SPORTS ON TIKTOK

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Sports, at their essence, are a mirror for life itself. They distill ambition, failure, resilience, and beauty into a shared ritual of motion and meaning. As Kobe Bryant often said, the game was an allegory for life, a canvas to test one’s will, to learn discipline, and to find poetry in perseverance. Within that truth lies the foundation for design in sports storytelling, where every movement, pause, and reaction can become a form of communication. To design for sport is to design for humanity’s oldest performance, the ongoing struggle to transcend limits and connect through shared experience. My role within Sports on TikTok grew from that belief, that every color, rhythm, and frame could echo the heartbeat of competition and the collective emotion of those who live and breathe the game. It was about finding design systems that didn’t just document performance but carried the same urgency, humility, and grace that define why people compete in the first place.

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Designing for sports on TikTok was an exercise in translating energy into form, taking something instinctive and turning it into a structured visual experience. The task was to capture the immediacy of sport, the roar of a crowd, the tension of a close finish, and the spontaneous humor of locker-room moments while ensuring it still felt inherently part of TikTok’s playful visual identity. Every motion, transition, and spatial choice had to mediate between two parallel worlds: the refined precision of global brand design and the raw unpredictability of live sport. Creating that balance meant establishing a grammar that could scale across continents, languages, and sports genres, while maintaining a consistent emotional cadence that connected fans, athletes, and creators in one visual rhythm.

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The visual identity needed to act as a shared creative architecture across leagues, agencies, and regional production hubs. It wasn’t only about crafting templates or logos but about developing a visual operating system that guided storytelling across thousands of assets and collaborators. The system had to be modular and expandable, capable of translating the drama of football in Europe, the pulse of basketball in North America, and the joy of cricket in India into a single cohesive visual experience. The challenge was to codify principles that encouraged freedom while preventing fragmentation, to design a structure that could inspire as much as it could instruct. This called for close coordination between motion designers, editors, and engineers to align on how typography, pacing, layering, and sound could form a consistent rhythm without flattening individuality or cultural nuance.

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Sports became one of TikTok’s most powerful verticals because, like beauty, fashion, or gaming, it evolved into a full-fledged cultural economy. Within the app’s ecosystem, it functioned not just as entertainment but as a major revenue driver with its own creators, brands, and subcultures. Much like large state economies that anchor a nation’s GDP, sports fueled engagement and commerce across multiple sectors at once, from apparel to betting to creator collaborations. It offered an endless stream of content shaped by emotion, identity, and competition, creating a self-sustaining loop where fandom, storytelling, and monetization intertwined seamlessly.

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While TikTok was built as a video-first social platform, it quickly evolved into something much broader, a primary search destination where users came not only to be entertained but to discover, learn, and explore. The vision was to make it a one-stop hub, an all-in-one experience that extended across verticals. For sports, this meant going beyond short-form highlights and creating a space where fans could also track live scores, follow stats, and engage with teams and players in real time. Drawing from my experience building the Team Stream app at Bleacher Report, I collaborated with TikTok’s product design team to help shape this evolution. My role involved consulting on how real-time sports data could integrate seamlessly into the platform’s creative ecosystem, ensuring that fans could move fluidly between discovery, engagement, and participation without ever leaving the app.

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The international scope of TikTok’s sports partnerships required an equally nuanced cultural understanding. Sport may be universal, but its presentation varies profoundly across regions. Football in Argentina carries the raw pulse of devotion, while in Japan it’s marked by discipline and precision, and the creative language had to respect those differences. The visual identity was built to stretch and adapt without losing cohesion, allowing local teams to reflect their audience’s sensibility while maintaining a shared foundation of rhythm, typography, and color hierarchy. Each adaptation was tested for linguistic, cultural, and environmental accuracy, from daylight tone variations in broadcasts to character spacing across alphabets, ensuring the global system could function fluidly while still honoring local voices. We also worked closely with leading sports publishers to ensure they had the right creative and analytical tools to grow the conversation ecosystem on the platform, helping them translate traditional coverage into dynamic, community-driven storytelling that kept fans engaged long after the final whistle.

