Case studyTikTok
The Athletic's Creator Program: 50M views, 100K followers, one year in
Nieman Lab got the numbers behind The Athletic's paid sports Creator Program: a year of collaborations with creators like Frank Michael Smith (27M views on 24 videos) and Coach Koe produced 50 million views and 100,000 new followers, with pay rates kept undisclosed. The workflow is the real takeaway: creators pitch and script, the outlet edits and fact-checks, then both publish as collaborators, a repeatable template if you're pitching a media outlet on paid partnership.
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Fashion creators are quietly becoming home creators, ShopMy data shows
ShopMy's ninth Signals report finds a 366% jump, June 2025 to July 2026, in fashion-first creators linking at least one home product per month, meaning the audience you built on outfits will click on a sofa. If your links stop at clothes, you're leaving affiliate revenue on the table.
Read the source →MonetizationYouTube
YouTube just made the Partner Program bar twice as tall
YouTube is doubling YPP's entry requirements from 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to double that, though Super Chat, memberships and brand partnership eligibility stay untouched. If your sports channel is small but growing, lean into Shopping bonuses and trend-based earnings boosts, since those remain open below the new threshold while YouTube expects total creator payouts to rise in 2027.
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