It’s Monday and EA Sports College Football is making its triumphant return with actual athletes on its team rosters—a special feature that came with a $6 million NIL price tag.

GRAND FINALE

MatPat has officially retired as the host of Game Theory. Here’s what’s next:

On March 9, MatPat hung up his hat as the beloved host of Theorists videos—but that doesn’t mean fans won’t see him around.

The announcement: In his “Style Theory finale,” MatPat (aka Matthew Patrick) set a date for his first post-retirement appearance. The creator will head back to the Style Theorists channel on April 25 to co-host Creators in Fashion, an event designed to highlight influencers who are “building businesses and brands on par with some of the biggest names that you see in Vogue.”

• Patrick will present Creators in Fashion alongside Style Theorists’ new full-time host: Amy Roberts. (Roberts has been with Style Theorists since the very beginning; you can check out her best moments on the channel here.)

The context: MatPat’s retirement announcement hit YouTube in January, when he confessed to viewers that “as much as I love you…I don’t love late nights.” The creator’s decision to take a step back had been in the works for a while. Patrick and his wife Stephanie sold their brand to startup Lunar X in December 2022.

Why it matters: MatPat’s retirement follows a long string of burnout-driven creator departures. But while many influencers have chosen to place their channels on hiatus, MatPat’s strategy provides another example of how creators can transition from on-screen fame to off-screen careers.

• Patrick’s decision to pass the baton to creators like Roberts is comparable to tactics adopted by Kwebbelkop and Ludwig Ahgren. The former star has been preparing for his own (eventual) retirement by replacing himself with a virtual avatar, while Ahgren is gradually transitioning team members from roles at his content-driven business, Mogul Moves, to positions at his production studio, Offbrand.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• The Boxoffice Network has a unique strategy for selling movie tickets—one that brings in roughly 35 billion yearly views on social media. (Tubefilter)
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• Boxing legend Mike Tyson will go head-to-head with “The Problem Child” Jake Paul in a July 20 boxing match that will be broadcast live on Netflix. (Tubefilter)
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• Linktree is testing an affiliate marketing program that will offer creators commissions ranging between 12% and 15%. (Tubefilter)
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• Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly hopes to team up with executives like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to purchase TikTok. (Engadget)

COLUMNS • MILLIONAIRES 📈

These creators are all about walking (and cooking) on the wild side

How it started: According to Slawek Kalkraut, he and Krzysztof Szymanski have always had a “passion for cooking.” The twist: the two Men with the Pot almost exclusively make culinary magic in the great outdoors—preferably with as much meat, bread, and fire as possible.

• Kalkraut and Szymanski had been camping and cooking together for a while when they decided to film one of their outdoor meals. At first, the duo just planned to show a few friends how they managed to whip up delicious dishes in the woods.
  
  

• But after receiving some “lovely feedback,” Kalkraut and Szymanski decided they might as well post a few clips on Facebook. And, while they were at it, the creators figured they might as well post on TikTok, too.
  
  
  

• That off-the-cuff decision changed everything. According to Kalkraut, the duo’s first TikTok video “went straight to tens of thousands” views. By the time that number had climbed to 300,000, he and Szymanski realized they had created something special.

How it’s going: These days, Kalkraut and Szymanski are full-time content creators with 17 million followers and subscribers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. They’ve been 100% focused on Men with the Pot since 2020 (when they quit their jobs in the hotel biz) and, in Kalkraut’s words, “are very happy with it and enjoying still.”

What’s up next: Now, he and Szymanski are gearing up to take Men with the Pot beyond social media (and even outside the woods!):

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

The Why Files has unraveled its latest mystery: limited-edition footwear

The collaboration: Cryptid-inspired mugs and Hecklefish Post-its aren’t enough for The Why Files’ biggest fans. To satisfy their avid fanbase of 3.4 million followers, the mystery-themed YouTube channel has teamed up with sneakerhead platform SoleSavy and producer Garrixon Studios to release a limited-edition sneaker.

The product: The aptly-named Hecklekicks are inspired by The Why Files’ mascot—aka the Hecklefish—and come in a black, white, and red colorway with Why Files branding. Buyers who purchase a pair will also receive an “exclusive Hecklefish pin.”

• Fans interested in outfitting their feet in Napa leather, Italian suede, and an undeniable air of mystery will want to snap up a pair of Hecklekicks before it’s too late. The shoes went on sale Saturday and will only be in stock for 8 more days.

The big picture: As more influencers seek to diversify their income through product drops and retail brands, investors and startups are seizing the opportunity to facilitate distribution and fill knowledge gaps.

• SoleSavy and Garrixon’s creator collaborations are a clear example of that trend: the companies’ joint venture launched last year as a “first-of-kind end-to-end solution” designed to help creators like CJ So Cool and Jesser “successfully enter the sneaker market” (per Garrixon founder and president John Lee).
  
  

• Industry power players are catching onto creators’ influence over retail consumers, too. Journeys recently teamed up with Dream SMP vet Karl Jacobs to debut comic book-inspired Vans, while D’Amelio Brands scored $6 million in venture capital to launch D’Amelio Footwear last year.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

Making magic: Creator Upload hosts Josh Cohen and Lauren Schnipper kicked off March by sitting down with one of the most-watched magicians in history: Justin Flom. With over 50 million followers and roughly 16 billion views across social media, Flom is undisputedly a social media wizard.

Tune in: Check out the latest installment of Creator Upload to discover how Flom gets recommendation algorithms to work for him like magic. It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.