Deals
Big Dicee Converts College Scout Character Into Brand Deal
Micro creator leverages 16k Instagram followers into recurring brand partnership
Big Dicee didn’t land his first meaningful brand deal by acting like a spokesperson.
He landed it by acting like himself—specifically, one of the characters he already plays: a college basketball scout.
That detail matters, because it’s the entire reason this partnership works. Athlete Narrative, an AI-powered recruiting app, reached out to Dicee directly via Instagram DM when he had around 16,000 followers, after noticing strong engagement from young basketball players—the exact demographic the product is built for (high school athletes trying to get recruited). The deliverable is simple: a minimum of one video per month, integrated natively into Dicee’s existing content style.
Big Dicee’s Video That Led To Athlete Narrative’s Inquiry
What Athlete Narrative is (in plain English)
Athlete Narrative positions itself as a recruiting tool that helps student athletes build a profile and contact coaches faster.
On its site, the company describes a flow that looks like this: athletes create a “Radar Page” profile with highlights, stats, grades, measurables, then use a tool it calls “The Recruiter” to select divisions and schools and send messages to coaches. Athlete Narrative also says an AI assistant (“HOPE”) can help write the email.
That aligns with Dicee’s description: input your info and footage, generate an email template, and send coach outreach with a few taps.
Why Athlete Narrative chose Big Dicee
Dicee says the company selected him for one reason: his engagement with young hoopers.
That’s the part most people miss when they talk about “influencer marketing.” Follower count is only the top of the funnel. What brands actually pay for is trust inside a specific audience.
Athlete Narrative isn’t trying to reach “everyone who likes basketball.” They’re trying to reach:
- athletes who genuinely want recruitment opportunities
- parents who want a clean system
- players who are already thinking about film, stats, grades, and outreach
Dicee’s content sits right in the middle of that reality—especially because he already runs a scout persona that speaks the same language as recruiting culture.
The integration that makes this deal work
The easiest way to kill a creator partnership is to force a creator into a script that doesn’t match their voice.
Dicee’s advantage is he doesn’t have to pretend. The product fits his character.
He can incorporate Athlete Narrative into his existing basketball videos as:
- the “scout” asking for a player’s Radar Page
- the “scout” reacting to a player’s measurables/grades/film
- a comedic bit where the “scout” shows how athletes should reach out properly
- a punchline about “send it to coaches in one tap”
That’s not just entertaining—it’s functional education wrapped in comedy, aimed at exactly the people who would use a recruiting tool.
Meanwhile, Athlete Narrative’s site leans heavily into “easy-to-build profile” and “email coaches quickly” messaging, which makes the integration clean and believable.
What the deliverables are
Dicee says the partnership fulfillment is:
- minimum 1 video per month
That’s it. No messy 10-post bundle. No “spam your Story 8 times.” This is a straightforward monthly integration.
Big Dice x Athlete Narrative Partner Content
Why this deal is a case study for the “Creator Mainstream”
This partnership signals a shift that’s happening across the creator world:
Micro creators with the right audience can outperform big creators with general reach.
Because for a company like Athlete Narrative, the ideal customer isn’t “a sports fan.” It’s a high school athlete actively trying to get recruited (plus parents). That’s not a mass-market audience. It’s high-intent.
This is the same pattern you see in the most effective creator marketing:
- niche creator
- niche audience
- product that solves a real problem
- integration that doesn’t break the creator’s content
That’s how a 16K creator becomes more valuable than a 500K creator who reaches the wrong people.
The bigger takeaway for creators trying to land deals
Dicee’s deal blueprint is repeatable:
- Build a character or content lane that attracts a specific community
- Drive engagement with that exact community (not random virality)
- Make your content naturally compatible with a product category
- When brands reach out, keep deliverables simple and sustainable
- Make integrations native, not scripted
This is how creator marketing becomes “mainstream”: not through celebrity endorsements, but through creators who feel like part of the audience they’re speaking to.
After announcing a joint partnership in December, Starbucks has launched their collaboration with MrBeast’s for Beast Games Season 2, using the coffee giant as a core element of his franchise, from promotional material and signature drinks, to incorporation in the series itself. The deal was structured less like a one-time sponsorship and more like a brand-franchise extension. For Beast Games Season 2, MrBeast and Starbucks have turned the coffee chain into a narrative prop and retail spin-off of one of the internet’s biggest creator franchises.
