6 Ways to Make $5,000+ Online During the NFL Preseason

Football season does not start when the first regular-season snap is taken. The money clock starts ticking in July when training camps open and millions of fans start searching online for information about their favorite teams. If you understand how affiliate marketing works, the NFL preseason is one of the most concentrated, predictable traffic events of the entire calendar year, and almost nobody is targeting it.

In this video, Alston walks through how to do it using the Chicago Bears as a real-world example, from their training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, all the way to the merchandise fans will buy before a single regular-season game is played. There are six specific ways to earn affiliate commissions from the preseason, and every single one of them starts with content you can create right now, even if you have never made a dollar online.

What You’ll Walk Out With

The six NFL preseason affiliate angles Alston covers in this video, with real program names
The specific affiliate programs available for rental cars, RVs, hotels, game tickets, and merchandise
How to use sports talk radio and ESPN to build a content library without being a professional analyst
Why affiliate links do not raise the price for your audience and how that makes them easy to recommend
A strategy for carrying your preseason content into the regular season and continuing to earn all year
Honest drawbacks of this approach so you know what you are actually signing up for
The one tool that tells you exactly which online opportunity fits your skills today, at finder.platformproof.com

Way 1: Rental Cars for Fans Traveling to Training Camp

The first affiliate angle Alston identifies is rental cars. His example is simple and concrete: if you live in Wisconsin and want to attend Bears training camp in Bourbonnais, Illinois, that is about a three-and-a-half to four-hour drive. Many fans will not make that trip in their personal vehicle, especially if they are flying in from another city. They will need a rental car.

Rental car companies have affiliate programs. You can sign up, get a unique link, and then create content that naturally includes that link. A YouTube video titled “Everything You Need to Know About Bears Training Camp 2024” can mention, in passing, that fans driving in from out of town might want to check rental car options. You include your affiliate link in the description. When someone clicks that link and books a car, you earn a commission. The customer does not pay more. The rental company handles everything. You just created the content that connected them.

The key insight Alston shares is that you do not need to build a travel brand to make this work. You just need to answer the specific question fans are already asking. “Where is Bears training camp?” “How far is Bourbonnais from Chicago?” “What do you need to bring to NFL training camp?” Those are real searches. If your content answers them, and your affiliate link is in the description, you have a legitimate chance at a commission.

Way 2: RV Rentals for the Road Trip Experience

RV rentals are a separate affiliate category and a separate audience segment. Some fans do not want a hotel. They want to park an RV near the practice facility, tailgate, and make it a full trip. RV rental companies also run affiliate programs, and this is a higher-ticket item than a standard rental car, which means commissions can be significantly higher per booking.

The content angle here is straightforward. You can create a blog post or YouTube video specifically about how to do an NFL training camp road trip in an RV. You cover the logistics: where to park, what to bring, how close you can get to the practice fields, what the atmosphere is like. Within that content you recommend a specific RV rental company through your affiliate link. People who are planning that type of trip will find your content through search, and a percentage of them will book through your link.

This is also content that works year after year. Training camp happens every summer. If you create a solid piece of content around RV travel to NFL training camp, it can generate affiliate commissions for multiple preseasons, not just one. That is the compounding benefit of content-based affiliate marketing that Alston emphasizes throughout the video.

Way 3: Hotels Near Training Camp and Game Venues

Once you have covered fans traveling by car or RV, the next group to serve is fans who want a hotel. Hotels.com has an affiliate program. So do Booking.com, Expedia, and several other travel platforms. This is one of the most well-established affiliate categories in existence, and the NFL preseason gives you a very specific, high-intent audience to target.

Alston suggests creating content like “The Five Closest Hotels to Olivet Nazarene University During Bears Training Camp.” That is a hyper-specific piece of content. It has low competition because most travel publishers are not thinking about NFL training camp at that level of detail. But fans who are planning the trip are absolutely searching for exactly that information. If your article or video answers it, and you include a hotels.com affiliate link, you are positioned to earn commissions from a genuinely interested audience.

The same logic applies to fans attending preseason games at the stadium itself. Fans traveling to Soldier Field for a preseason game will want to know where to stay nearby. A post covering the best hotels within walking distance of Soldier Field, with affiliate links to each property, serves a real need for fans and creates a real income opportunity for you. Alston notes that parking around Soldier Field is also something fans research, which opens up yet another content angle within the same general topic.

Way 4: NFL Merchandise Through NFLShop.com

This is the affiliate angle most people overlook because it feels too obvious. But obvious is not the same as saturated. NFLShop.com has an affiliate program. When fans are heading to training camp or getting ready for the preseason, they want new gear. They want the newest jersey of the quarterback everyone is talking about. They want a hat, a hoodie, a flag for their tailgate setup. This is not hypothetical demand. This is predictable, seasonal spending that happens every single year.

