Good morning. Today, NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to return to Earth after an historic 10-day trip around the moon that marked the furthest distance humans have ever been from our planet. It’s not hyperbolic to say it’s one transcendent, giant leap for humankind.
P.S. ICYMI, we’re nominated for a Webby. Voting closes next week and we’d love your support. Vote here.
Today’s lineup:
Syracuse launches the first creator economy minor
Basketball creators ink NBA partnership
A creator sells $1 million in products in five minutes
Inside the First Creator Economy Center in Higher Education
Syracuse University debuts its Center for the Creator Economy with a live podcast taping featuring (from left) Scalable Podcast host Jasmine Enberg, Proud Management founder Michael Curtis, Theorist co-founder Stephanie Patrick, and fashion creator Nick Urteaga / Photography by Rich Prugh
In an industry where some of the biggest stars—MrBeast, Ryan Trahan, Markiplier—are all college dropouts…what’s the value of getting your college minor in the creator economy?
Hannah here. On Wednesday, I set out to answer that question at the launch party of Syracuse University's Center for the Creator Economy at its LA satellite campus.
Quick context:
Syracuse is the first US university to open a creator economy center and offer a minor in the creator economy (a collab between its business and communications schools).
Elsewhere, USC and UCLA have introduced creator-focused courses and schools like Northwestern have woven influencer marketing into their communications curricula.
Wednesday’s event was full of Syracuse alumni, talent managers, finance advisors, and faculty, ft. a live podcast taping with creators like Theorist cofounder Stephanie Patrick and fashion creator Nick Urteaga.
So what might make a minor in the creator economy worth it? Here’s what I found out:
The minor isn’t about fostering on-camera talent. It’s open to all majors and designed for operators—designers, producers, and managers who need grounding in finance, accounting, and contract law to run a creator business.
"If I see two resumes and one has that minor, and that person ends up being the more qualified candidate—that's the proof point," Patrick told me.
The program will pull in experts, ready to consult on algorithms and trends—and how to build longevity in a creator business. "Unlike broadcast TV, when a creator leaves their channel, it stops. You have to set a pace you can do forever,” Patrick said.
The best case scenario? These courses prep students on the legal, accounting, business, and platform know-how to prevent creators from falling into the trap of gaining followers, but burning out or not making money.
“It’s not about preparing students to adapt to a changing industry, it’s giving them a firm foundation to avoid the pitfalls,” Patrick said.
And as the definition of what’s the creator economy and what’s just the economy blur—after all, every modern business needs to nail foundations of creator work like making content online or understanding an audience—a degree in the creator industry might become the next business or comms major.
If you could go back to school, would you enroll in a creator program like this?
Enjoy Basketball Inks Multi-Platform NBA Partnership
Kenny Beecham (left) will host Enjoy the NBA Trivia Show, a collaboration between Enjoy Basketball and the NBA / Kenny For Real, NBA
Ahead of the NBA Finals in June, Enjoy Basketball, founded by basketball commentary creator Kenny Beecham and Cody and Cole Hock, just signed a partnership with the NBA to bring Enjoy’s content to the NBA’s platforms.
The fine print →
Beecham will host content on both YouTube and TV, making an original Enjoy the NBA Trivia Show that will air on NBA’s app, NBA TV, and Enjoy’s YouTube channels.
Enjoy talent will appear on the NBA’s flagship TV show, The Association.
Both Enjoy and the NBA will post clips from the shows to their respective social channels.
Big picture: The NBA has become one of the most creator-friendly sports leagues—working with everyone from Jesser to Druski, generating $1.6B in team sponsorship revenue, and offering creators more freedom with footage than leagues like the NFL. For reference, the NBA has 90 million Instagram followers to the NFL's 30 million.
Behind the tie-in: "We don't need to be the biggest. We understand our mission, we understand our community, and as long as we're serving our fans collectively—that's success,” Cody told us.
Worth noting: This NBA partnership follows a recent deal between Enjoy and NBC that brings the channel’s podcasts to NBC’s streaming platforms.
“We kind of started positioning ourselves as Switzerland. We make peace with everyone," Cody said.
The sports creator advantage: Sports creators don’t have to choose between broadcasters and leagues—they can partner with the NBA and NBC simultaneously, like Enjoy has. This, paired with their unique voices and built-in distribution, can make creators and channels attractive partners as sports media evolves on new platforms and works to reach new audiences.
Creator Business Roundup: The Podcast Selling Mid-Rolls for $4 Million
(Left to right) Alix Earle generated $1 million in revenue from Reale Actives, David Rosenthal and David Gilbert host the Acquired podcast, and podcast creators earn on Patreon / Reale Actives, Acquired, Patreon
Want to hear three creator business numbers from this week that’ll make you double take? We’ve got you covered →
$1 million → how much revenue Alix Earle generated in the first five minutes of launching her skincare brand, Reale Actives, according to Puck. Earle teased the launch with creators for a week prior, gaining around 400K followers to Reale Active’s Instagram.
$4 million → the cost of mid-roll ads for longform business podcast Acquired, according to tech analyst Evan Armstrong. The podcast recently rebranded and relaunched its website.
$629 million → how much podcast creators earned on Patreon last year, up 33% from 2024. That’s spread among 47K creators, though some of that may be concentrated at the top: Hip hop commentary creator Joe Budden makes $1 million per month from subscribers, and Ludwig’s The Yard earns over $200K per month.
🔥 Press Worthy
Instagram creators can now earn commission from tagged products in Reels.
Issa Rae partners with TikTok to produce an exclusive microdrama with the platform.
Keith Lee is running a food festival and waving vendor fees for local businesses.
Comedian Gianmaro Soresi is bringing his podcast The Downside to Vox Media’s podcast network.
Hubspot acquires AI education YouTube channel Futurepedia.
Adam W. becomes the chief digital officer of out-of-home advertising brand Stic.
MMA creator Shane Fazen is deleting his Instagram to focus solely on YouTube.
📚 Thank You For Pressing Publish
The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
Read: Political writer and creator Grace Weinstein investigates the nuclear doomsday prepper community on TikTok.
Watch: Pedal and Paint returns from a year-long hiatus to draw the hills of Briones Regional Park in California.
Listen: Coachella may be the creator fashion Olympics, but we’re studying a competition of another kind this weekend: The Masters. Random Golf Club explains the economics and lore behind the historic golf tournament.
