TikTok Global Sports Partnerships Lead Kat Marquez said that the social media platform’s global content deal with the NBA and WNBA will “bolster the platform’s cachet for both creators and as a second-screen sports destination, while funnelling future basketball fans towards TV and streaming coverage of the league,” according to Sam Bradley of DIGIDAY. Part of the motivation is to “diversify their audiences.” Marquez explained that TikTok has the “ability to reach female, Gen Z and international audiences.” She added, “by having an amplified presence on the platform, sports rights holders [are] able to reach audiences that they historically haven’t been able to elsewhere.” Marquez noted TikTok is “launching a number of sports creator programs.” She said, “We’ll be sending five creators to the WNBA All Star event [July 23-27th]; they’ll have exclusive access, and they’ll be able to cover the weekend through their own tone and voice.” Marquez: “We ultimately want to continue to amplify these sports creator voices, and so by making official rights holder IP like highlights available for co-creation with these creators, it’s another area in which we can help grow their presence, strengthen their content and really add a unique layer of context to what they’re already producing on the platform” (DIGIDAY, 7/23).
TikTok pushes ‘second-screen’ play with NBA, WNBA deal
