The Rise of the Athlete YouTube Series:
Part One: Long-form YouTube storytelling and why it is redefining athlete-led brand growth
Over the last two years, we have been deeply embedded in one of the most ambitious athlete YouTube series we have ever created.
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 an extraordinary career.
The series has been hugely successful by any metric. But just as telling for us has been the reaction around it.
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.
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 it delivered, but because it represents something many brands are now trying to unlock. Depth. Longevity. And genuine audience connection through YouTube.
That experience has shaped how we think about the platform.
At Cut Media, N1NO Beyond was not just a project. It was a front-row seat to a wider shift happening 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 live properly.
What follows is not theory.
It is what we have learned by building, releasing and sustaining an athlete YouTube series over time.
From reach to real connection
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.
For brands investing in athletes, success is no longer defined by reach alone, but by how deeply they connect.
Athletes remain one of the most powerful ways for brands to build credibility and cultural relevance. But the way that athlete access is activated has not always kept pace with how audiences now choose to consume content.
This is where YouTube has fundamentally changed the opportunity.
Not simply as a distribution channel, but as a platform where long-form, athlete-led storytelling can build emotional connection, brand affinity and long-term commercial value.
YouTube’s shift from exposure to engagement
What has changed on YouTube is not just where it is watched, but how it is used.
Increasingly, YouTube is where audiences choose to spend time rather than fill it. This is supported by it’s move into a more ‘lean back’ space, with viewers increasingly watching on TV screens in the living room. This means viewers arrive with intent. They are not scrolling. They are committing.
YouTube UK viewing on TV sets over the past 2 years. Source: Ofcom/Barb
That shift fundamentally changes the role YouTube plays for brands and athletes.
When someone click’s on a piece of content on YouTube, they are opening themselves up to connection. They are willing to follow a story, invest emotionally and return if that investment is rewarded. This is not passive exposure. It is active engagement.
Crucially, this behaviour now spans generations. Younger audiences may lead with YouTube, but older viewers are rapidly adopting the same habits. That makes YouTube one of the few platforms where scale and depth coexist.
For athlete-led storytelling, this is critical.
It means YouTube is no longer a place for short-term visibility or tactical activation. It is a space where relationships are built over time. Where audiences get to know athletes as people, not just performers. And where brands can earn affinity by being part of that journey rather than interrupting it.
Why YouTube unlocks more value from athlete access
Athlete access is one of the most valuable assets a brand can have. It often comes at a significant investment and the main return on that comes through visibility through performance and activation through assess. But, as we all know in sport, results are not guaranteed so the use of access becomes even more important. But access alone does not guarantee connection.
What YouTube offers is intent.
It is a click-to-watch platform. Every view is a conscious decision. Audiences arrive because they care about the athlete, the story or the promise being made. From a creative point of view the onus is on us to deliver on those expectations, delivering consistency and meeting the expectations through the journey from discovery to consumption. However, ultimately their intent creates the conditions for deeper storytelling than other platforms.
This is where long-form YouTube content thrives.
When viewers choose to watch, they are far more receptive to nuance, complexity and emotional depth. They are willing to spend time, provided the story earns it. Then they keep coming back too
This dynamic makes YouTube uniquely powerful for brands looking to turn athlete access into meaningful audience connection.
Why episodic storytelling builds athlete and brand affinity
YouTube series continually builds engagement over time. We continually saw more and more emotional investment through sentiments in the comments.
Episodic storytelling allows brands to activate athletes in a fundamentally different way.
Rather than relying on isolated moments, a series creates continuity. Context builds. Familiarity grows. Over time, audiences stop watching content and start following a person, a journey.
That relationship compounds.
Viewers return not because of a single hook, but because they are emotionally invested in the journey. When an athlete authentically represents a brand across that journey, brand values are absorbed rather than stated.
This does not replace one-off films, commercials or event activation. Those remain incredibly powerful when a moment deserves singular focus. But series unlock a different layer of value. Sustained engagement, loyalty and a powerful emotional connection.
Real-world learning: performance alone is not the story
One of the clearest learnings from our work on N1NO Beyond, created with Scott Sports, is that elite performance is rarely the most compelling part of an athlete’s story.
Working with Nino Schurter, one of the most successful athletes the sport has ever seen, reinforced this quickly. The 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.
The human truth that guided the series was:
‘I know Nino as the incredible racing machine, but behind that machine there is a human whose character, life and environment allows the machine to flourish’
Understanding the human behind the racing, behind the results was absolutely at the heart of the series.
Our singular goal with the series was to let our audience into Nino the human, not just the athlete.
By exploring mindset, preparation, longevity and the moments between competition, the series allowed audiences to connect emotionally rather than admire from a distance.
That learning applies far beyond one athlete.
Audiences connect with humans, not machines. YouTube gives brands the space to show that humanity properly.
Duration does not define success. Emotional payoff does
One of the most persistent myths around YouTube is that content needs to be short to perform.
In reality, audiences will give time when the story justifies it.
Longer episodes work when context has been built and emotional stakes are clear. They fail when length is used without purpose.
Episodic storytelling changes this equation. Each episode builds towards something. By the time an audience reaches a longer piece, they are already invested.
Our final episode 8 of Nino Beyond sits at a duration of 35 minutes, the only thing that guided that was how long we felt it needed to tell the story for our audience and for YouTube as a platform.
For brands, this is where value compounds. Time spent becomes trust built. Trust built becomes affinity.
A YouTube-first mindset for athlete-led growth
Maximising athlete investment on YouTube requires more than output.
It requires a YouTube-first mindset. Understanding that this is a platform built on choice, not passive consumption. Expectation setting matters, but emotional delivery sustains attention.
Firstly it is understanding the YouTube ecosystem, fundamentally it is a ‘click-to-play’ platform. The viewer has to discover the content and then actively choose (generally from a miriad of other options) to click on the title and the thumbnail to view the content. Then what they see has to match their expectations of that journey.
It also requires editorial thinking. Narrative arcs. Pacing. Knowing when to let moments breathe and when to move the story forward.
The brands winning on YouTube today are not treating it as a dumping ground for content, as a broadcast channel or as a place for a commercial. They are building stories that reward commitment and respect the audience
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.
Think in stories, not clips.
Think audience first, not format first.
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
