• by Colin Kirkland , 3 hours ago

Further building out the content offerings included in its sports-centric “GamePlan” hub, TikTok has forged a multi-year partnership with the NBA and WNBA, offering in-app game highlights and AI-powered ad options.

According to the social-media company’s announcement, the partnership “combines creator access to events and highlights with live-game discovery through TikTok GamePlan, and advertiser opportunities with TikTok Pulse Premiere.”

With ties to TikTok’s sports hub, the NBA and WNBA are aiming to tap into users engaging with basketball on the platform, which include around half a billion users, according to TikTok's internal research -- about half its total global user base. 

In-app searches for “NBA” and “WNBA” are currently up 30% and 15% respectively, since the start of the year, TikTok adds.

One in three users have an interest in the NBA on the app, while 64% of female users have referred to TikTok as their go-to destination for sports content. 

Combined, the official NBA and WNBA TikTok accounts attract 30 million followers. 

Now, hand-selected platform creators will gain access to marquee NBA and WNBA events for the purpose of capturing and sharing game highlights, behind-the-scenes footage, player interviews, and more.

Official NBA and WNBA content, posted by both leagues and affiliated creators, will appear in TikTok’s GamePlan, a designated in-app sports hub designed to help users discover content posted by leagues, teams, and sport-centric creators, while also staying up to date on live event schedules, standings, and ticket-buying options. 

With over sixty million TikTok creators focused primarily on sports content, over 59% of TikTok users indicate that watching sports content on the platform is often more entertaining than the actual games themselves.

As competing video-sharing platforms such as YouTube dominate larger portions of traditional sports broadcasting, TikTok is continuing to invest in behind-the-scenes influencer-style coverage while forging partnerships with professional sports leagues and teams.

These include the FIFA, ATP, Major League Soccer, Aston Martin's Formula One team, the PGA Tour, the British Olympics and Paralympics teams, the New York Yankees.