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TikTok is a platform built on motion, mirroring the rhythm and energy of sport itself. The infinite scroll feels like a digital stadium where every swipe is another play, another highlight, another story unfolding in real time. Capturing the motion of sport on TikTok meant embracing its raw velocity through quick cuts, fan reactions, and emotional pivots that make a moment go viral. Every clip, whether a game-winning shot or a behind-the-scenes locker room laugh, carries the pulse of movement and immediacy. This fluidity is what connects the platform to sport so naturally, turning everyday plays into global moments shared, remixed, and celebrated in motion.

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My background in sports media, design systems, and creative direction deeply informed the decisions behind this process. My time at Bleacher Report, NBA on TNT, and Uninterrupted provided a foundation in how visual language shapes fandom and how design can carry the emotional charge of live sport. These experiences taught me to translate chaos into clarity and passion into structure. At TikTok, that perspective helped bridge the gap between storytelling and system design, ensuring that campaigns operated at both a technical and emotional level. Having spent years developing creative strategies at the intersection of art, culture, and sport, I brought a holistic approach to how teams communicated visually, giving equal weight to conceptual precision and visceral connection.

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The relationships I built throughout my career became vital to the success of this evolution. Collaborating with athletes, creative directors, producers, and league partners who understood both the storytelling power and brand mechanics of sport helped TikTok bring campaigns to life with authenticity and speed. My network served as both a creative think tank and a cultural compass, connecting the design system to real human stories and experiences. The coherence of Sports on TikTok did not rely on rigid enforcement of visual rules but on shared intent and understanding. It reflected the same principles that define great competition: discipline meeting intuition, preparation meeting spontaneity, and design meeting the human desire to belong to something bigger than oneself. Through that balance, the work became not only a visual framework but a living, breathing ecosystem for how sport is experienced and remembered in the digital age.

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Building the What’s Next Trend Report required translating cultural research and behavioral insights into a visual document that felt modern, strategic, and true to TikTok’s evolving identity. I led the design direction, defining the structure, hierarchy, and visual rhythm of the report while working closely with Amanda Simpson and the Trends team as they developed the core marketing narratives and data analysis. Our shared goal was to make complex information both accessible and inspiring, presenting trends not as static findings but as living expressions of culture in motion. Jose Hunt served as project manager, coordinating timelines and cross-functional feedback while ensuring collaboration with our agency partner, Design Force, remained fluid and efficient. The report’s visual tone blended TikTok’s global brand with a refined editorial sensibility that felt both elevated and accessible. The intention was to make the document feel intelligent yet human, forward-looking yet grounded in real culture. The final outcome positioned TikTok not only as a platform that observes trends but as a cultural architect capable of shaping them, reinforcing its role at the intersection of creativity, technology, and storytelling.

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For the Olympics sizzle, which I led alongside Jen Pincus and Eastward, the vision was to tell a story of connection and collective momentum. We wanted to show that greatness isn’t limited to podiums but can be found in creators training at home, fans cheering from across the globe, and athletes sharing their own journeys in real time. I oversaw the pacing, edit rhythm, and tonal structure, ensuring the transitions mirrored the emotional arc of the Games themselves. Leading the creative direction for TikTok’s sports sizzles was about capturing the heartbeat of competition and turning it into a visceral storytelling experience that blended emotion, rhythm, and design. A core part of my value within TikTok’s Sports and Partnerships ecosystem was my expertise in brand transformation. I have always approached design and creative strategy as vehicles for evolution, not maintenance. Understanding how a brand moves through different cultural, visual, and strategic phases allowed me to guide conversations that bridged short-term campaign goals with long-term brand equity.

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When I approach storyboarding for a sports sizzle, I begin by thinking about rhythm, flow, and the emotional arc I want the viewer to feel. Each frame is designed to carry momentum while revealing something new, almost like the progression of a great game. I pay close attention to how illustration, sound, and transitions can move in harmony, shaping a narrative that feels both cinematic and distinctly TikTok. For our sports sizzles, I pushed the illustration style to be bold, fluid, and full of personality, with transitions that felt athletic rather than ornamental. I built a motion and visual toolkit that gave our teams a consistent vocabulary for how type, icons, and shapes moved through space, reflecting the balance between clarity and energy that defines sport. Sound design is a key part of my process, and I work frame by frame to sync motion with percussive beats and tonal shifts that mirror the rhythm of competition. Each edit is treated like a living sequence, one where pacing and silence are as important as impact. This holistic approach helped create sports films that didn’t just show highlights but evoked the spirit of movement, focus, and human connection at the heart of every game.

