Updates
Instagram started testing full-length horizontal video today. For athlete-led shows, it's the biggest distribution change the platform has made since Reels.
What Instagram launched
On October 26, Instagram began testing a new format called Features: horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long, built for podcasts, interviews and episodic shows. Here's what shipped and what's coming.
Features — long-form horizontal video, up to 90 minutes. Shows up in the main feed and on Explore. Testing with select U.S. creators now, expanding to tens of thousands.
Linked Reels — up to 8 clips can point to one full video. A fan watches a clip, taps once, and lands in the full episode without leaving Instagram.
Instagram for TV — the TV app now prioritizes Features across Samsung, Fire TV and Google TV, and just launched on Apple TV. Start an episode on your phone, finish it on the big screen.
Series — a dedicated home for episodic content on a creator's profile, with a Watch Next button. Rolling out through the end of 2026.
Live — live streams will soon be recommended to non-followers in the Reels tab.
Instagram is not adding a YouTube-style ad revenue share. Sponsorships stay the way shows make money on the platform.
Why this matters for athlete-led shows
Until today, Instagram was where a show got discovered and YouTube was where it got watched. Clips went viral on IG; the full episode lived somewhere else. That gap is closing.
Clips now have a destination. A 30-second moment from your show can carry a fan straight into the full episode. Your short-form stops being a highlight and starts being a doorway.
The audience you already built gets deeper. Most athletes have their biggest following on Instagram. Features means that following can watch a full episode without being asked to go somewhere new.
Your show lands in the living room. Instagram for TV with cross-device resume puts a podcast on the same screen as a game broadcast. For sponsors, that's logo placement in a lean-back viewing environment, with Instagram view counts to back it up.
Episodes become a catalog. Series gives a show a proper home on the profile, in order, with a Watch Next button. Fans binge; new viewers find episode one.
Live gets discovery. Live shows have only ever reached followers. Non-follower recommendation in the Reels tab changes that math.
What LEAGUE is doing about it
We're moving on this now, not after it rolls out to everyone.
Requesting early access to Features and Series for every show on the LEAGUE network and for our pages, which reach 315M+ monthly viewers.
Restructuring short-form so each episode has a set of linked clips that drive into the full episode, alongside the standalone clips that travel on their own.
Cutting TV-ready masters with sponsor placements built for the big screen.
Organizing every show into seasons so Series hubs are clean the day access lands.
Keeping YouTube as the home for full episodes and treating Instagram as the second window, so no show gives up revenue to chase reach.
If you're a LEAGUE show, nothing is required of you. Our team is handling the formats, the uploads and the sponsor conversations.
The bigger picture
Instagram spent years saying it would never do long-form. It just did, with a TV app, Apple TV, and a clip-to-episode funnel shipping together. That's a platform deciding that shows are the next battleground.
LEAGUE builds shows for exactly this moment: athlete-led, produced to broadcast standard, distributed across a network that already owns the short-form audience. If you want to talk about what this means for your show or your brand, reach us at info@thisisleague.com.
Sources: Instagram announcement via Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Press Publish.
Our network is growing. Meet @gamedays, the latest addition to League Sports & Entertainment, and discover what this expansion means for our brand partners.
League Sports & Entertainment is excited to welcome @gamedays to our growing network, expanding our reach and creating new opportunities to connect brands with sports fans.
With approximately 174,000 Instagram followers and 16 million views in the last 30 days, @gamedays brings substantial visibility to the League network. Its audience is 73% U.S.-based, with 83% between the ages of 18 and 34—strengthening our ability to help partners reach young adult audiences through sports and entertainment.
Sports conversations don’t stop when the game ends. They continue through the highlights, reactions, and shared moments that keep fans connected every day. The addition of @gamedays gives League and our partners another platform to participate in those conversations.
As we continue to grow, our focus remains on connecting brands with audiences through relevant content and meaningful collaborations. Welcoming @gamedays is another step in that direction, and we’re excited about the opportunities ahead.
Follow @gamedays on Instagram and stay tuned for more updates from League Sports & Entertainment.
