The Rise of the Athlete YouTube Series: Part Two

Athlete Trust and Making the Most of Access

As explored in Part One, audience viewing habits on YouTube are evolving quickly. Viewers are spending longer with content, gravitating towards episodic storytelling, and choosing depth over volume. This shift is creating a significant opportunity for athlete-led brand content that is meaningful, sustained and commercially valuable.

Over the years, as an agency, we have spent a huge amount of time inside elite performance environments, working with athletes across sport, from Formula 1 drivers and national teams to action sports athletes operating at the very top of their disciplines.

Brands invest heavily in athlete partnerships because access unlocks credibility, insight and emotion. But access is never unlimited, never predictable and never simple. It exists in tight windows, between training sessions, on race weekends, and during moments of pressure, fatigue and emotion.

Making the most of that access is where experience becomes the difference.

At Cut Media, years of working in high-pressure sporting environments have shaped how we approach access. Not as something to extract, but something to earn, protect and use with intent.

In recent years we’ve worked with some of the biggest talent across multiple projects

Trust is what turns access into opportunity

You can secure access contractually.

During the N1NO Beyond series, our Creative Director Andy, took the time to spend time with Nino, understand his views, ideas and concerns heading into what became a 2 year journey.

You cannot force trust.

That distinction sits at the heart of every successful athlete YouTube content.

Trust is what allows you into the athlete’s real world. Around preparation. Around emotion. Around performance. Without it, access stays superficial.

Building trust starts long before a camera is turned on. It comes from understanding an athlete’s priorities, respecting their routines, and proving through actions that performance will always come first.

On N1NO Beyond, trust was built deliberately and over time. Before filming began, we travelled to Switzerland simply to spend time with Nino. We shared a meal, talked through ideas, listened to what excited him and what concerned him. Later, while in South Africa on another project, we visited him at home and conducted a long interview that was never intended for release. It was purely about understanding him better.

None of this was about tactics or manipulation.

Trust doesn’t come much higher than working with one of the greatest ever cyclists on scripting a retirement announcement. N1NO Beyond was such a special series to work on.

It came from genuine interest in Nino as an athlete and as a person, and a shared desire to tell his story honestly and respectfully. Trust was built because the intent was right.

Trust is not just important for the athlete. It is essential for the audience.

Without trust, content stays safe and predictable. The same moments fans have seen before.

With trust, stories change.

Athletes stop performing for the camera. Conversations become honest. Behaviour becomes natural. The camera fades into the background and what remains is authenticity.

Audiences do not connect with perfection. They connect with reality. With routine. With doubt. With the moments between performance where the human side of elite sport lives.

Those moments are what separate true athlete YouTube series from surface-level content.

Access is more than proximity

Being close to an athlete does not automatically create better storytelling.

True access is about insight, not distance.

It is about recognising which moments matter and why. Understanding where emotion is likely to surface. Knowing that some of the most revealing scenes happen away from the obvious action.

Access also fluctuates constantly. Some days offer quiet hours with a focussed talent. Others offer fleeting minutes in the midst of external chaos. Both can be equally valuable when approached with clarity and intent.

Preparation enables instinct

Experience sharpens judgement in the moment.

The amount of access to talent in our projects over the years vary enormously. From month long projects to a matter of minutes with global stars. Planned shoot windows or candid reactions  No matter where or how your access comes about the key responsibility as an agency and production crew to maximise every second of those moments.

Preparation at it’s best. Pre-vis vs final project for a Tour de France commercial with Cervelo. A test edit like this can help us understand exactly what we need in the shoot.

The real skill is being prepared enough to know exactly what you need, but also that elite sport is unpredictable, and the best moments are often unplanned. A shift in mood. A quiet moment after pressure. An unexpected interaction. recognise those moments as they happen and having the confidence to act on instinct.

That instinct only works when it is underpinned by intent. By understanding the story you are telling, what the athlete can realistically give, and how a moment fits into the wider narrative.

When preparation and instinct work together, even five minutes of unexpected access can deliver something meaningful.

The bigger picture

Creating truly unique content with any athletes is built on trust.

Access creates opportunity, but only experience turns it into value.

Great athlete content is not about cameras and proximity. It is about relationships, judgement and care.

Athlete storytelling only works when trust comes 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