A sweet 16 for Dude Perfect, from college trick shots to trusted sports and entertainment brand

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The five buddies who now comprise Dude Perfect had no intention of creating a brand or even a business 16 years ago when they started making a video of basketball trick shots while they were attending Texas A&M.

“My dad would say we were procrastinating studying for finals at that time, which he is 100% correct,” said Coby Cotton, whose twin brother Cory is also part of the group. “We were just having fun, and that’s one thing that I am grateful to say has continued.”

When they posted that first video on YouTube in April 2009, the nearly 3 1/2-minute clip was just a way to share with family and friends what they were doing on an $80 portable basketball rim they bought for the backyard.

Things have expanded far beyond that small circle. And the tricks got much bigger, like the world record shot made from 856 feet high in Las Vegas two summers ago on the third day of attempts.

Dude Perfect now has more than 61 million subscribers on YouTube, with 482 videos that have gotten more than 18.5 billion total views. An "Average Dude vs. Steph Curry" video did 16 million views just four months ago.

The group’s family-friendly content has gone beyond just basketball shots and is big business, among the top 1% of channels on the second most-viewed website in the world.

Professional athletes, celebrities and musicians want to be part of their productions, both short form and longer videos. Among those who have taken part in recent Dude Perfect projects are Tom Brady, Caitlin Clark and Paul Skenes; the pitcher was blindfolded when he struck out 6-foot-6 Cody Jones, the DP member known as “Tall Guy.”

The group last year hired its first CEO after acquiring at least $100 million in capital from a private investment firm. There are plans for a Dude Perfect theme park, and earlier this year the group opened a new headquarters. The facility located in a North Texas warehouse district includes a full basketball court with moving rims on one wall, half a football field with a regulation goalpost, a pickleball court, a putting area, a hidden candy vault and room for expansion to include experiences for fans.

“A sports lover’s Barbie dreamhouse” is how new CEO Andrew Yaffe described the 80,000-square-foot facility.

“If you ask the guys what they intended in 2009, I don’t know that this would have been in their wildest dreams,” said Yaffe, who previously was a senior NBA executive overseeing the league’s social, digital and original content. “We think about this is what a media company looks like in 2025. And it’s really exciting to think about what that can be in 2030 or 2035.”

Dude Perfect has evolved from that original video shot with a single camera into successful content creators, with a mix of sports and comedy that is more than just basketball shots. The group will embark on another live tour later this year.

There have been nearly 50 episodes of “Overtime” since 2018, a variety show usually around 25 minutes with a variety of segments and often special guests. Curry in that recent episode took part in a 3-point shooting contest using a football, Frisbee, pickle ball and soccer ball before finally a basketball.

There are occasional videos such as “All Sports Golf Battle” when on a course without actual golf clubs, including once at Augusta National when Bryson DeChambeau used items like a tennis racket, Frisbee and pool stick. “Stereotype” videos poke fun at any number of groups or events.

“They’ve built a media empire that brings families together, whether it’s trick shots, epic challenges, live events or experiences that truly redefine what it means to connect with fans,” said Brian Albert, who leads Google’s US YouTube video deals and creative teams. “They are creator trailblazers.”

Even before each of the Dudes became fathers — there are now 16 children ages 10 and under between them, and another on the way — they wanted to be one of the world’s most trusted brands for families to enjoy together.

“Early on, we met through some Bible studies and so we knew we weren’t going to cuss in our videos, we weren’t going to have alcohol promotion,” Jones said. “Early on, it actually hurt our brand because people were going to YouTube in order to kind of have that wild side of things. And since, it’s only helped because we’ve become brand safe.”

Tyler Toney, the bearded Dude often front-and-center in videos, said that is the best thing they hear from parents.

“But it wasn’t until we had our own kids where we’ll be up here at the office filming and then I go home and now I’m on my TV at home and my boys are watching,” Toney said. “I get to hear myself a lot and it gets old, and I apologize now to all the parents for how loud we are in a lot of the videos. But it’s cool to see that even in our families the importance of that, having that quality entertainment that we can enjoy with our own kids.”

Dude Perfect’s first record for longest shot came from the third deck of Texas A&M’s football stadium in the fall of 2009. That came months after the initial video of trick shots, which had been followed by one they did at a Christian-based camp that summer.

They made a shot from atop the 561-foot tall Reunion Tower in Dallas in 2014, a record then broken by another group before Dude Perfect reclaimed it in Las Vegas.