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Being plugged in with the Sports and Partnerships teams meant bringing creative strategy into the same conversation as business planning. I worked closely with both groups to ensure that every campaign concept connected artistic expression with measurable goals, aligning storytelling with revenue growth and partner value. My background allowed me to operate comfortably in both worlds, translating creative vision into business outcomes and strategic insights into design direction. In creative reviews, I was often the bridge between brand, partnership, and production, helping refine narratives that resonated with fans while meeting sponsor expectations. Whether shaping a proposal for a global rights holder or collaborating with internal teams on campaign rollout, I contributed both as a creative lead and as a strategic thinker who understood the commercial implications of design. This dual fluency helped position our team as trusted partners to leagues, brands, and creators, ensuring that TikTok’s sports work was not only visually distinctive but strategically sound.

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Working at a brand the scale of TikTok meant being at the epicenter of culture in motion. It was more than a platform; it was a living ecosystem where fandom, creativity, and commerce collided in real time. To operate within that energy was to see the world’s biggest stages through a new lens, where every cheer, play, and rivalry could be transformed into a shared language of storytelling. Sports was not just another content category, it was a heartbeat that connected people across time zones and generations. Being able to shape that rhythm through design, campaigns, and partnerships felt like contributing to the global soundtrack of modern sport.

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The goal of our work with leagues, teams, and ownership groups was to drive top-funnel awareness and adoption of TikTok as a key sports marketing platform. Partnerships collaborated closely with the Global Business Marketing team to design campaigns that would not only attract rights holders but also demonstrate how TikTok could amplify their brand storytelling and fan engagement. I helped lead the creative strategy and go-to-market approach, ensuring that every initiative connected the cultural edge of TikTok with the commercial priorities of our partners. Our efforts focused on showing how TikTok could extend the life of sports content, turn key moments into cultural conversations, and help partners reach the next generation of fans where they already are. Together we positioned TikTok as the most dynamic and effective platform for sports organizations to grow awareness, deepen connection, and bring their stories to life in a more authentic, creative way.

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Even though I served as Design Director within the Global Brand Studio, much of the work in the sports vertical originated from our Creative Lab team, which maintained a direct line to leagues, teams, and brand partners. The Creative Lab’s proximity to clients meant that creative development often extended far beyond campaign launches into long-term relationship building, content refinement, and evolving strategy. My role required bridging that space by translating the fast-moving, experimental ideas born in the lab into scalable and cohesive design systems that could live across regions and audiences. These relationships demanded ongoing creative upkeep, from refining visual frameworks and brand toolkits to developing new storytelling formats that aligned with each partner’s evolving needs. It was a dynamic balance between executional excellence and strategic stewardship, ensuring that TikTok’s presence within the sports ecosystem continued to grow in both impact and sophistication.

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TikTok’s partnership with NASCAR and rising driver Ryan Vargas marked one of the platform’s first major ventures into the world of motorsport. The collaboration symbolized a meeting point between grassroots digital creativity and a sport defined by speed, tradition, and fan loyalty. Vargas, then a 20-year-old alumnus of NASCAR’s “Drive for Diversity” program, represented the next generation of athletes who understood the value of storytelling both on and off the track. As part of the agreement, his No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro ran a full TikTok-branded wrap throughout the NASCAR Xfinity Series, introducing the platform’s distinctive color palette and logo to one of the most visible stages in American racing.

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The partnership went beyond car sponsorship and signaled a cultural bridge between the digital and physical worlds of fandom. TikTok’s involvement helped NASCAR connect with younger and more diverse audiences who were discovering racing not through cable television but through short-form video. Vargas, already an active TikTok creator with more than 40,000 followers at the time, shared humorous behind-the-scenes clips, race day vlogs, and lighthearted sketches that humanized the sport’s high-pressure environment. This kind of creator-driven engagement gave fans a new perspective on motorsport and underscored how social media could amplify authenticity and access in ways traditional coverage could not.

