Justin (left) and Producer Rob (right) on their 30 arenas in 30 days trip
Happy Wednesday,
Justin Leusner has been making YouTube videos since he was 10 years old. He built a sports media company at Penn State with over 100 student employees. And most recently, he visited all 30 NBA arenas in 30 days while raising over $100,000 for Make-A-Wish. This week, Jake and I sat down with Justin to talk about how he actually pulled that off, what it cost, and how he thinks about building a content career that lasts.
I told the team before we pressed publish on day one: This series is gonna get 10,000 views a video. But that's okay.
How They Got Here
Age 10: Starts making YouTube videos. Channel name: You're Fired.
7th grade: Jailbreaks his iPhone to access NBA Live Mobile before it launches in the US. Becomes the most subscribed NBA Live creator overnight. Peaks at $1,500 in ad sense revenue in a single day. The NBA invites him into its Playmakers program.
Junior year of high school: The game dies. His channel dies with it. He tries Fortnite, tries 2K. Nothing sticks. Takes a few months off.
Penn State: Builds “Gen Z’s ESPN,” a student-run sports media company with over 100 student employees.
2024: Visits all 30 NBA arenas in 30 days. Raises $100,000+ for Make-A-Wish. Loses $70,000 doing it. No regrets.
The Big Idea: Impact > ROI
The 30-arena series averaged about 10-20K views per video. Justin knew going in that was probably the ceiling.
He lost $70,000. The Bam Adebayo 83-point game video was the outlier (200,000 views); everything else sat on the floor.
And yet:
$100,000 raised for Make-A-Wish
A team of seven full-time people
A production infrastructure that most creators with 10x the audience don't have
A series that will compound in views for years as evergreen long-form content
My honest take: I'm not sure I could stomach losing $70,000 on a content project. My toes curl just thinking about it. The way I'd approach it is to build a sustainable model first, then take one big swing in excess of that sustainability. Justin went the other way: big swing first, then build the model.
Neither is wrong, but what struck me is that Justin knew exactly what he was doing. He told his team before launch: 10K views a video, and that's okay. That level of detachment from the outcome (while still caring deeply about the inputs) is genuinely rare. Most creators either chase the number or pretend they don't care. Justin actually doesn't care. And somehow that's exactly why it's going to work.
5 Tactical Takeaways
1. Be the first person in the room. At 13, Justin jailbroke his phone to access NBA Live Mobile before it launched in the US, because he'd learned with Madden Mobile that the best creators were the ones who started first. Every platform, every game, every trend has a window. The first movers own the category (at least for a while).
2. Pre-production is what makes the impossible possible. 30 videos in 30 days with a team of seven sounds chaotic. It wasn't, because of the months of prep before day one:
All 30 thumbnails designed in advance
Every daily challenge mapped to a thumbnail concept
Graphics and outros built before the trip started
Google Calendar blocked out city by city, hour by hour
"I could just be a creator and just be a goofball in front of the camera." That only happens when the infrastructure is already built.
3. Let the story change the plan. Episode 19: Justin got stuck in Toronto's airport. Instead of panicking, the thumbnail designer put "DELAYED" over a photo of Justin at the gate. That became one of the best-performing videos of the series. The Bam Adebayo 83-point game video (completely unplanned) became the highest-performing video by a factor of 10. The structure exists to give you freedom, not to lock you in.
4. Detach from the number, obsess over the input. Justin's rule: if the comments say "this deserves more views" or "here before this blows up,” it's going to blow up. It's just a matter of time. His team has a rule: you're not allowed to blame the algorithm. The only advice worth giving: press publish, do more of what works, do less of what doesn't.
5. Build cash reserves before you take a big swing. The team took the month after the series completely off (he’s still paying everyone) because they'd saved for it. Most creators can't do that. The ability to breathe after a big project is what lets you do the next one well. Sustainability isn't the enemy of ambition; it’s what makes the next swing possible.
Why It Matters
I tell this to any creator that will listen: the skills you build as a creator don't go anywhere, even if platforms do.
By the time he's 23, Justin has had three or four completely different content careers. NBA Live Mobile is gone, the Penn State media company is behind him, the 30 Arenas series is done, and he's already mapped out content through December.
His content, audience, and the platforms he’s posting on might have changed, but there is a certain kind of creator who just keeps finding their footing; Justin is one of them.
📩 And don’t forget: Bottom of the Ninth is back this Friday with the top three stories in sports and business from the week.
See you then,
Tyler & Jake