Beast Games, MrBeast’s reality competition series produced with Amazon, returned to Prime Video this January, with 200 contestants and a 5 million dollar prize. Season 2 builds off of a viewership in the tens of millions from the first season. MrBeast’s deal with Amazon Prime has helped him solidify his production house, Beast Studios, and cements his leap from YouTube spectacle to global television.
For the new season, Starbucks has signed on to power the show by installing a full Starbucks presence inside Beast City, the custom-built compound where contestants live and compete, with 24/7 access to drinks and food during filming. Competitors also receive surprise rewards from the chain built into specific challenges, which adds Starbucks moments directly into the story beats of the series.
The centerpiece of the collaboration is the Cannon Ball Drink, a limited time Starbucks Refreshers lemonade drink with Strawberry Açai and Mango Dragon Fruit flavors, inspired by and created on set. Featuring multiple players of flavor and color, the drink appears in a Cannon Ball challenge during a crossover episode with Survivor. The Cannon Ball Drink launched at Starbucks stores across the U.S., giving viewers a way to participate in the show.
Beyond the show itself, Starbucks is leaning into cross-platform activations. MrBeast has posted content about the collaboration across social media, including a cameo from Starbucks Global Creator Josiah. Starbucks launched their Global Coffee Creator program in 2025. For the collaboration with MrBeast, the brand is treating their deal as part of a broader turnaround strategy to entice younger customers, with content across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, in addition to the show.
This partnership shows how creator-led intellectual property is now mature enough to support sponsorship structures that resemble sports leagues or major entertainment properties. Beast Games is backed by a large production budget, offers substantial prize money, and streams in many territories through Prime Video, which gives Starbucks global reach and repeat exposure over a full season instead of a single viral upload.
The Starbucks and MrBeast alignment also shows how brands are treating creators as media owners with distinct demographic reach, not only as on screen talent. Beast Games’ audience skews under 30, overlapping with Starbucks’ priority Gen Z and Gen Alpha segments, and the show’s digital promotion complements the chain’s existing advertising spend without the constraints of traditional television. This partnership fits into a broader pattern in MrBeast’s business strategy as Beast Industries grows into a multi vertical company. From snack brand launches to platform exclusive series, the organization structures partnerships around control of intellectual property, data, and distribution, with brand partners plugging into that ecosystem instead of owning it outright.
If Beast Games delivers on its second season ambitions, the Starbucks collaboration is likely to become a recurring feature rather than a one time experiment. Strong performance would validate the idea that major food and beverage brands can treat creator-led formats as anchor properties for seasonal limited time offers, loyalty programs, and in store storytelling. As more creator franchises reach multi season, multi platform scale, the Starbucks and MrBeast blueprint, with deep in world integration, co-developed product, global streaming distribution, and persistent social content, offers a playbook for negotiating deals that look less like sponsored segments and more like co-produced entertainment businesses.
FIFA has named TikTok its first-ever Preferred Platform, setting the stage for what could be the most creator-forward global sporting events in history and establishing a relationship that could change the way major events like the World Cup are covered. The partnership, announced this week, runs through the end of 2026 and positions creators as essential to how the tournament will be consumed and shared worldwide. “FIFA’s goal is to share the exhilaration of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with as many fans as possible, and we can’t think of a better way to further that mission during the biggest event in sports history than to have TikTok as the tournament’s Preferred Platform”, said FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström, in a press release from TikTok.
The deal expands on the collaboration between TikTok and FIFA during the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2025 Club World Cup, both of which were wildly popular. Under this new agreement, TikTok will host an immersive FIFA World Cup 2026 hub featuring match highlights, ticketing information, custom stickers, filters, and gamification features. The agreement builds off of TikTok’s recently announced GamePlan product. But the most notable aspect of the partnership announcement is the global creator program. According to TikTok, the program will “provide a select group of global TikTok creators with game-changing access to incredible behind-the-scenes moments – such as press conferences and training sessions – and in the process, give fans unique, relatable perspectives on the FIFA World Cup experience”. A broader tier of creators will also gain permission to co-create content using FIFA’s archival footage, a rare opportunity as sports footage is often difficult to license.