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The sponsorship also aligned with TikTok’s commitment to diversity and representation. Vargas, who proudly highlighted his Hispanic heritage, wore a custom race suit and a Dia de los Muertos-themed helmet as part of the campaign. This gesture tied into the platform’s broader Latinx Heritage Month programming, which celebrated the contributions and creativity of Hispanic voices on TikTok. By supporting a young, underrepresented driver, the partnership reinforced TikTok’s position as not only a home for viral content but also a platform that nurtures emerging talent across disciplines, from entertainment to sports.

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For Vargas, the TikTok partnership was a career-defining milestone. As he explained, TikTok had become his strongest platform for fan engagement and follower growth. Having the opportunity to represent the brand on track felt both personal and symbolic of a new era in sports marketing. He credited Johnny Davis Motorsports for believing in him early and expressed gratitude for the chance to merge his love of racing with his connection to the digital community that supported him. The No. 6 TikTok Chevrolet became a statement piece, a visual embodiment of how online storytelling could intersect with real-world performance.

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Ultimately, the TikTok–NASCAR collaboration reflected a broader transformation in how fans experience sports. It demonstrated that the boundary between viewer and participant is dissolving, replaced by a shared ecosystem of creativity and interaction. Through Vargas’s authenticity, NASCAR’s willingness to innovate, and TikTok’s global reach, the partnership showed that modern fandom is as much about inclusion and storytelling as it is about competition. The #6 car’s striking design and presence on the track served not only as brand visibility but as a symbol of how digital culture continues to shape and expand the future of sports.

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Sports on TikTok serve as a cultural touchstone, bridging global fandom with the immediacy of short-form storytelling. From highlight reels and behind-the-scenes locker room moments to fan reactions and viral remix content, the platform has become a primary arena where sports culture is not just consumed but redefined in real time. For the brand, this creates unmatched visibility, embedding TikTok into everyday sports conversations while aligning it with passion, community, and identity. Whether through jersey sponsorships, pitchside signage, or exclusive livestreams, TikTok leverages the universal language of sport to amplify awareness and cement itself as a cultural player beyond the screen.

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The partnership between TikTok and the ATP reflects how sports, storytelling, and community now intertwine across digital culture. Tennis has always been about precision and performance, but on TikTok, it comes alive through personality and access. This collaboration invites fans not only to watch but to participate, turning players into creators and audiences into active contributors to the sport’s evolving narrative. The new Tennis Creator Network extends this philosophy, bringing creators courtside and giving them the tools to document the rhythm and emotion of the game from new angles. By pairing the world’s most global racquet sport with TikTok’s language of discovery and creativity, the partnership reimagines how fandom forms and spreads, connecting moments of athletic excellence with moments of shared humanity.

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The behind-the-scenes content with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic on their newly launched TikTok accounts offered fans an intimate look at life on tour, filled with moments of humor, focus, and camaraderie that rarely make it to broadcast. Through the Tennis Creator Network, select creators were invited to capture these interactions from a closer, more personal perspective, revealing the authentic energy that drives the world’s best players. From pre-match rituals and locker room laughter to travel vlogs and candid practice sessions, the content showed a lighter, more human side of competition. These clips turned global stars into relatable figures, deepening fan connection and proving that storytelling in sport can be as powerful as the game itself.

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The collaboration with the ATP transformed how tennis was experienced beyond the court, giving fans an entirely new way to engage with the sport. On TikTok, audiences weren’t looking for polished match highlights or technical breakdowns but for the raw, playful, and spontaneous moments that reveal the personalities behind the rackets. The platform became a home for quick edits, reaction clips, duets, and remixable sound trends that turned elite athletes into cultural touchpoints. Fans tuned in for Alcaraz joking with his team, Djokovic’s KPop dance challenges, or creators humorously narrating a rally like a cinematic moment. The ATP partnership recognized that modern sports fandom thrives on these micro-stories, where personality, humor, and creativity create a shared emotional language between athletes and audiences, extending the spirit of competition into a digital arena of participation and fun.

