Penn State graduate and State College resident Justin Leusner recently finished visiting all 30 NBA arenas in 30 days, while documenting the trip on YouTube and raising $100,000 for Make-a-Wish in the process.
Leusner has made YouTube videos since he was 10, starting with pretend WWE wrestling matches with friends in his basement.
His first video got 4,000 views.
“And I was like, 'What?!' As a 10-year-old kid you can’t really fathom the number 4,000. And so 4,000 people, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, I did something right," Leusner said.
He consistently uploaded videos, and his YouTube following grew to 50,000 subscribers by his junior year of high school.
So Leusner decided to fulfill a lifelong dream for a YouTube video: see a game at all 30 NBA arenas in 30 days.
He tried to achieve the challenge in 2023, but got sick due to the taxing travel schedule.
Then last year, Leusner saw fellow YouTuber Ryan Trahan go to all 50 states in 50 days while raising $11 million for St. Jude and decided to try it again.
“That was kind of like the accountability I needed, that was five months before it. I committed to Make-a-Wish that we were gonna do it, we had saved up enough money for it, now it was just time to execute on it," Leusner said.
Despite travel and technical difficulties along the way, Leusner and his crew achieved all three of their goals: upload daily on YouTube, raise $100,000 for Make-a-Wish, and get the world record for fastest time to visit all 30 NBA arenas. Guinness is still working to verify the record.
Leusner even became a part of granting a kid’s wish in San Antonio while visiting a Spurs game. The child wanted to meet a YouTuber.
“Everyone’s crying. The mom’s crying. I’m in the background tearing up. And like that was one of the most meaningful moments because we got to actually see the fundraiser in action," Leusner said.
Next summer, Leusner and his team plan to visit all 30 MLB stadiums in 30 days.