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Sports Creator Jenna Bandy Beats Pro Athletes at Their Own Games
She's in a league of her own
Jenna Bandy is an athlete and a creator who loves to compete.
Scroll through her social media accounts—with more than 3 million followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram—and you’ll see Bandy testing her skills in sports ranging from pickleball and basketball to football and golf.
It’s especially impressive that Bandy holds her own against some of world’s top athletes. She went viral last year after besting the likes of Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Killebrew during the NFL Pro Bowl High Stakes pass-catching challenge.
Here, Bandy, who just attended her fourth Super Bowl at the invitation of the NFL, discusses her journey from aspiring pro athlete to sports creator.
It All Started With Hoop Dreams
“I grew up with dreams of being a professional athlete,” says Bandy, who played Division II Basketball. She credits her big brother Jett Brandy—a former catcher with the Los Angeles Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers—for nurturing her competitive drive. “When it comes to sports, I pay homage to my big bro. He taught me everything.”
But after enduring two torn ACLs while playing college ball, Bandy, who grew up in Thousand Oaks, Calif., had to face facts. “My mom and dad were kind of like, ‘Jen, you’ve got to start thinking about other things than basketball and going pro,'” she says.
So, Bandy became a girls’ varsity basketball coach at a high school in Calabasas and assumed that would be her place in the sports world. “I took a lot of pride in being called Coach Jenna or Coach Bandy,” she says.
Finding Success as a Creator
Bandy got interested in developing content after she was recruited to do sports tricks for a friend’s YouTube videos. When he bought himself a million-dollar home, she realized it was possible to make a living online, and she began her own YouTube channel and expanding to other platforms while still working as a coach.
Her profile rose after she achieved a Guinness World Record in 2019 for the farthest football thrown into a target by a female—and the target was a regulation-size NBA hoop. “That in itself is probably the coolest flex, honestly,” she says. “It combines the two sports I love most—football and basketball.”
And in 2021, Bandy’s following grew exponentially after she won two livestream events for creators sponsored by Bleacher Reports’ House of Highlights. The first was a basketball knockout in which she was the only woman competing and the creator with the smallest following by far. The second was a go-kart race. The comps paid off in bragging rights and lots of cash, adding $200,000 to her bank account.
“At that point, I’m like, ‘Mom and dad, I’m a YouTuber. I’m an influencer!” she says.
“It’s funny, because now, in an untraditional way, I am a pro athlete.”
We’re in the Big Leagues Now
Bandy works with the NFL, NBA, WNBA and MLB as well as consumer brands like Gatorade, P&G and AT&T.
Aside from basketball, football is Bandy’s favorite sport, and working with the top league has been fun and fulfilling. “The NFL has been great to me,” she says, citing a marketing team that gives her the freedom to make content she knows will please her audience.
One of her biggest challenges is finding the right mix of unbranded and branded posts. “I have to make sure I don’t just have a page full of brand deals. I’ve got to put out my own content, too. As a consumer, you don’t want to just see brand deals all the time,” she reasons.
What’s more, there is no off-season when you craft content year-round. “I’m going to try to do this for as long as I can. So I definitely pay attention to what I eat, how I am with my fitness,” she says.
Supporting Women in Sports and Beyond
Bandy was playing streetball in New York City at the famed West Fourth Street courts—aka The Cage—a few years ago when a kid approached her. “A little girl in a bright pink sweater comes up with her dad, and she goes, ‘Hi, I’m Sophia.’ And I go, ‘Hi Sophia, I’m Jen.’ She cuts me off, and goes, ‘You’re Jenna Bandy. I watched all your videos.'”
In that moment Bandy realized, “If I am going to be this influencer, I have to have direct influence. I have to create something that is for women.”
That something became Game ChangeHER, an organization devoted to empowering females to change the game. Sophia and her dad were guests at last year’s launch event.
Game ChangeHER supports and uplifts girls and women through digital storytelling and IRL experiences. Last summer, the organization sponsored a creator basketball shootout at the Mall of America and awarded $20,000 to the winning team.
Bandy points out that the girl who hit the winning shot was the influencer with the least amount of followers—just like was at the House of Highlights shootout that helped put her on the radar a few years ago.
“It was a full circle moment,” she says.
