The Rise of the Athlete YouTube Series: Part One
Part One: Long-form YouTube storytelling and why it is redefining athlete-led brand growth
Background: How YouTube is changing, and why that matters for brands:
Over the last two years, we’ve created one of our most ambitious athlete YouTube series.
N1NO Beyond series followed the final 18 months of the career of the GOAT of mountain biking. The final episode dropped recently, currently sitting at 1.2m views.
Working alongside Nino Schurter, widely regarded as the greatest mountain biker of all time, we partnered with Scott Sports to create N1NO Beyond – an eight-part YouTube series following the final chapter of Nino’s extraordinary career.
Across all metrics, the series has been hugely successful, but what’s been even more exciting for us has been the reaction around it.
It is consistently referenced by clients, partners and collaborators as a standout piece of work, not simply because of the athlete involved or the view counts, but because it represents something that many brands are trying to unlock: depth, longevity, and genuine audience connection through YouTube.
N1NO Beyond has been our front-row seat to a wider shift across sport, media and brand storytelling; a shift towards long-form episodic content, towards athletes as narrative anchors, and towards YouTube as the place where those stories can thrive.
What follows is not theory. It is what we have experienced by building, releasing and sustaining a successful athlete YouTube series over the last two years.
Why this shift is exciting.
For brands investing in athletes, success is no longer defined by reach alone, but by how deeply they connect on a human level.
This is where YouTube has fundamentally changed the opportunity.
YouTube is no longer just a distribution channel. It is a platform where long-form, athlete-led storytelling can build emotional connection, brand affinity and long-term commercial value.
YouTube UK viewing on TV sets over the past 2 years. Source: Ofcom/Barb
What has changed is not just where YouTube is watched, but how it is used.
Increasingly, audiences choose YouTube intentionally, often on TV screens in the living room. They are not scrolling. They are committing.
That shift reframes YouTube from an exposure platform into an engagement platform. Viewers actively choose to follow stories, invest emotionally and return when that investment is rewarded.
For athlete storytelling, this is critical.
It is where audiences get to know athletes as people, not just performers. And where brands earn affinity by being part of that journey.
How this changes the type of content you make
What has changed on YouTube is not just where it is watched, but how it is used.
Athlete access is one of the most valuable assets a brand can have. But in sport, results are never guaranteed, which makes how you use that access even more important.
Audiences arrive on YouTube with intent. They care about the athlete, the story or the promise being made. That intent creates the conditions for deeper storytelling.
Real access. We were lucky to be present for the most important moments. Together with friends and family Nino posts his retirement announcement to the world.
This is where long-form content thrives.
When viewers choose to watch, they are open to nuance, complexity and emotional depth. They are willing to spend time, provided the story earns it. And when it does, they return.
Episodic storytelling allows brands to activate athletes in a fundamentally different way.
Rather than isolated moments, a series creates continuity. Context builds. Familiarity grows. Over time, audiences stop consuming content and start following a person, a team or a journey.
This does not replace one-off films or campaign moments, but it does unlock a different layer.
Real-world learning: Performance alone is not the story
With YouTube becoming a go-to platform for longform content and series, the way you utilise athlete access and story has to adapt.
It is far less about dynamic content and interesting camera angles showing the athlete in action, and far more about story and emotion. That is what sustains interest and engagement across longer durations and multiple episodes.
Understanding the human behind the racing, behind the results was absolutely at the heart of the series.
Working with Nino reinforced this quickly. His results were already known. The audience understood the numbers.
What they had never truly been given was insight into the human behind that level of performance.
Our human truth that guided the series was simple.
“I know Nino as the incredible racing machine, but behind that machine is a human like the rest of us, whose character, life and environment allow the machine to flourish.”
Our goal was to let the audience into Nino the human, not just the athlete.
By exploring mindset, preparation, longevity and the moments between competition, the series created emotional connection rather than distant admiration.
That learning applies far beyond one athlete.
Audiences connect with humans, not machines. YouTube gives brands the space to explore that humanity properly.
How this changes how you format the content you make
YouTube series continually builds engagement over time. We continually saw more and more emotional investment through sentiments in the comments.
Creating successful athlete series for YouTube also requires a deep understanding of the platform and viewing trends.
Firstly is a fundamental understanding that YouTube is a ‘click-to-play’ platform. The viewer has to discover the content and then actively choose (generally from a myriad of other options) to click on the title and/or thumbnail to watch. The content that follows has to match (and ideally exceed!) their expectations of that journey.
To do that, we've spent years honing our storytelling craft specifically in the YouTube space; how to initially hook audiences, how to present information, how to link scenes, how to use athletes and personalities, how to build tension, how to release it, how to create pay-off, and how to hold attention to the very end.
It's a balance of art and science – experimenting and analysing. We love the beauty of storytelling, and we also love scrutinising retention graphs...
At the end of the day, it's the specific craft of YouTube storytelling that helps keep viewers hooked and engaged for these longer format series. This unlocks the potential for more impact.
The bigger picture
YouTube has become the home of modern athlete-led brand growth because it allows sport to be human at scale.
It gives brands the opportunity to move beyond visibility and into connection. Beyond campaigns and into relationships. Beyond moments and into meaning.
When athlete access is activated through long-form, episodic storytelling, the result is deeper audience connection, stronger brand affinity and long-term commercial impact.
You can read our case study from the N1NO Beyond series here.
If you’d like to explore more about YouTube series projects, athlete led content, or our Human Truth approach then drop us a note at stu@cutmedia.com
