds very similar. It’s a way for the NFL to get its athletes in front of younger, online-saavy audiences and to build buzz about the league and its players aside from game day.

Whistle Sports has been known for working its other aligned athletes into its partnerships, too, which has created some cool content, such as bringing freestyle soccer star Andrew Henderson to last year’s Grey Cup to hang out with CFL players and do tricks with a football:

We’ll see just what this partnership produces, but it feels like a logical deal for both sides, one that could expand Whistle Sports’ presence and one that could help the NFL get itself more firmly in the minds of younger viewers.

[Sport Techie]