TikTok has announced a multi-year global partnership with the NBA and WNBA\u00a0to enhance online fan engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With online sport engagement now rocketing to new heights<\/a>,\u00a0leagues are looking beyond traditional broadcasts\u00a0to\u00a0meet fans inside the social platforms where highlights\u00a0and community conversations around the sports are already taking place.\u00a0<\/p>\n For CX and community engagement leaders, the partnership raises bigger questions about how sports organizations can turn fragmented digital interactions into more connected, participatory fan experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rollo Goldstaub, Global Head of Sport at TikTok, said the agreement reflects the platform\u2019s growing role in connecting basketball culture with creators\u00a0and live-game discovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis partnership shows how central TikTok has become to the way fans discover and engage with basketball around the world,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs the NBA and WNBA share game highlights, creators and fans can join the conversation around the biggest moments in real time, and TikTok GamePlan carries that same discovery straight through to tune-in, giving fans a direct path from the feed to the broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\n Connecting Beyond The Matchday Moment<\/p>\n Sports organizations are rethinking how they engage fans as\u00a0audiences are increasingly experiencing moments through social platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, TikTok revealed that nearly half of its more than one billion users follow basketball content, while one in three users express an interest in the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Furthermore, since the start of the year, NBA content interest has increased by roughly 30% and\u00a0interest in the WNBA\u00a0has grown\u00a0by nearly 15%, with the leagues\u00a0reaching more than 30 million followers on TikTok.\u00a0<\/p>\n Creator commentary, fan discussions, and game highlights are now part of the overall experience,\u00a0where fans can stay connected throughout the week in online communities, compared to previous\u00a0experience evolutions where\u00a0audiences were forced to wait until game day.\u00a0<\/p>\n While leagues have more opportunities than ever to reach audiences, those interactions are still spread across multiple platforms, many of which they do not fully control or understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n For\u00a0sports brands to respond to these audience demands, creating more digital touchpoints\u00a0increases the complexity of managing the fan experience, where a supporter might and interact with players across several social platforms, leaving valuable customer data scattered across disconnected systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n Derek Slager, Co-Founder and CTO of Amperity, previously discussed with CX Today how fragmented fan experiences limit sports organizations from delivering personalized engagement at scale<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAny component that may cross multiple vendors, there might be three different point of sale systems represented in various parts of that fan journey.\u00a0Who knows how they got their tickets whether they were resold, if\u00a0there\u2019s merchandise food and beverage,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s super unrealistic that somebody in their spare time is able to comprehensively bring together data from 20 different systems, put that all into a well-vetted fan 360, and then make great business decisions on top of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Using Social Platforms As Fan Hubs<\/p>\n