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We worked to align every market under one coherent and consistent brand identity that could be instantly recognized anywhere in the world. This unity was central to our growth strategy, allowing us to present TikTok as a single, global voice while supporting local adaptations. My contribution was to reinforce the vision of one TikTok brand and ensure its values translated across all design decisions. As can be seen in the out of home advertising above behind Cristiano Ronaldo during the Euro's with Portugal, the logo and identity needed to be instantly recognizable. As our momentum in tennis partnerships grew, expanding into football felt like a natural evolution of TikTok’s global sports strategy. The goal across these collaborations was to build brand awareness at the highest level of sport, create emotional connection through storytelling, and guide audiences into the platform’s product ecosystem. By positioning TikTok as both a cultural stage and a creative partner for leagues, teams, and athletes, we laid the groundwork for a strong ad ecosystem where fans, brands, and creators could all participate in shaping the next era of sports entertainment.

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TikTok’s Euros collaboration further demonstrated how the brand could bridge heritage and innovation. High-impact pitchside signage ensured visibility during marquee matches, with the TikTok logo appearing at critical moments like penalties and celebrations. Beyond placement, the creative spoke directly to digital audiences, encouraging fans to share their own reactions and remix highlights in real time. This dual presence, on the field and in the feed, positioned TikTok as an essential part of Europe’s most historic tournament.

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We developed a key strategic partnership with Burnley FC that represented something much bigger than a sponsorship. It was a shift in how women’s football could be seen, shared, and celebrated. The club had recently committed to fully professionalizing its women’s program, and TikTok became both a platform and a partner in that journey. Together, they broke new ground as the first UK team to stream live matches on the app, bringing matchday action directly to fans’ phones. It wasn’t just about visibility; it was about accessibility, building a bridge between the pitch and the people who loved the game. The move marked a turning point for the FA Women’s National League and helped create a template for other clubs to follow. In addition, TikTok became the women’s team’s sleeve sponsor, with the TikTok branded home shirts available to purchase in-store, online and on TikTok. This was another ground-breaking development as it was the first time in the Club’s history that the women’s team’s home shirts had been available to purchase. The partnership and positive association between Burnley FC and TikTok offered the Club a fantastic opportunity to increase awareness, raise brand visibility and generate a positive perception of women’s football.

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Building on that football heritage, TikTok’s collaboration with the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai introduced a new way for fans to take part in celebrating the world’s best football talent. As part of the 13th edition of the ceremony, the platform launched the “TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year” award, allowing millions of users to cast votes for their favorite stars directly within the app. The initiative turned global fandom into a living conversation, merging technology, sport, and creativity. Through interactive voting, live updates, and community-led storytelling, TikTok invited its users to become active participants in shaping one of football’s most-watched events.

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The first edition of the award saw Mohamed Salah take home the honor, receiving over a million votes from fans around the world. His win reflected both his enduring impact on and off the pitch and the power of collective appreciation through digital connection. The partnership, endorsed by FIFA and the European Club Association, underscored how TikTok continues to build bridges between players, fans, and culture itself. By bringing the excitement of elite football into a social and creative space, TikTok made the sport feel more immediate, accessible, and emotionally connected than ever before.

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For millions across Egypt and the Arab world, Mohamed Salah represents far more than a footballer. He is a symbol of pride, perseverance, and possibility. His journey from Nagrig to Anfield embodies the dream of global recognition built on humility and relentless work, a story that resonates deeply across borders and generations. When he was crowned the TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year at the Globe Soccer Awards, the moment carried emotional weight far beyond the ceremony.

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It marked a cultural milestone, celebrating not only his personal excellence but also the collective voice of fans who voted through the platform, uniting under a shared sense of belonging. Liverpool, the first Premier League team to officially join TikTok, became the bridge between European football and a vast digital fanbase across the Middle East and North Africa. The collaboration helped bring Arabic narratives and celebrations to the forefront of global football culture, connecting local identity with international reach. Salah’s victory culminated in a breathtaking moment when the Burj Khalifa lit up in his honor, a visual tribute to how sport, technology, and culture now intersect to elevate icons who inspire entire regions.

