The NFL just handed its first Chief Kindness Officer title to a YouTube creator with 163 million followers on social media platforms. Dhar Mann, the 41-year-old founder of Dhar Mann Studios, was named both Chief Kindness Officer and Creator of the Week for Super Bowl 60 on Jan. 29.
The league partnered him with 160-plus other creators as part of its largest influencer push yet, targeting younger audiences who consume football through social platforms rather than broadcast television.
Details on NFL’s Decision To Name Dhar Mann the Chief Kindness Officer
Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s senior vice president of global influencer and content marketing, framed the strategy clearly: the league is working with YouTube and Snapchat to bring creators to the Bay Area with the goal of empowering them to create original NFL content for young audiences worldwide. Mann’s weekly viewership of 296 million across platforms dwarfs most traditional sports media outlets.
Forbes ranked Mann as the second-highest earning creator in both 2024 and 2025, with an estimated income of $50 million in 2025. His scripted moral-lesson videos generate massive engagement from exactly the demographic the league needs to reach. The controversy is noise compared to the distribution power.
Mann’s role includes leading the “Be Kind to Your Rival” campaign, where fans post positive messages about opposing teams using #KindnessWinsBig. For every qualifying post, Mann will donate $1 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a charitable partner of the NFL since 2012, up to $100,000. The activation turns fan hostility into social media content and charitable giving, a play that benefits all parties regardless of Mann’s past.
Commissioner Roger Goodell told The Hollywood Reporter that creators bring incredible production value and have been well received by fans, particularly those who want to consume highlights and commentary from their favorite YouTubers during the week.
The NFL isn’t chasing respectability with this hire; it’s chasing reach. Dhar Mann Studios delivers 296 million views every week, with three out of four viewers reporting they are inspired to take action after watching. That engagement rate matters more to a league trying to own younger eyeballs than a decade-old fraud case.
Mann founded Dhar Mann Studios in 2018 after his legal troubles, shifting from real estate and his weGrow marijuana supply business to creating morally driven content on YouTube.
The company now employs nearly 200 people and operates from a 125,000-square-foot, three-stage production facility in Burbank. In 2024, he brought in Sean Atkins, former president of MTV and chief digital officer at Discovery, who joined as president and COO and now serves as CEO to scale the operation.
Mann told The Hollywood Reporter the Super Bowl represents one of the rare moments when millions watch, react, and feel something together, and this week is about channeling that passion into moments of kindness, empathy, and sportsmanship.
Whether that message lands depends less on Mann’s redemption arc and more on whether the NFL’s bet on creator-driven content pays off with Gen Z and younger millennials who’ve already abandoned cable.
