YouTube is teaming with MrBeast, the platforms biggest creator, to push the pricey NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market games package for the 2023 season.
MrBeast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) on Friday kicked off a characteristically over-the-top challenge for fans. From Aug. 25 through Sunday, Aug. 27, more than 1,000 QR codes will be hidden within old videos on both MrBeasts official YouTube channel (which has more than 178 million subscribers) and within select 2022 NFL highlights on the official NFL YouTube channel.
The first person who is able to find and scan all of the QR codes in the videos will be eligible to win a Sunday Ticket subscription for the upcoming season. In addition, YouTube will award The Ultimate Sunday Golden Ticket prize to one lucky winner, randomly selected from the pool of fans who complete MrBeasts NFL Sunday Ticket Scavenger Hunt: an all-inclusive weekend trip to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
In a video posted Friday, MrBeast also promised to give Super Bowl tickets to whomever could kick the longest field goal:
View this post on Instagram A post shared by MrBeast (@mrbeast)
Sunday Ticket, available in various prices and bundles on YouTube and through YouTube TV, includes all out-of-market Sunday afternoon regular-season NFL games broadcast on Fox and CBS. This year, Sunday Ticket kicks off on Sept. 10.
Googlelast year wrested rights to Sunday Ticket from longtime holder DirecTV. Under the seven-year pact, the internet giantwill reportedly pay the NFL between $2 billion and $2.5 billion annually.
YouTube initially sold NFL Sunday Ticket for the 2023 season in single-payment plans, and last week introduced a monthly payment plan available in most U.S. states. That offers the NFL Sunday Ticket Primetime Channel for $99.75 per month over four months (for $399 total). Meanwhile, under a partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, YouTube is offering eligible subscribers four months of the Max tier without ads for free. YouTube also has a distribution deal withVerizon, which is giving away Sunday Ticket to certain eligible subscribers.
As part of promoting Sunday Ticket, YouTube is enlisting other creators who will bring fans closer to all the NFL action, excitement and experience in ways totally unique to YouTube with behind-the-scenes content, the platform says.
Separately, MrBeast is involved in a legal dispute with the virtual restaurant company that operates his MrBeast Burger chain of fast-food outlets. The YouTuber sued Virtual Dining Concepts, seeking to end the deal, alleging among other things that the burgers it served were called disgusting, revolting and inedible and damaged his reputation. VDC responded with its own $100 million lawsuit against MrBeast, alleging breach of contract.