After keeping them at arm’s length, sports brands are opening the door to creators

Golf’s established powers want to bring new audiences into the sport. This week, they took a big swing with a new tournament featuring only YouTube creators.

The Creator Classic was contested Wednesday between YouTube golfers including Peter Finch, Gabby DeGasperis and Nick Stubbe, and shown on both ESPN and YouTube. “Our motivation is to really put PGA Tour content in front of as many fans as humanly possible,” said Chris Wandell, svp of media at the PGA.

The event was a first for the PGA. But it’s not the only sports media player making moves to include more creators in their marketing strategies. Italian soccer club Juventus broadcast an August preseason clash via several creators’ channels, while NBC added 27 creators to its Olympics coverage plan.

Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.