How NFL Creators Are Using StickToTheModel in Their Content
Something interesting happened over the past year. Without any formal outreach, NFL creators started using our tools in their content. Not as a mention or a passing link — as the backbone of entire articles and video series.
We didn't plan this. But looking at what they built, it makes sense. The tools are free, the data is real, and the output is something an audience can actually interact with.
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The Yahoo Sports / Yardbarker / EssentiallySports Wave
EssentiallySports published a 13-team series where each article walked through a full offseason rebuild using Be A GM. Not a hypothetical write-up — an actual session with real salary cap constraints, dead money decisions, and a 7-round draft at the end. Yardbarker did a similar 9-team series. Yahoo Sports featured the tool in their NFL offseason coverage.
What made these work wasn't the tool itself. It was the structure it gave their content. Instead of writing "the Bears should cut these guys and draft a QB," they could show the cap math, make the cuts, sign replacements, and then draft — all with real numbers. The article writes itself because the decisions are concrete.
A to Z Sports, Purple Insider Podcast, and 32BeatWriters on YouTube have done similar things at smaller scale. The format is the same: pick a team, run the offseason, show what happens.
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Why This Works (When Most Tool Integrations Don't)
Most "use our tool in your content" pitches fall flat because the tool adds work without adding value. This is different for a few reasons.
The content practically generates itself. A Be A GM session for one team produces 15-20 decisions worth discussing. That's a 2,000-word article or a 20-minute video without needing to manufacture talking points. Creators aren't promoting a tool — they're using it as a content framework. The audience can verify and disagree. When a creator says "I'd cut Davante Adams," the reader can go run that same team and see if they'd make the same call. That friction — "I would have done it differently" — drives engagement in a way that static analysis doesn't. Comments sections on these articles are active because people have opinions about the decisions. The data holds up. Salary cap numbers come from Over The Cap. Draft rankings are consensus from multiple outlets. When a beat writer pulls a dead money figure from our tools for a segment, it matches what they'd find doing manual research. That matters for credibility.---
What Formats Are Working
The creators who've gotten the most traction tend to fall into a few patterns:
Video (YouTube/TikTok): Screen-recording a Be A GM session with live commentary. The "I Rebuilt the [Team]" format is basically a subgenre at this point. Works because viewers get to watch someone think through real tradeoffs in real time. Written series: Multi-team offseason previews where each installment covers one team's Be A GM session. EssentiallySports and Yardbarker proved this works at scale — 9 to 13 articles from a single content idea. Podcast research: Quieter but common. Beat writers and podcasters pull cap data for segment prep. Not always credited, but it means the analysis is grounded in real numbers instead of guesswork. Twitter/X: Screenshots of wild draft results, surprising cap situations, or "would you make this trade?" polls. Low-effort, high-engagement.---
If You Make NFL Content
We recently launched a creator partnership program for people who want to do this kind of thing regularly. Free Pro access, early features, direct feedback line. For larger creators, there's a referral program with recurring commissions.
But honestly, you don't need the partnership to start. The tools are free. Go run a Be A GM session for the team your audience cares about, record it or write it up, and see how it does.
The creators who've had the most success didn't wait for a formal program. They just started using the tools and their audience responded.
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Making NFL content? Check out the partnership program or DM us on Twitter.