“We’re not hoping to have to improve on the world’s highest shot from The Strat in Vegas any time soon,” Coby Cotton said. “That was an exhausting experience.”

A large projection screen, couches and other amenities fill one of the work spaces at Dude Perfect's new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

From left, Garrett Hilbert, Coby Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones and Cory Cotton, the founding members of Dude Perfect, speak during an event at their new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Employee Justus Woods works in an office at Dude Perfect's new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Visitor Andrew Harper gives a peace sign up in a hidden entrance before descending down a slide on the top floor of Dude Perfect's new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dude Perfect member Coby Cotton poses for a photo while being interviewed at the their new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dude Perfect Chief Executive Officer Andrew Yaffe plays with a basketball as he gives an interview at their new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Visitors attending an event enjoy some of the attractions at Dude Perfect's new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Visitors attending an event enjoy some of the attractions at Dude Perfect's new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Garrett Hilbert, left, shoots smoke rings out of a device as the rest of the Dude Perfect members look on during an event at the group's new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

From left, Garrett Hilbert, Coby Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones and Cory Cotton, the founding members of Dude Perfect, pose for a photo during an event at their new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — They call themselves the Flying Kiwis, an eclectic group of New Zealanders from around the world who, whenever their national soccer team plays a major match, assemble to provide raucous and usually outnumbered support.

The deliberate irony: Kiwis — the eponymous bird from which New Zealanders take their nickname — are flightless.

Since 2009 the Flying Kiwis have followed the New Zealand men's team at home and overseas and they'll be at the World Cup, offering a small island of loud, proud and distinctly Kiwi support.

In 2009, New Zealand played Bahrain in a two-game qualifying series, with the winner advancing to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. After the first leg in Bahrain ended in a 0-0, New Zealand needed a win in the return match at home to qualify for the World Cup.

Matt Fejos, who was then a university student and, he admits, not a hard-core football fan, wanted to lend as much spirit as possible to the New Zealand team.

“So I got a credit card with a $1,000 limit and I bought 32 tickets for my mates and we wanted to do all we could, so we got banners and we got the coveralls saying Flying Kiwis and we got New Zealand flags,” Fejos said. “That was a pretty memorable moment for anyone who was there and for football to arrive in New Zealand a little bit.”

Now those friends are spread around the world and have brought in other friends to the Flying Kiwis.

“I had 10 years living in the UK, so with the Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017, there were 30 of us who went to that and it was kind of a special experience,” Fejos said. Russian people “organized a friendly game between our fans and their fans and it brought in another kind of meaning for me: that you’re doing it for your team but actually in far away places you might be the first New Zealanders they’ve ever met, so you’re kind of representing your country.

“To connect with the world through the global language of football is a beautiful thing and a beautiful way to travel.”

The Flying Kiwis had to find their way to their own brand of fandom. Soccer is not the major sport in New Zealand, where rugby holds sway. The soccer traditions that are firmly fixed in the culture of other countries don’t exist at home, so Fejos and his friends have made their own.

The Flying Kiwis support section is usually small in number compared with the fan bases of New Zealand’s opponents but, Fejos said, “There’s advantages to being so small — we can be really unified.”

The New Zealand team will probably need all the support it can get at the World Cup. Ranked No. 85 in the world, they are drawn in Group G against No. 9 Belgium, No. 21 Iran and No. 29 Egypt.

“There’s so much more belief (among the New Zealand team) because of where the players are playing,” Fejos said of the foreign-based national team members. “There’s so many more playing at a top, top standard and in these difficult environments, these really charged atmospheres with crazy passionate fans. So they’re used to playing under that pressure as well.”

The kiwi isn't the most intimidating of national symbols compared with other mascots such as eagles or lions.

“Sometimes it can seem a bit funny or deprecating but it’s a thing that means a lot,” Fejos said. “The Kiwi is a flightless bird but when you consider the challenges that we face: we’re so isolated, so far away from the world, the professional game is very young here, there are not many professional academies or opportunities.

“Despite that, I think it’s incredible for some of those (New Zealand) players to play in some of the best leagues of the world and to take it to the world at a World Cup."

Fejos said the “metaphor means a lot, defying expectations overseas.”

“People think of us as a rugby country, and probably as hobbits, but that allows us to go in with that underdog mentality, fearless,” he said. "We want to stamp our mark and show them something different.”

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

FILE - New Zealand's players celebrate after Chris Wood scored during their Confederations Cup Group A soccer match against Mexico in Sochi, Russia, June 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)