“Soccer has experienced explosive global growth on TikTok over the past few years, and as FIFA’s first-ever Preferred Platform we’re excited for fans to experience the FIFA World Cup 2026 beyond the 90 minutes,” said James Stafford, Global Head of Content, TikTok. FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström framed the partnership as an evolution in how football is shared. “This is an innovative and creative collaboration that will connect more fans across the globe to the FIFA World Cup in unprecedented ways, bringing them behind the curtain and closer to the action than ever before.”
This deal marks a major shift for content creators and their coverage of sporting events. For years, creators covering professional sports had to clip broadcast footage under fair use, react outside of stadiums and arenas and wait for official footage to be released, potentially risking legal action and takedowns. This deal formalizes a change in process for live event coverage, where creators are granted access and encouraged to cover events and collaborate as part of a media strategy, mirroring how traditional broadcasting networks negotiate rights packages. The only differences are that the “network” is TikTok, and individual creators will benefit more because of the nature of social media.
According to TikTok internal data mentioned in an announcement about GamePlan in late December, fans who watch sports content on TikTok are 42 percent more likely to tune in to live matches. The company has also noted that 59 percent of users find sports content on TikTok more entertaining than the actual games. For FIFA, partnering with TikTok helps expand their audience and also build their revenue. While FIFA fans on TikTok will be able to stream portions of matches live and access special content, broadcasters and brands will be able to monetize content through access to ad revenue. FIFA also benefits from an agreement with TikTok to “implement anti-piracy policies that support and protect FIFA’s intellectual property.”
The 2026 World Cup kicks off in June across North America, with games in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This is the first time the tournament will be hosted by three countries. With 48 teams competing, the event is already being positioned as the largest in World Cup history. Details on how creators will be selected for the top-tier access program have not been announced, though TikTok’s existing relationships with sports creators and its GamePlan infrastructure suggest the company already has a pipeline in mind. If the largest sporting event on the planet is willing to treat creators as primary content partners, other institutions may follow.
Deals
Starbucks Teams With MrBeast for Beast Games Season 2
Starbucks x MrBeast is official: the coffee giant is “powering” Beast Games Season 2
Starbucks just locked in one of the cleanest “creator mainstream” brand plays we’ve seen this year: a multi-surface partnership with MrBeast tied to Season 2 of Beast Games: Strong vs. Smart, premiering on Prime Video on Jan. 7, 2026.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the structure is clear: on-screen integration + in-store activation + creator-channel amplification—the full flywheel.
What the Starbucks x MrBeast deal includes
1) Starbucks inside “Beast City” — 24/7
Starbucks will have a physical presence inside Beast City, the contestants’ living quarters, where competitors get complimentary 24/7 access to Starbucks drinks and food.
2) Surprise prizes during the competition
Starbucks is also baking rewards into the show itself with surprise prizes for contestants throughout the season.
3) A limited-time “Cannon Ball” drink in U.S. stores
Starbucks is launching a new Starbucks Refreshers drink called the Cannon Ball, described as a lemonade-based mix of Strawberry Açaí + Mango Dragonfruit Refreshers, topped with fruit inclusions. It hits Starbucks stores in the U.S. for a limited time starting Jan. 14, 2026.
4) The drink is tied to an on-screen challenge
The Cannon Ball drink is not just “inspired by” the show—it’s connected to a specific on-screen moment: it’s featured in the “Cannon Ball Challenge” in Episode 204, debuting Jan. 14 (same day the drink launches).
5) A MrBeast YouTube integration
Starbucks also appears outside the show via MrBeast’s YouTube, including a Starbucks moment in his “30 Days in the Sky” challenge video (released Dec. 20).
Why this deal matters
This isn’t a typical influencer post or limited collab cup. It’s Starbucks treating MrBeast like prime-time entertainment, because that’s what he is now.
Marketing Dive framed the strategy as Starbucks tapping MrBeast’s younger fanbase through season-long show presence + a limited-edition menu item—the kind of integrated play that turns a partnership into a cultural moment instead of a one-day ad.
And Starbucks is positioning it exactly that way. Starbucks’ global chief brand officer Tressie Lieberman said the goal was to make Starbucks feel like “home” on set and bring fans into the experience via the Cannon Ball drink. On the Beast Industries side, SVP Beau Avril described Starbucks as “powering the competition” and helping contestants recharge.
Quick Beast Games Season 2 context
- Series: Beast Games: Strong vs. Smart
- Premiere: Jan. 7, 2026 on Prime Video (3 episodes at launch)
- Finale: Feb. 25, 2026
- Prize (per Starbucks release): $5,000,000
