We Deleted Our YouTube Channel with 600K Subscribers, 2 Years Later We Have 100,000

Dear readers,

Welcome back to the newsletter. If you’re reading this, you have an interest in Snapback Sports or Jack Settleman.

This newsletter is for those who want to watch Snapback Sports build in public. As an added bonus, you will also likely learn about the sports industry.

Now, let’s get into it 👇️

759 Days Ago

Just over 2 years ago, this is what the Snapback Sports YouTube Studio looked like.

After growing our original YT channel to 600,000+ subscribers, I hit the delete button.

TLDR: We had grown it via shorts that were unrelated to our content and our long form YT viewership was 400 views per video.

For the full back story

Yesterday, we crossed 100,000 subscribers.

Humans are funny. We have what they call “Round Number Bias”. We celebrate when we cross these made up milestones. The reason 100K has been the number we’ve been chasing for the last 2 years is because YouTube sends us a plaque at 100,000.

In today’s newsletter, I’m going to share all the learnings on our grind to 100K, why you should start creating on YouTube ASAP and what’s next for our channel.

But first, a special thanks to everyone who has poured in hours and hours and hours of work from Matt and Ryan editing these mini movies. To Kevin and all our Thumbnail designers. To Trent who we worked with in a YT consulting capacity. To all our talented people who have appeared on the channel. To the schools, leagues and teams who gave us access. And of course to the 100,000 subscribers.

But the person who deserves the most recognition…the mastermind behind it all.

The Intern

No, he’s not an intern. No, he’s not all the mean things I’ve called him over the years.

No, he’s not available for hire @ ESPN @ CBS @ NBC @ anyone else

That’s because he’s the greatest nepo-hire of all time and you can’t take him from me.

Yes, my little brother, Mr. Casey Settleman has gone from a shitty little intern to running one of the most powerful YT channels in sports.

So proud of him, his growth, his intelligence, his effort, his putting up with me when I haven’t eaten.

If you’re reading this Csett (prob not bc you’re still a little shit), just know you deserve this and I’m extraordinarily proud of you.

NOTE: I wrote this intro weeks ago but then I had this genius idea. Why would I give all the tips about YouTube when I could go to the mastermind himself? I interviewed Casey and it’s all below. And I know he’s reading now because he’s obsessed with himself.

Reminiscing on The Journey

Note: If you’re here for learnings, tips and why everyone should start a YT channel today, you can skip this section.

Jack: “How does it feel to finally hit 100,000 subscribers?”

Casey: “Everyone says enjoy the journey. This is one of those moments that they are definitely right about. To me, there is no difference between 99, 100, or 101K subscribers. It actually doesn’t even feel half as good as you’d expect.”

Jack: “What are you going to do with your 100K YT Subscriber Plaque?”

Casey: “I don’t want one”

Casey: “I think there’s way more important moments coming in the future that I’m excited for and 100K feels more like an expected step for us. I’d rather hang a photo of Texas Tech welcoming Snapback to the 806 in my room than the plaque.”

My commentary: Jokes aside, it’s true. You have to enjoy the journey and the 100K doesn’t feel anything like you’d expect it to. It is nice to commemorate and we’ll be circulating plaques to the team members who made this all happen.

Jack: “What was the best and worst moment since we restarted the channel?”

Casey: “They actually happened at the same time. The best thing that ever happened to the channel was when we posted our Super Bowl video in 2024. It was a video with the concept of “leveling up” from F tier influencer to A tier. It sucked, it wasn’t who we were and definitely not who we wanted to be. So while it was the worst moment and video on the channel, it led to a realization. We aren’t Sketch or speed type content creators, we aren’t clip farmers, those people don’t love sports. We love sports, we love being authentic and while it slows our growth, it builds the community that we truly want. I realized if we didn’t make content we enjoyed, we’d burn out so it was the best and worst moment all in one.”

Jack: “Any other highlights?”

Casey: “Watching a Giants game from McCovey cove was a highlight. It showed we could get creative and highlight a pretty random game. Brazil was a highlight, our first 500K view video. Tennessee was a highlight, it was our first time with real access on the CFB Tour. Penn-Yale was a highlight - made us realize there’s many ways we can go with this, big and small. Talladega. We got 40K views on a NASCAR video, in our style of video. We had 5 people there and it was the first time we thought IcyVert could work.”

