Famous tech YouTuber has side gig as Ultimate Frisbee pro
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) >> Professional Ultimate Frisbee players need to have second jobs to make ends meet. Marques Brownlee’s day job just happens to be more lucrative than most.
Brownlee, who plays for the New York Empire in the American Ultimate Disc League, is a tech YouTuber. His channel has 8.9 million subscribers, and he makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year reviewing products and interviewing tech giants like Bill Gates and Elon Musk. His videos average almost 1 million views per day.
In his YouTube bio, Brownlee refers to himself as a geek, tech head and internet personality — but not an athlete. He rarely mentions the sport — usually referred to as just Ultimate — in his videos, but he blocks off ample time for his athletic pursuits. His double life is clearly delineated on his calendar, which he keeps down to the hour, months in advance. YouTube on weekdays. Ultimate on the weekends.
“A lot of the companies I work with, they’re not returning my calls or emails on weekends,” Brownlee told The Associated Press after a recent playoff win for New York. “So weekends are weekends for Ultimate.”
His YouTube career has allowed him to meet fans around the world. And when he’s on the field, his day job is the reason he gets recognized.
At a game in Washington, an opponent, Joe Richards, lined up to guard him. Before play restarted, Richards leaned over to say something.
“I started playing Ultimate because of you,” Richards said.
Brownlee said he’s accustomed to that sort of interaction. He feels a responsibility to use his celebrity to promote Ultimate — a game similar to football that uses a plastic disc instead of an oblong ball.
“We’re not really doing it for the salary,” he said. “This is a promotional thing for the sport.”
So far, however, the league hasn’t done much to leverage Brownlee’s fame.
“I’m not going to say it hasn’t been a thought,” team owner Barbara Stevens said. “He is a professional player for the New York Empire. That is my requirement for him: to show up at games ready to play Ultimate. I know people think I’m crazy, but I’m not going to change my philosophy.”
Brownlee didn’t play in undefeated New York’s playoff win over Toronto on Sunday at its home field, a tiny football stadium in suburban Westchester County that’s also used by Monroe College.
Brownlee’s extreme longshot goal would be to play in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has recognized Ultimate, but the sport didn’t make the shortlist for inclusion in the 2024 Games in Paris, leaving 2028 in Los Angeles as the next possibility.