Skip to main content

Rob Pilgrim

Jun 26, 2026

9:42
It had moved online and there it found an audience of billions.
9:49
You could make comparisons to Pelé and Maradona and arguably another debate about who was the greatest of all time, but you have to remember that this debate was taking place in an era before the internet, before any social media.
10:01
And now all of that debate is funneled through a platform like Instagram, where people not only comment underneath the videos of Ronaldo and Messi, who they think is better, but even across all football videos around the app.

5 MINS LATER

15:24
He chose David Beckham's club.
15:29
In many ways, I think that was probably part of the appeal for Messi to come to into Miami and be around David Beckham, knowing that that's probably the journey that he'll want to take in his career to leave a legacy, to move into business or ownership or management.
15:44
And so I don't think it's an accident that you've had these two collide, but actually very smart and strategic on both parties to bring it all together and then win trophies, as we've seen the two of them do together.
15:54
So, yeah, it's a match made in heaven.
9:24
Can you give us one or multiple major wins and perhaps a challenge or a surprise or a disappointment that maybe you faced while you were there?
9:33
Yeah, so wins, I think putting Emir Sport, so all the partners that came from our region, on the map globally for YouTube and for Google was not easy.
9:46
And so again, explaining the value of global football to the organization and delivering that through things like the Women's Champions League deal we did with DAZN in UEFA, which I was particularly proud of us pulling off because we brought women's sport to a whole new audience.
10:01
The Champions League example for the men's format with BT Sport was again really, really powerful in showing how we could work with the broadcast industry.
10:11
I think I was always very proud of the democracy we were able to drive as well.
10:15
So this idea that any creator, small or large, could really grow within YouTube.
10:23
I mean, people like Robbie from Arsenal Fan TV, having a global platform and then getting a TV deal with Channel 4.

59 MINS LATER

69:52
But how are you advising, telling sports players therefore to maximize its resources, to maximize this reach and newfound scale that maybe working with Meta more closely might be giving them.

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.