Why influencers could blow traditional broadcasters out of the water
The tidal wave of influencers continues to come in-land, and they could be the key to unlocking fan bases that broadcasters cannot.
Staying awake past midnight and into Monday morning for a four-hour American football game, knowing the alarm will ring in a few hours, used to be a niche obsession in Britain. Now it is becoming routine.
The NFL has recognised that cutting through in the contested European sports market requires more than traditional broadcasting alone. Fragmented media, shrinking linear audiences and Gen Z habits mean the old model of buying rights, booking pundits and hoping fans show up no longer guarantees growth. So the NFL, like Fifa and Formula 1, is handing the microphone to creators and their social channels.
To long-standing fans, this can feel like heresy. Sport, they argue, should be mediated by journalists and ex-pros, not TikTok personalities. Yet new audiences are not only discovering teams through highlights shows; they are also finding them through people who can translate sport into modern culture.
Audience trends
Audience research explains why. According to VML Intelligence’s Future 100, an annual forecast identifying key trends shaping global culture and brands, consumer trust is increasingly held by creators.
According to its global survey of more than 15,000 people in sixteen countries, 68 per cent of people follow creators because they feel authentic and relatable, rising to 73 per cent among Gen Z. Entertainment is key for 76 per cent globally and 81 per cent of Gen Z. Some 60 per cent would choose a brand recommended by a creator they follow, climbing to 65 per cent for Gen Z.
Those are a lot of stats, but what they collectively show is that the qualities broadcasters prize, such as distance, neutrality and authority, are not what drive discovery. What matters is proximity.
A majority of Gen Z feel a personal connection to creators, and nearly two thirds believe those creators say a lot about them as a person. That is identity stuff, not passive viewing.
On the flip side, broadcasters struggle to occupy this space. A highlights show can explain what happened, but a creator can explain what it means and how a team fits with fashion, humour, or everyday life. For a generation raised on participatory platforms, that translation layer is often more valuable than the original signal.
Influencers incoming
Formula 1 proves it. A 2025 study found three in four new fans are women, while 70 per cent of US Gen Z fans engage with F1 content daily. Around 40 per cent of Gen Z and 41 per cent of women are more likely to consider products tied to the sport, figures driven by social platforms rather than the Sunday schedule.
Brands have followed: Aston Martin’s nail-art collaboration with Glaize, Charlotte Tilbury’s F1 Academy partnership and Elemis appointing driver Jessica Hawkins. These reflect a fanbase that is younger, more female, and more lifestyle-led than ever.
The same shift is visible in the US. Nike’s work with Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu has fuelled a boom in women’s basketball; Wilson’s A’One drop in 2025 sold out in minutes. WNBA viewership has more than tripled in two years, and women now represent 42 per cent of fans of men’s sport. Globally, half of sports fans express interest in women’s competitions.
This momentum was created by storytelling ecosystems, including docuseries, films and thousands of creators turning events into culture. Dramatised content has become a gateway from Netflix to social feeds to live coverage.
That is why the NFL’s influencer strategy matters. Fandom is no longer a funnel from broadcaster to viewer but a web of personalities and communities. A creator explaining the rules or vlogging from a London game may reach more newcomers than any highlights package.
Broadcast vs influencer logic
The commercial logic is clear. The sports market is heading toward a $600bn valuation by 2030, and growth will come from people who never previously felt invited.
Influencers are blending sport, fashion, and identity in ways that strongly resonate; 68 per cent of global consumers say they follow creators because they perceive them as authentic and relatable.
Broadcast is not obsolete; live sport still needs production and expertise, but it is becoming one node in a wider ecosystem. Creators are the scouts and translators, often the emotional entry point.
Every generation has expanded the tent. Influencers will never replace the stadium roar or a great analyst, but they can make a sport feel like a place where new audiences belong, and for leagues chasing global relevance, that may be the most valuable broadcast of all.
Marie Stafford is global director at VML Intelligence