Alston gives some creative examples beyond just jerseys and hats. Bear-branded spatulas. Branded grates for the grill. Novelty items with team logos that fans buy for their kitchens or their tailgates. NFL Shop carries a wide range of these items, and they all represent commission opportunities. Your content does not need to be a product review. It can be a video about Bears tailgating traditions that mentions, by the way, if you want to grab some Bears gear before the preseason, here is a link to the official shop.

The important thing Alston clarifies is that your affiliate link does not increase the price the customer pays. This is worth understanding clearly. When someone clicks your affiliate link and buys a $60 jersey, they pay $60. NFLShop.com pays you a commission out of their margin. The customer experience is identical whether they click your link or go directly to the site. That makes your recommendation completely low-friction. You are not asking your audience to pay extra. You are just being the connector between a fan and a purchase they were going to make anyway.

Way 5: Preseason Game Tickets Through Ticketmaster and StubHub

There are four games in the NFL preseason. Alston points out that even though many fans do not love preseason football from a competitive standpoint, preseason games are actually a great way for families to take younger kids to their first NFL game. Tickets are cheaper. The crowds are slightly more relaxed. It is a real NFL experience without the full playoff-intensity price tag.

Ticketmaster has an affiliate program. StubHub has an affiliate program. If you create content that helps fans figure out how to attend a preseason game, whether that is a guide to buying tickets for the first time, a breakdown of the best seats for families with young kids, or a simple “here is how preseason tickets work” explainer, you can include your affiliate links to both platforms and earn commissions on any ticket purchases that come through your content.

This is another angle that does not require deep sports expertise. You do not need to analyze the quarterbacks. You just need to explain the logistics of attending a preseason game, which is information any fan would want. How much do tickets cost? Where do you park? What time should you arrive? Can you bring food in? Those questions get searched every summer, and content that answers them has real staying power.

Way 6: Building a Content Hub Around Team Storylines

The sixth way is the one that ties everything else together and sets you up for income that extends beyond the preseason. Alston calls it creating a content network around your team’s storylines. The idea is simple: every NFL team enters the preseason with a set of questions that fans are obsessing over. Is the kicker situation sorted out? How is the young receiver developing? Which defensive lineman earned a starting spot through camp? These are the discussions happening on sports talk radio, on ESPN.com, and in every barbershop and office in cities with NFL teams.

Alston suggests listening to sports talk radio for three days and writing down every topic that comes up repeatedly. Then create a YouTube video or blog post that engages with each topic. You do not need to be an expert. You just need to share your perspective. People watching sports content on YouTube are not always looking for analysis from a former coach. They are looking for other fans who are passionate about the same team. When you create a video about whether the Bears kicker situation is actually a problem, and you link to Bears gear in the description, you are creating content that serves the audience and earns you affiliate commissions at the same time.

Alston also points out that you can take a broader angle if you prefer not to focus on one team. You can create content about “the ten teams with the most to prove this preseason” or “the teams that need the most improvement” or “the five most important position battles in camp this summer.” These wider angles reach a larger audience and still give you the ability to include affiliate links to merchandise, tickets, and travel products that are relevant to fans of any team.

The long-term benefit of this approach is that you do not stop at the preseason. Alston is clear that the content you build in July and August can follow the team through the entire regular season and into the postseason. You have already established yourself as a voice in that space. The affiliate links that work in preseason, merchandise, tickets, hotels for away games, still work in October and January. The preseason is your entry point. The season is where you compound it.

Not sure which of these six angles fits your actual skills and schedule?

Take the two-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com and get a personalized recommendation based on what you already know and how much time you have.

Honest Drawbacks of This Approach

Alston does not say this is easy money or a guaranteed income. Here are the real challenges you should understand before you start.

Traffic takes time to build. If you create a Bears preseason video on July 15th and post it for the first time, you may get very few views during that preseason. YouTube and Google need time to index and rank your content. The first year may generate almost nothing. The second year may generate a little. By year three, if you have continued building, you may be earning real commissions from content you made years earlier. This is a long game, not a quick flip.

Seasonal traffic is not year-round income. NFL preseason is roughly six weeks. Even if you extend your content into the regular season, the highest-volume searches happen in a narrow window. You will need to think about what you are creating during the off-season if you want consistent monthly income.

Affiliate commissions vary widely by program. A rental car commission might be $5. A hotel booking commission might be $20. An RV rental commission could be significantly higher. You will need volume, meaning a lot of people clicking your links and completing purchases, to hit $5,000 from this approach in a single preseason. That requires either strong search traffic, a social media following, or an email list. Alston mentions email marketing specifically as the multiplier that makes affiliate income actually work at scale.

Not every piece of content will rank. You might write five blog posts about Bears training camp and only one of them gets meaningful traffic. That is normal. The answer is to keep creating and to focus on questions with clear search intent rather than generic topics. “Best hotels near Olivet Nazarene University for Bears training camp” is more likely to bring in intentional traffic than “Bears preseason thoughts.”

You need to disclose your affiliate relationships. The FTC requires that you clearly disclose when you are using affiliate links. This is not complicated, a simple note at the top of your post or in your video description saying “This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you” is sufficient. But skipping this is a mistake that can get your accounts flagged or your affiliate programs terminated.

