“Creators like Dude Perfect are leading the way and showing the world that the must-see TV of today is being made by creators, not studios.”
YouTube leadership
…speaking at the opening of Dude Perfect’s new $5 million, 80,000-square-foot headquarters in Frisco
Dude Perfect trying out a smoke ring machine at their new HQ in Frisco. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]
What do you get when you combine a giant smoke-ring cannon, a chocolate-covered bone-in ice cream, and an 80,000-square-foot facility that its CEO describes as a “sports lover’s Barbie Dream House“? The answer: A tour of Dude Perfect’s jaw-dropping new headquarters in Frisco at The Star Business Park.
Last week, the YouTube sensations — now a global entertainment powerhouse with over 60 million subscribers — opened the doors to the “World’s Greatest Office” with a behind-the-scenes event that showed off both the space and the chemistry that’s made the five-man team a household name.
Dude Perfect CEO Andrew Yaffe, left, with the dudes at their new Frisco HQ. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]
“It started in a backyard in College Station. I don’t think you guys even put a dream that would become an 80,000 square foot what I describe as a sports lover’s Barbie Dream House,” said Andrew Yaffe, who joined as Dude Perfect’s CEO just four months ago.
The event featured YouTube leadership describing the group’s influence on modern entertainment. “Just last week, we announced that TV is now YouTube’s primary device for viewership in the US, with audiences watching over a billion hours of content on the big screen every single day,” said a YouTube exec who’s been with the platform since 2010.
“When people go home, sit on the couch, turn on their TV, more often than not, they’re turning to YouTube, and creators like Dude Perfect are leading the way and showing the world that the must-see TV of today is being made by creators, not studios,” the exec added. Sports content has been particularly strong, with watch time on living room screens growing more than 30% over the past year.
Dude Perfect gets down to business at their new HQ at The Star Business Park in Frisco. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]
Unveiling featured live segment of ‘Overtime’
Attendees were treated to an exclusive live segment of “Overtime,” the group’s popular variety show that recently featured NBA superstar Stephen Curry and has transformed into premium content that regularly attracts millions of viewers. It’s a show, by the way, wherein the Dudes jokingly admit, “We’re so much cooler online.”
“I think at the beginning, no one would have thought trick shots to 30-minute premium variety show,” Yaffe said. “Our most recent episode was co-hosted by Steph Curry, where we average 10 million views per hour.”
The Overtime segment brought the group’s signature “Cool Not Cool” segment to life, with Tyler Toney, Cory Cotton, Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, and Cody Jones riffing with their trademark banter.
“We decided we were going to do a special Cool Not Cool, where we highlight some of the greatest Cool, Not Cool items that we’ve ever had on the show,” explained Toney, before the chaos of live production set in.
From bone-in ice cream to a smoke-ring cannon
Dude Perfect tries bone-in ice cream at their new Frisco HQ. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]
Highlights included a chocolate-covered bone-in ice cream that had attendees reaching for green “cool” buttons, a comically underwhelming lightsaber demonstration (“I present to you a real life lightsaber,” announced Coby Cotton to oohs and aahs, before revealing the gag), and a smoke-ring cannon that sent perfect vortices across the audience.
When asked what makes the Dude Perfect connection with audiences so special, Cory Cotton pointed to the group’s mission: “We’re trying to be the world’s most trusted entertainment brand. We like to make our decisions based on is this next video going to build trust with the families that watch and hopefully all watch together.” The focus on family-friendly content has built a unique connection with their audience—parents are often just as engaged as their kids.
The new headquarters has already hosted major celebrities, including Tom Brady, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles. Beyond being an impressive place, Yaffe said it’s “symbolic of where creator content is today, where the media ecosystem is today, and what we’re able to build here and what our missions are for the future.”
Take your own tour of the HQ here:
For the Dudes, particularly Tyler Toney who grew up just minutes away, keeping their operation in Frisco rather than relocating to other entertainment hubs is a no brainer .
“It’s extra special, and it would be very difficult to get me out of Texas,” Toney said. “To be this close to my hometown where I grew up, and just to have a building like this in a place like Frisco… it’s a sports-centric town, and our relationships with a lot of the teams and organizations in the area, I think just makes it too special.”
The new DPHQ3 includes specialized filming areas, production studios, and even a secretive “candy room” that became a running joke throughout the presentation. During a demonstration of security measures, Toney called for a volunteer who “looks borderline homeless,” resulting in a hilarious chase sequence through the facility
What started as trick shots in a backyard has evolved into a media empire with “16 kids between five of us, which is wild, but soon to be 17,” Cory Cotton said, pointing out just how much their personal lives have influenced their professional direction.
“Ever since we all started having kids 10 years ago… it became even more real to us once we all had kids. And so I think that’s the filter that we’ve continued to make decisions on over all these years… we’re trying to create something truly the entire family can watch together,” he added.
In North Texas’ growing innovation landscape, Dude Perfect’s new headquarters stands as more than just an office. As the YouTube leader put it, “This headquarters isn’t just a space. It’s a launch pad for what’s next for Dude Perfect, their brand, and the entire creator economy. It’s a place where big ideas become reality and creative freedom stays at the forefront.”
And if you happen to visit? Just be careful not to get caught in the secret candy room after hours. As Toney joked during the event, they’ve got security measures for people who might “try and go hide in the secret candy room and then try and escape, you know, come out about 10 p.m. when nobody’s here and ransack the place.”
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R E A D N E X T
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Dude Perfect is about to move into a new stepping stone: a $3 million new HQ in Jerry Jones' Star Business Park in Frisco, leaving behind their Frisco HQ 10 minutes to the south, where they've shot videos for the last seven years.
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The March 27-28 livestreamed event will feature Samsung's #TeamGalaxy members, the dudes from Dude Perfect, keynote speaker MrBeast, and speakers from such top creator platforms as Meta, Reddit, Rolling Stone, Snap, and Spotter.
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Andrew Yaffe—former EVP and head of social, digital, and original content at the NBA—takes the helm at Dude Perfect six months after the trick-shot video team scored a $100M-plus investment from New York's Highmount Capital.
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The Last Word: Dude Perfect's Coby Cotton on Planning a New 80K‑SF Video Production Studio in Frisco
At the Venture Dallas summit today at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Dude Perfect CEO Andrew Yaffe unveiled plans for a new 80,000-square-foot video production studio to be located near the trick-shot YouTube stars' new $3 million Frisco HQ.
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News of the partnership with Highmount Capital comes as Dude Perfect prepares to move into a $3 million new HQ in Jerry Jones’ Star Business Park in Frisco—and as they pursue their dream of building a theme park and HQ featuring a 330-foot tall “Impossible Shot” tower.