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Many people first heard about Wrexham because it is the football team that Deadpool owns. Ryan Reynolds and his co-owner Rob McElhenney took a modest Welsh club and turned it into an international phenomenon, blending Hollywood storytelling with local pride. Their ownership brought unprecedented attention to lower-league football, showing how charisma, humor, and authenticity could transform a community team into a global brand. On TikTok, Wrexham’s rise mirrored the energy of the platform itself, where stories of perseverance and underdog triumph thrive. Fans didn’t just follow match highlights; they followed the personalities, the town, and the sense of belonging that Wrexham inspired. It was a perfect storm of celebrity ownership meeting genuine grassroots passion, and it revealed how digital platforms could turn traditional sports into living, breathing narratives.

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Or you might know Wrexham from the FX series Welcome to Wrexham, which chronicled the club’s transformation through the lens of Reynolds and McElhenney’s unlikely partnership. The series captured the humor, heart, and vulnerability behind their mission to rebuild the club and uplift its community. On TikTok, those same themes came alive in real time through creator reactions, locker room moments, and fan celebrations, creating an ongoing, participatory version of the story. The collaboration between Wrexham, its owners, and TikTok demonstrated how entertainment, sport, and digital storytelling can merge into a single cultural conversation that connects people across borders, time zones, and traditions.

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The partnership between TikTok and Wrexham A.F.C. came together at a moment when both the platform and the club were redefining what connection through sport could look like. As TikTok grew into a hub for global fandom, creativity, and cultural discovery, Wrexham’s new ownership brought fresh energy to one of football’s oldest clubs. The idea of becoming the official kit sponsor emerged naturally from shared values around storytelling, community, and accessibility. It was more than a mere kit logo placement; it symbolized how digital culture could amplify the emotional core of traditional sport. When the sponsorship was revealed, the visual of the TikTok logo emblazoned across Wrexham’s red kit felt instantly iconic, like something out of a modern sports film or even an episode of Ted Lasso, which was taking over the For You Page at the same time. It captured a sense of hope, humor, and renewal, embodying how football could live both in local stadiums and across global digital stages.

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As both the club and the platform grew, the TikTok logo across Wrexham’s red jersey became a symbol of how sports and digital culture were converging. When TikTok appeared on the front of Wrexham’s red jerseys, it felt like a perfect full-circle moment for culture and sport. The sight echoed the fictional world of Ted Lasso, where players wore kits emblazoned with Bantr, a dating app central to the show’s story. Life had imitated art, with a real-world football club backed by a digital platform shaping global conversation. It captured the playful, human side of modern football, where technology, storytelling, and community meet on and off the pitch. We used a monochromatic white TikTok wordmark to keep co-branding clean and simple, ensuring it paired seamlessly with each team’s colors and arena elements, and this approach ultimately became part of our broader visual identity and brand guidance for future sports partnerships.

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In 2022–2023, Wrexham’s championship win in the Vanarama National League made that partnership even more meaningful. As the players celebrated promotion, the TikTok logo across their chests became a symbol of connection between grassroots football and global fandom, proof that stories told through sport still have the power to unite millions.For all the fans online, the victory became more than a sports highlight; it was a cultural milestone that demonstrated the power of connection between storytelling, fandom, and technology. With TikTok's sponsorship, we had a front row seat to the championship action.

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Football has always been more than a game; it is a shared language of rhythm, rivalry, and identity that unites people across continents. The success of shows like Ted Lasso and the viral rise of Wrexham on TikTok proved how deeply audiences crave authentic, emotional storytelling around the sport. Both showed that football’s cultural gravity extends far beyond the pitch, living in humor, hope, and community. As the appetite for soccer content exploded on TikTok, partnering with Major League Soccer became a natural next step. The collaboration connected TikTok’s creative ecosystem with the fastest-growing league in North America, bringing fans closer to the game through behind-the-scenes storytelling, creator partnerships, and in-stadium activations. In 2025, views for #soccer have surpassed 400 billion, a sign of how football’s digital fandom continues to grow in scale and sophistication, turning TikTok into one of the most influential stages for the world’s most universal sport.