How to Start: A Step-by-Step Sequence

If you want to act on what Alston shares in this video, here is the order of operations that makes the most sense.

Pick one team. Do not try to cover all 32 teams. Pick the team you know best or care about most. That specificity will make your content feel authentic and your keyword targeting more manageable.
Spend three days consuming sports content about that team. Listen to local sports talk radio. Read ESPN and The Athletic. Write down every storyline, debate, and question that comes up more than once. These become your content topics.
Sign up for affiliate programs. Start with NFLShop.com, Ticketmaster, StubHub, and hotels.com. These are the programs Alston references directly in this video. Apply to each one and get approved before you start publishing.
Create your first five pieces of content. One for each major question your team’s fans are asking right now. Publish them as blog posts, YouTube videos, or both. Include your affiliate links naturally within the content.
Start building an email list from day one. Alston mentions that email marketing converts at twice the rate of any other channel. Even if you have zero subscribers, start collecting emails now. When you have 200 people on a list who care about the same team you write about, your affiliate link clicks become far more predictable.
Keep publishing through the regular season. Do not stop when the preseason ends. Follow the storylines you started in July through October and November. The content compounds. The affiliate links keep working. The email list keeps growing.

Find Your X

The NFL preseason affiliate model works best when it is matched to your actual strengths. If you are a natural on camera, YouTube is your path. If you write well, blogging is your path. If you have a social following already, that is your distribution. The mistake most people make is trying to do all of it at once before they have found their version of this that actually works.

The two-minute quiz at finder.platformproof.com is built specifically to help you figure out which of these angles fits your situation right now, based on your schedule, your current skills, and how much you are realistically willing to invest upfront. Stop guessing. Find your match and start there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be an NFL expert to make money with this approach?

No. Alston specifically says you can read ESPN and listen to sports talk radio for a few days and have enough material to create meaningful content. The goal is not expert analysis. It is sharing your perspective as a fan and answering questions that other fans are searching for. Passion and consistency matter more than credentials here.

What affiliate programs are the best ones to start with for NFL content?

Alston names NFLShop.com, Ticketmaster, StubHub, and hotels.com directly in this video. For rental cars and RVs, several major companies run affiliate programs through networks like CJ Affiliate or Impact. Search for “[rental car company name] affiliate program” and you will find the application page. Most programs approve creators quickly if you have any content published already.

Does using an affiliate link make things more expensive for the buyer?

No, and Alston makes this point clearly. The customer pays the same price whether they click your link or go directly to the website. The commission comes out of the merchant’s margin, not the customer’s pocket. This is why affiliate marketing is a genuinely good recommendation model. You are not asking your audience to pay more. You are just getting credit for sending them there.

Can I do this for any NFL team or just popular ones like the Bears?

You can do this for any team. Alston uses the Bears as his example because that is his team, but the logic applies to all 32 franchises. In fact, smaller-market teams with passionate fan bases, like Green Bay, Buffalo, or Kansas City, may have less competition in the content space while still having very loyal fans who spend money on travel and merchandise every year.

How long does it take to see income from this?

That depends heavily on how much traffic you can generate and how quickly. If you already have a YouTube channel with subscribers or a blog with existing traffic, you could see commissions within the first preseason. If you are starting from zero, the more realistic expectation is that your first preseason builds the foundation, your second year generates some income, and the third year is when the compounding starts to show up. This is not a short-term play.

What is Project 24 and should I use it?

Alston mentions Project 24 in this video as a blogging course that lays out 60 steps for building a content business that replaces your full-time income in 24 months. He emphasizes that the first steps are simple things like getting a domain name and web hosting, so the 60-step number should not intimidate you. It is a structured path for content creators who want to build a blogging-based income and do not know where to start.

Why does Alston recommend email marketing so strongly?

He says email marketing converts at twice the rate of any other marketing type. The reason is that someone who voluntarily gave you their email address and opened your email is much more engaged than someone who stumbled onto your YouTube video from a search. When you have an email list of people who care about the same team you write about, every affiliate link you include in your newsletter has a much higher chance of turning into a commission than the same link buried in a video description.

Can I extend this content into the regular season and playoffs?

Yes, and Alston says this is actually the smart long-term play. The content you build in July and August sets up the brand and the audience. The same affiliate links for merchandise, tickets, and hotels keep working through October, November, and January. If your team makes the playoffs, the traffic to your existing content spikes and the affiliate commissions spike with it. The preseason is where you plant the seeds. The season is where you harvest.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, “6 Ways to Make $5,000+ Online During the NFL Preseason!” on YouTube, Platform Proof channel
NFLShop.com affiliate program (referenced in video)
Ticketmaster affiliate program (referenced in video)
StubHub affiliate program (referenced in video)
Hotels.com affiliate program (referenced in video)
Google Trends NFL preseason search data (referenced in video)
Chicago Bears 2019 training camp, Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, Illinois (referenced in video)