Kevin Durant and the Thirty Five Media company he owns is partnering with YouTube to help athletes launch their own YouTube channels and create sports programming.
Durant has found success on his YouTube channel that launched in April, racking up more than 21 million views and 587,000 subscribers while live streaming his time in the Bay Area, doing Q&As and even launching the Parking Lot Chronicles video content series with Golden State Warriors teammate JaVale McGee. Next up for the NBA Finals MVP is a new series featuring actor and media personality Michael Rapaport, who has been known to dish out strong opinions on the NBA.
Thirty Five Media is working with other sports figures to launch their own channels, including Durant’s teammates McGee and Nick Young along with the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns.
“I’ve had an incredible experience on YouTube engaging with fans all around the world and sharing different parts of my life,” Durant said in a statement. “It was natural for me to want to show other athletes what they can achieve on YouTube and to ensure my Thirty Five Media team and I can be a resource for those athletes.”
Added Rich Kleiman, Durant’s business partner: “We started Thirty Five Media after seeing the potential for Kevin to connect with his fans on YouTube. Once we started seeing traction, a strategic partnership like this was the obvious next step for us. The possibilities here go far beyond traditional social media interaction and there’s a huge opportunity for branded content and better one-to-one fan engagement for athletes on YouTube.”