Did Mr. Beast Buy the NFL? Viral YouTube Stunt Explained
It looks like Mr. Beast didn't actually take his sports purchase to the endzone.
The YouTuber—real name Jimmy Donaldson—raised eyebrows when he uploaded a video titled "I bought the NFL," in which he and the organization's commissioner Roger Goodell spoke at a press conference announcing the news.
"Today marks an historic first," Goodell said in the clip shared to YouTube Sept. 3. "The NFL is now under the ownership of one individual, Jimmy Donaldson, Mr. Beast."
And Mr. Beast reiterated the update when he took the podium shortly after, saying, "That is right, I officially own the NFL."
"I think it's time for some changes," he continued. "So, for my very first change, we are going to be changing the roster from 53 players to 54, and giving that new roster spot to a YouTuber."
The video then cut to several YouTubers such as Haley Baylee, iShowSpeed, Dude Perfect and Brooke Monk being drafted to various NFL teams and attending the squads' training camps.
And while an initially hesitant Goodell admitted to being "subscribed" to Mr. Beast's new pitch after watching the influencers rise to the challenge, the businessman and content creator ultimately shared that he didn't really buy the league. (The NFL actually belongs to over 537,000 stakeholders, with each of the 32 teams being controlled by one principal owner, apart from the Green Bay Packers, which is publicly governed by a board of directors.)
In fact, the video was actually a campaign to promote YouTube gaining the rights to broadcast the upcoming NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 5.
"For the first time ever, Chargers vs. Chiefs will be free on YouTube," Mr. Beast told viewers in the clip. "Make sure you watch it. It's literally free, why not?"
And as for whether Mr. Beast could buy an NFL team if he wanted to? If he can't afford the purchase yet, he's certainly getting there.
Back in February, the 27-year-old—who boasts over 430 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel—confirmed that he had become a billionaire "on paper." However, he mostly doesn't keep that money for himself.
"In my actual bank account, I have less than a million dollars," he explained during an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast at the time. "I just like to reinvest it all."
He added, "I also have some assistants and things like that, so I just try to pay myself what I spend personally a month just to stay even."
For more stars who have gotten candid about how much money they make, keep reading.
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Tay shared a photo of her alleged earnings, in which she earned $1,024,298: $486,558 from messages, $511,003 from subscriptions and $26,736 in tips.
She shared in June 2025 that a sex toy company once offered her $100,000 to do advertisements for them, which she turned down. The deal would've included two in-feed Instagram posts, two TikTok posts, two Instagram Story posts and two YouTube integrations.
The YouTuber—who boasts over 430 million subscribers on the platform—shared that he had become a billionaire "on paper" in February 2025.
However, he explained that he mostly doesn't keep that money for himself.
"In my actual bank account, I have less than a million dollars," he explained during an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast at the time. "I just like to reinvest it all."
The OnlyFans model revealed that she made over $43 million in just one year on the adult subscription platform. In fact, she even shared screenshots of her earnings from November 2023 to November 2024, which included a $4.7 million paycheck from one subscriber alone.
The Dance Moms alum revealed that she made "six digits a month, easy" on YouTube videos as a 13-year-old. She added in the 2024 documentary Child Star that she now posts up to 300 times a day on Snapchat as part of her influencing career.
The TikToker revealed he has a net worth of over seven figures.
"You guys can keep calling me annoying," he quipped in a July 2024 video. "Being annoying has made me a millionaire."
The makeup artist revealed he earns $50,000 when he hosts a TikTok live—which he does four or five times a week—through selling cosmetics and gifting from fans.
"I'll make bacon in the morning and make $50,000," Jeffree told the Cancelled podcast in November 2024. "There's some times where I don't sell at all, and I'll just make bacon in my kitchen, in my bathrobe, in my little slippers, we'll just hang out and I'll just chat and I'll do a Q&A."
Other times, he's making bank by offering discounts on his own branded makeup products.
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The OnlyFans model—who made headlines in December 2024 for sleeping with 101 men in one day—told E! News that she earns a "good amount" off of creating NSFW content on the subscription-based platform.
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She's made over $610,000 in 14 years on the platform in ad revenue alone, with less than a million subscribers.
The ASMR creator shared that she made $3,948.05 on TikTok in September 2024 (with nearly 400,000 followers) and $910.95 on YouTube in the same month (with nearly 27,000 subscribers).
The Minnesota YouTuber made over $193,000 on the adult platform OnlyFans from January 2020 to December 2022, she shared in a Medium article.
As explained on The Really Good Podcast in 2023, the content creator has scored $50,000 on a single sponsored video.
The chronic illness advocate told Salary Transparency Street in 2023 that she earns about $150,000 a year with less than 40,000 Instagram followers.
The comedian charges between $5,000 and $10,000 for a sponsored video, he told Salary Transparency Street.
The YouTuber shared that she made $4,746.94 from monetization on the platform from August 2023 to January 2024 (from a total of 923,700 video views), with under 30,000 subscribers.
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