How the Wembley Cup Brought YouTube and Football Together

EE’s Wembley Cup was a watershed moment for influencer marketing in sports. YouTube creators playing football at Wembley Stadium — it sounded like a fever dream pitched in a brainstorm session, but the execution proved that creator culture and professional sport could create something genuinely new.

The Event

Teams captained by YouTube’s biggest football creators competed in a tournament at Wembley, with professional players making guest appearances. The entire event was produced for digital distribution — YouTube was the primary channel, not broadcast TV.

Audience Impact

The combined reach across participating creators’ channels exceeded many traditional football broadcasts. But the real insight was audience demographics — the Wembley Cup reached young viewers who weren’t watching traditional football coverage, opening a new audience segment for EE.

Industry Implications

The Wembley Cup established a template that brands, sports organisations, and creator networks have iterated on ever since. It proved that influencer marketing could scale beyond sponsored posts to full-scale events — and that the resulting content could outperform traditional media on engagement metrics.

Related

Read the full Wembley Cup case study for a breakdown of the campaign strategy. EE’s approach to social media was part of a larger digital push — see how they launched the EE brand and built their social hub.