Good morning. Syd here. I went to the opening night of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour on Monday, and I have been making it everyone else’s problem since. After 41 songs, 10 costume changes, and one flying Cadillac, I’m ready to go again—Déjà Vu style.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

How NIL Is Shifting for Sports Creators

The market for NIL (name, image, and likeness) endorsements and deals for non-pro athletes is projected to reach $1.6 billion by the end of 2025—just four years after the NIL floodgates opened, turning athletes into creator-led media brands.

Snapshot: While big earners like Livvy Dunne, Arch Manning, and Paige Bueckers make up to $3.9 million a year from NIL booster support and deals with brands like Nike and Gatorade, the median athlete earns about $540 a year, per NCAA data.

So how are athletes-turned-creators building their businesses, four years into NIL?

NIL management companies like Article 41 are partnering with universities to coach student athletes on their earning potential at freshman orientation. And these experiences can work:

• Former University of Georgia (UGA) and Wake Forest track and field athlete Charlotte Augenstein told us her earliest brand deals were around $50 in 2021. 

• After she participated in Meta’s Empower NIL program in 2023, she learned how to score larger partnerships, which are now in the “thousands” and represent 20% of her income.

A new university pay structure could mean more money flowing into the athlete creator niche. The details →

• A major settlement is expected by mid-summer in a case between the NCAA and hundreds of thousands of current and former student-athletes. 

• It’ll allow universities to share up to $20 million per year in revenue with student athletes. UGA, for example, expects to pay football players at least $13.5 million in rev share next season.

But there are downsides for creator athletes looking to compete: As part of the settlement, teams will have roster limits. Already, programs are starting to cut their team sizes. And now that athletes will be paid directly by schools, Augenstein said recruiting is changing.

“A lot of my friends have gotten cut from the [UGA track and field] roster and it’s sad to see,” Augenstein told us. “Track and field is a sport that’s about developing talent and character over time and schools are now being incentivized to pay for the highest talent rather than develop talent.” 

Animation Creator Inks Deal with Prime Video

Another creator is bringing their talents to a streamer: YouTube-based animation studio SpindleHorse just signed a first-look deal with Prime Video.

How we got here: SpindleHorse founder Vivienne “Vivziepop” Medrano built her platform of 10 million subscribers making speed drawings of her original characters, short films, and a pilot for her Hazbin Hotel series. A24 picked up Hazbin Hotel and released season one on Prime Video four years after the pilot debuted on YouTube. SpindleHorse also independently released two seasons of Helluva Boss—a spinoff of Hazbin Hotel—on YouTube.

Inside the deal: Medrano said SpindleHorse’s first-look deal with Amazon includes the renewal of Hazbin Hotel for its third and fourth seasons by Prime Video. Helluva Boss has also been picked up for the remaining seasons, and fans can still watch the entire series—new episodes included—on YouTube for free. SpindleHorse and Medrano are retaining full creative control. 

“We get to make the entire show, with bigger everything, while still owning it, while still making it how we always have!” Medrano said in the caption of her announcement.

Sponsored by LTX

How Creators Are Leveling Up Their Storytelling With AI

This year, we brought Coffee With Creators to SXSW, and what we learned was too good to keep to ourselves.

Over 100 creators joined us in Austin to discuss the future of creativity in the age of AI. In partnership with LTX Studio, our own Hannah Doyle moderated a discussion between Isaac Carlton (filmmaker, 200K subs), Isaiah Photo (challenge creator, 10M subs), and Ido Cohen (VP of Global Brand and Communications at Lightricks).

The panel revealed that there's more than one way to approach creativity. They also discussed how AI tools like LTX Studio are becoming partners rather than replacements in the creative process.

Hear more about what we learned by reading the full recap here.

Dream Rebrands as VTuber

In a keynote-style livestream last week, gaming creator Dream launched a not-so-new look—a VTuber version of his signature line drawing logo. 

Context: After years of making Minecraft content for an audience of 30 million subscribers while wearing a smiley face mask, Dream did a face reveal in October 2022. Following criticism, Dream put the mask back on eight months later and deleted all content showing his face. Now, after a slew of controversies and years regaining anonymity, Dream has unveiled his VTuber persona.

What fans are saying:

• “The VTuber model makes it look pudgy and absurd, I’m totally here for it,” one Redditor commented. “I think it’ll also be a nice change to see Dream’s expressions (or something similar) during streams.”

• “Incredible presentation, remaining basic with the designs and details while also making it such an incredible change. Looking forward to the new chapter of Dream!” a commenter on YouTube said.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Alex Cooper’s documentary Call Her Alex is picked up by Hulu.

• The Signal Awards, industry recognition for excellence in podcasting, is accepting submissions through May 9.

• Filmmaker creator Elle Mills posts the trailer for her short film, Don’t Forget About Me, releasing May 12 on her channel.

• Instagram Edits sees over 7 million downloads in its first week.

• Serena Kerrigan is launching a show on Peacock called Older, Hotter, Wiser.

• Alix Earle releases a shampoo with Pantene.