Jack: “What’s your favorite video we’ve ever filmed?”

Casey: “India/Pakistan cricket game. The people were so friendly. The old man next to us was so genuine and wanted us to learn all about cricket. Was awesome to experience a new sport, new cultures, and reminded me why we do this.”

Jack: “Did you expect it to take 2 years? Would you have signed up for this timeline 2 years ago?”

Casey: “It could’ve gone a little quicker. I’m most satisfied with the fact that we created our own format and clearly people are enjoying that format. Other creators are even copying our system which is incredible (and encouraged). It’s always going to take longer to build something from scratch instead of copying others. I think I would’ve signed up for that timeline.”

What We Learned from Creating 102 YouTube Videos

Jack: “What have you learned over the last 2 years”

Casey: “A lot.”

I’m going to break down Casey’s thoughts into 7 sections below.

1. You Have to Love What You’re Doing or You Will Burnout

   • While it can seem like we’re living everyone’s dream job…it’s because we are! Do I wish we were flying first class, not sharing beds in motels or skipping lunch every time we film a CFB video? Sure. But we could also film videos going to the coolest sporting events in the world forever.

   • I can also acknowledge that everyone can’t start by doing the most fun content like traveling the world going to sporting events. This point has just as much to do with being authentic as it does the type of content. We burnt out in 2 months from trying to replicate Mr. Beast or Jesser type formats.

   • Essentially, if you can’t film a type of content for 5 years without getting paid, you don’t love it and you shouldn’t do it.

2. Get used to living without answers

   • “If you want things to add up, be an accountant”

   • While we believe the YT algorithm is the best in the world, there is no perfect science to it. Out of 100 videos, there was only one time where we knew the video would perform tremendously. Brazil (Our most viewed video ever). Other than that one, you’ll constantly be questioning if your intro, title and thumbnail were the best they could be.

   • You will NEVER have the answer before you hit post

3. Packaging is Key

   • Good content will win but if no one clicks it, you can’t win. Packaging is the combination of the title and thumbnail. Casey says Packaging is equally important to the level of content.

4. Listening to your audience requires intelligence

   • There’s a way to listen to your audience that can be advantageous. There’s also a way to listen that will be a disadvantage. We get 100 comments a video telling us where to head next. The reality is that your audience doesn’t full know what they do or don’t want. So it’s that intelligence of listening to your audience and sorting through the stuff you shouldn’t pay attention to and really serving them with the stuff they truly want.

5. Don’t be afraid to make an ask, IF you deserve it

   • As long as you’re serving your audience first, you can make an ask (to subscribe, to like or even to buy something). We feel comfortable asking for a subscribe early in the video because 1. we put a lot of effort into the videos and think we’re creating great content and 2. we think they’d like future content if they clicked this one 3. (bonus): we normally are doing a giveaway because we love giving back to our fans

6. Put those blinders on

   • There will always be someone with more views or more subscribers and comparison is the thief of joy. This is probably a general life lesson but with YouTube it is so visually obvious. You can literally see how many views or subs someone has. Looking above or even below you will not be productive in the slightest. We control what we can control.

7. I don’t know if I’m actually a YouTuber

   • IDK if I actually enjoy being a “YouTuber” in the way Mr. Beast does. Which video is next isn’t always on the top of my mind. I do enjoy trying to figure out where we can go to create the best video.

   Commentary from Jack: I think this was a big moment for Casey of self-reflection and also of great honesty and transparency. It’s also a perfect segway to the next segment. But I also disagree with his statement…

   A YouTuber or YouTube video 10 years ago is NOT what it is today. You don’t have to have funky thumbnails, you don’t need quick pace editing. YouTube is just another (the best) platform for content and I think maybe Casey hasn’t recognized that because he doesn’t use crazy editing techniques or video formats, that that doesn’t make him any less of a YouTube mastermind than his forefathers.

Why You Need to Start a YT Channel ASAP

Jack: “How many Hours have you spent working on or thinking about the channel?”

Casey: “6500 hours. 3500 to go before I’m an expert.”

Jack: “Why should someone start a YT channel today?”

Casey: “YouTube is taking over everything. Every single person is going to have the app on their TV, phone and computer. Sports are moving there. Politics will live on YT rather than cable or whatever.”

