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If you opened your phone on February 3, scrolled past an AI-generated image depicting Jimmy Donaldson—better known as YouTube’s MrBeast—handing a stack of cash to a fictional East Carolina football player, it would’ve been fair to assume your college football Internet brain rot had reached maximum levels. 

The seemingly harmless photo was captioned: “Could MrBeast Spend $100M & Make ECU a National Champion?” MrBeast himself quickly caught wind of the idea, resharing the photo with his own caption: “Should I do this? 😂”

In 2026, the lines between real and fake have become blurred. Our social media feeds are inundated with AI dancing dog videos. The “6-7” trend has captured the hearts and minds of elementary-aged children, much to the confusion and annoyance of said children’s parents. Hell, Indiana just went 16-0 and won a national title. “Message board fever dreams” and “actual athletic department strategy” might as well be the same as far as I’m concerned. 

The rumor is absurd, hilarious, and totally plausible given the state of college football: What if the world’s biggest YouTuber decided to turn his hometown East Carolina Pirates into a cash-rich, juggernaut? Could one man (and 465 million subscribers) flip the G5 on its head and make ECU a college football power? 

A few years ago, the world thought Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying a fifth-tier Welsh soccer club was a made-for-TV bit destined for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But now, Wrexham is a global brand in the EFL Championship and has a massive following thanks to the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries. 

The Wrexham model works because people love the story. The “Beast Carolina” Stunt might work because you’ve turned the modern-day transfer portal and idea of roster construction into a Squid Game challenge, with the winners getting a spot on the most-watched college football team of all time. 

If Reynolds and McElhenney can make the world care about Welsh soccer, imagine what MrBeast can do with a purple and gold YouTube-funded pirate ship sailing the money-rich seas of modern college football. 

Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, knows East Carolina football all too well. As noted by 247Sports, he grew up in Greenville, North Carolina and his mother previously worked for the school as an academic advisor for athletes. His team often uses ECU’s facilities for their content and, back in 2022, he partnered with the college to launch a credentialing program for the creator economy.

Reportedly, Donaldson’s team has also met with East Carolina athletics in the past, essentially pitching them on an idea to fund a team (or teams) within the athletic department. In return, Donaldson and his team would be given access to facilities to create content around the journey.

College football spending has far surpassed the initial $20.5 million revenue-sharing caps put in place by the House settlement. Programs with deep-pocketed boosters can essentially reap the benefits of “unlimited money,” and while exact dollar figures can be difficult to nail down, it’s widely known that the elite programs like Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, and, famously, Texas Tech, spend a lot more.

So, in theory, a mega-booster like MrBeast could airdrop a $100 million cash injection into a program like East Carolina. I’m sure it would also ruffle a few feathers across the sport and specifically within the AAC, which has never seen anything close to that level of spend. But it would be perfectly legal. And given MrBeast’s track record for big budget YouTube videos, it’s fair to assume that he could turn a premise like this into a gazillion views.

But I do shudder at types of challenges MrBeast and his team might cook up…

Squid Game Offseason Conditioning Tests

Oklahoma Drills for a Suitcase Full of Money

Spring Game Fear Factor

In general, MrBeast relies on absurd, headline-grabbing scenarios to drive millions of views. But there’s a real question about whether that approach to a college football team—essentially, football for the sake of content—would move the needle on the field. 

The rise of Wrexham AFC didn’t just happen because the club bought better players (although that did help). It happened because the new owners turned a down-on-its-luck Welsh soccer club into a content factory.

The Hollywood Effect was real, with the sponsors flocking to do deals with Wrexham. As Wrexham climbed up the English football pyramid, better sponsors came in, with the likes of United Airlines and TikTok signing on with the Red Dragons.

For something like “Beast Carolina” to work, MrBeast would need to do more than just throw money at East Carolina football. He’d need to do what he does best: turn absurdities into viral content. If the Pirates decided to hitch their wagon to MrBeast, I fully believe they’d be the spectacle of the college football world and the Internet’s CFB Team.

Let me be perfectly clear: The Wrexham Model and MrBeast Stunt are not an apples-to-apples comparison.

As a soccer connoisseur myself, I was highly skeptical of what Reynolds and McElhenney set out to do when they commandeered Wrexham. But to their major credit, the ownership group did not just buy a soccer club, kickstart an ultra-successful docuseries, and attempt to ride that momentum to Premier League glory in order to cash out their investment. Instead, they appear to have taken a genuine interest in the club, slogging through rainy Welsh nights with the club toiling in League Two, spending time with locals in the neighborhood pub, and creating jobs for people in the community who desperately needed them.

Wrexham wants to be a Premier League power (someday), but not at the detriment of the club or community. “Beast Carolina” would involve breaking college football even further in hopes of juicing the YouTube algorithm.

In the end, the likelihood of the MrBeast experiment happening feels as inexplicable as the plan itself. Would East Carolina’s $100 million YouTube rise, Feastables Stadium backdrop, and ultra-wealthy roster be the thing of Pirate fans’ dreams or an algorithm-fueled nightmare? 

You be the judge.

In our latest episode, we're joined by John Kurtz of the Open For Business podcast and newsletter to talk about the state of the Big 12 conferenced heading into the 2026 college football season. We discuss whether Oregon's playoff shutout of Texas Tech will leave a lasting mark on the Big 12's reputation, the importance of BYU's upcoming game against Notre Dame in Week 7, the scoop on what happened at Kansas State last season, and a hypothetical future state with North Dakota State in the conference.

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