Interested in partnering with @gamedays or the broader League network? Contact our team to explore opportunities. (partnerships@thisisleague.com)
Audience figures reflect account insights at the time of announcement. Views cover the preceding 30 days.
After four seasons, the Miami Dolphins decided to dismiss head coach Mike McDaniel, following back-to-back losing seasons.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle went on The Set with Terron Armstead where he spoke about former head coach Mike McDaniel. Waddle said, “I got a lot of love for Mike… it was a lot of butting heads when he felt some type of way and I felt some type of way, Mike knows I got nothing but love for him.”
During an interview with his old teammate Terron Armstead on The Set podcast, former teammate Jaylen Waddle shared a bizarre story of Hill working out while dealing with the injury.
While guest appearing on “The Set Show,” with Terron Armstead, Waddle claimed that Hill was doing squats just two months after suffering the serious leg injury. The 27-year-old wide receiver also believes that Tyreek Hill is preparing to have a huge comeback in the NFL.
“He was such a dog on the field, and to see him go down like that is always hard,” said Waddle… “Two months out of his injury, he’s squatting, and I said, ‘This boy different.’ That boy different. He’s gonna come back CRAZY… You know, Cheetah — he feels like people doubting him now.”
During an interview with his old teammate Terron Armstead on The Set podcast, Jordan cleared the air. If the decision were solely up to him, he's confident about where he'll be playing football in 2026.
"94% that I come back as a Saint," Jordan replied. "You know, I've never seen myself in any other colors. Like where else would I rather be? And at the same time, you know, you got to let that play out however it is. You know what I'm saying? Like where lese would I rather be?"
A former New York Knicks guard is claiming that Giannis Antetokounmpo is faking a calf injury in hopes of being traded.
Iman Shumpert has thrown gasoline on an already simmering rumor mill, hinting that Giannis Antetokounmpo’s calf injury might be less about health and more about positioning himself for a blockbuster move to the New York Knicks. For a fanbase starving for a true superstar, the idea is impossible to ignore.
On his “Shump Street” podcast, the former Knicks guard was honest about Giannis’ situation. Iman Shumpert believes Giannis Antetokounmpo shut it down to get traded, framing the injury as a calculated decision rather than pure misfortune.
https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/onsi/news/is-giannis-antetokounmpo-faking-injury-new-york-knicks-trade
Former Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead, who spent three years blocking for Tagovailoa before retiring at the end of last season, recorded an emergency Friday morning episode of his podcast, “The Set With T. Stead,” to share his unique perspective on the franchise-altering move.
“I understand the frustrations from McDaniel and from the Miami Dolphins organization,” Armstead said. “The frustrations from Tua himself with his performances compared to what we've seen from him in the past. The move to bench Tua following the Monday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers isn't surprising to me. It's unfortunate.
“It's disappointing that it has come to this point, but knowing Tua personally, knowing the competitor and worker that he is, knowing how much he loves and cares for the game and for his teammates. For it to get to this point, it hurts. It hurts to see. This is not something I would have ever predicted to have happened in this 2025 season.”
Tyreek Hill initially responded to the news of Tagovailoa’s benching with a cryptic “peace out” post. The veteran wideout seemed to suggest he wasn’t interested in sticking with the Dolphins without Tua. On Wednesday, Hill added a new layer to the mix, writing “T stead fault he wanted to be a podcaster,” on his official X account. The abstruse post implies that Terron Arrmstead’s decision to retire after the 2024 season and focus on his “The Set” podcast led to Tagovailoa’s downfall in 2025.
Terron Armstead catches a stray in Tyreek Hill's latest response to the Dolphins benching Tua Tagovailoa for Quinn Ewers.
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Third & Long' is back. 🎙️ A weekly NFL masterclass, the pod goes beyond headlines. Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead and Super Bowl champ Michael Bennett break down the biggest moments of the season, grade performances, and give raw, unfiltered insight into life in the league.
From the trenches to the locker room, it's the player’s perspective on the NFL’s highest-stakes action.