Jack: “Why do you need a YT channel?”

Casey: “Corporations, brands, even the biggest of the big, need to start ASAP. It’s gonna be way cheaper and easier to do it on YT right now! People pay a gazillion dollars for commercials. Meanwhile, everyone knows, if you target a specific audience through a YT channel with 500K loyal subscribers, the chance of advertisers converting is WAY higher than a commercial to 10M people. Massive advertising budgets can’t cover YT yet so they have to give it to TV even though it’s a lot of empty calories. That will come to YT in the future.”

Jack: “Do you think it’s too late to start a YouTube channel?”

Casey: “No, not even close. The TAM (total addressable market) is going to grow at a quicker rate, than the creators that are joining and making videos. Example: 1M more sports fans may join and be active on YouTube over the next month meanwhile there won’t be 1M creators creating awesome sports content.”

Casey went on to elaborate on why YouTube, why it’s not too late and what you can gain from starting a channel:

There’s going to be a lot of $ in it if you’re into that sort of thing. You can also do something you enjoy. You shouldn’t join solely for the money but if you’re comfortable turning on the camera, there’s going to be opportunity there. You can also create valuable skills along the way, build confidence, create a community that you weren’t in before. There’s plenty of positives besides $ and influence.

You can always say you’re fighting an up hill battle - our budget compared to who we are beating out have 100x the budget we have. There’s plenty of companies with way bigger budgets who suck at making YT videos. It definitely takes a higher level of commitment but there’s so many examples of people starting from 0 with 0 resources. This isn’t a closed economy, if you’re consistent and committed to getting better. Someone with $10 can make a better YT video than someone with a million dollars. 

What’s Next

Jack: “What’s next?”

Casey: “So much. I want teams and leagues and different sports begging us to show off their experience. We’ve shown the impact we can create with our videos. We plan on going international. This also gives us a vehicle to experience new cultures and parts of the world which we really enjoy. I also want to continue building the Snapback YT ecosystem so we can keep creating content of things we enjoy. Trivia, Talking about the company through Snapback Chop, a betting channel in the future. World Cup Content is what I’m most excited for next.”

Jack: “What’s your prediction for subscribers in 1 year from now”

Casey: “200-250K. (I made him give me an exact #) - 213,000

Jack: “What’s your prediction for subscribers in exactly the same amount of time it took us to get to 100K (759 days)?”

Casey: “350,000”

Jack: “What about in 5 years?”

Casey: “I will be married with a kid god willing. IDK”

Jack: “What about 10 years?”

Casey: “In our own way, I want to look similar to Barstool - not similar to their content but the impact and brand equity that they have in the sports media space, I hope we have by then. We have our own shows at CFB games. We fly private into places (actually I don’t want that, I want first class I’m out on private)”

Jack: “What’s your dream YouTube video?”

Casey: “Honestly my dream video is like, just to have someone following us around during our Super Bowl experience with everybody that helped us make it this far there. And we’re all in a suite and the viewers just care because they love us for us.

I’d rather not be with everyone if the ravens are playing to be honest. But if they’re not, we’re doing events, trivia, our show and it’s just a behind the scenes of our Super Bowl week, stuff in the Airbnb and it’s a 1M view video because people just wanna see our experience.

OGs get to come, new editors don’t get to come. People who grinded on weekends, sharing beds at comfort inns, get to come. 

At that point we’ve made it and that’s the dream.”

Jack: “Any other dream videos?”

Harry Kane comes to the Super Bowl with us - he decides he wants to experience it with us.

Jack: “Is he gonna retire soon to make that possible?”

Casey: “No he’s the best striker in the world.

Or like 2v2 golf video, Me and Harry Kane vs. You and Garreth Bale”

Jack: “Who wins?

Casey: “I think Harry is better than Garreth.”

Jack: “But I’m better than you?”

Casey: “Yeah but in an alt shot, we work off together well, we have good chemistry.”

I’ll close out this in depth piece on our journey to 100K with my favorite quote from Casey.

Casey: “The next plaque I think I’ll be happy about (at 1M subscribers)”

And here’s what I wrote in my notes:

‘No he won’t’

And that’s the beauty in it. You better enjoy the journey, love the content and be as happy at 1 subscriber as you are at 100K because none of it will fill the void if you’re not in it for the right reasons.