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We also pursued a multi-year partnership with the Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers represented a strategic move to deepen TikTok’s presence in both sports culture and local communities. As the official jersey sleeve sponsor for both clubs, TikTok and it's refreshed logo gained visibility not just during games, but across retail merchandise, media coverage, and community initiatives. The brand’s placement on authentic jerseys, training kits, and in key in-stadium locations created a high-frequency touchpoint with fans, while also reinforcing TikTok’s connection to creativity and entertainment. This was one of the first soccer team sponsorships in the U.S. for the brand, and its equal representation across the men’s and women’s teams reflected a deliberate commitment to gender equity in sports.

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The MLS partnership with the Portland Timbers and Thorns deepened TikTok’s integration into North American soccer culture. As the first major U.S. soccer sleeve sponsor for both men’s and women’s clubs, the activation went beyond branding by signaling a commitment to gender equity. The TikTok logo on kits, training gear, and stadium signage became a symbol of inclusivity and visibility in a league that continues to grow its global reach. Penetrating the soccer fan market was a powerful way for TikTok to deepen its roots within one of the most passionate and globally connected communities on the platform. The sport already had a thriving creator ecosystem of fan edits, match reactions, and street football clips, making it a natural environment for the brand to build meaningful inroads and strengthen its identity as the home for modern sports culture.

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The relationship reflected how deeply soccer had taken root within TikTok’s ecosystem. Millions of fans were already posting reactions, creative edits, and moments of pure emotion that captured the drama of the game in ways traditional media could not. With a majority of MLS’s TikTok audience now coming from outside the United States, the platform helped transform a domestic league into a global conversation. The renewed partnership strengthened TikTok’s role as a key league sponsor and storytelling platform, bridging sport, technology, and fandom in a way that made soccer feel more immediate, participatory, and borderless than ever before, in many ways TikTok was about connecting with fans beyond the arena.

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By integrating the brand directly into the fabric of two of the most community-driven clubs in North America, TikTok connected the local passion of Portland’s soccer culture with a global audience online. The visibility on jerseys was only the starting point; the real impact came through content that showcased player personalities, behind-the-scenes access, and fan rituals that embodied the city’s creative spirit. The partnership helped both clubs reach new audiences, amplifying women’s soccer through the Thorns’ success and deepening the Timbers’ global appeal, while positioning TikTok as the cultural bridge where new generations of fans discovered and celebrated the sport.

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Football has always been the beautiful game because it mirrors the rhythm of life itself, a mix of chaos, control, and sudden transcendence. The ball moves like a thought trying to find meaning, passing between players in moments of trust and intuition, like tiki-taka poetry written in motion. On TikTok, that same energy lives in the For You page, where every scroll carries the promise of discovery. The brilliance of a goal and the spark of a viral video share the same heartbeat, both born from timing, courage, and chance. It is in the unpredictable dance between order and spontaneity that football becomes art and digital storytelling becomes emotion, each reminding us that beauty often arrives unplanned yet feels inevitable when it happens.

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TikTok’s multiyear partnership with Major League Soccer reflects a shared vision of connecting fans to the sport in new, creative ways. Since the collaboration first began, TikTok has become one of the most engaging digital homes for soccer content, blending highlights, behind-the-scenes moments, and fan storytelling into a single, immersive experience. The partnership deepens TikTok’s role in shaping soccer culture and expanding MLS’s international reach. With millions of posts under #soccer and a growing base of fans outside the United States, the collaboration illustrates how digital platforms are reshaping fandom itself. The MLS was very interested in vertical integration and owning the broadcast rights through Apple TV, then having their highlights available online through their mls.com portal and then finally having TikTok for live and behind the scenes content. This trifecta would allow an all in one approach where MLS could take over the full fan ecosystem.

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The MLS partnership grew out of TikTok’s ongoing investment in live sports and fan engagement, recognizing soccer’s rapid rise in North America and its powerful global fan culture. The introduction of the “Messi Cam” during matches was a natural evolution of that vision, giving fans a dedicated, real-time view of one of the world’s most iconic players and showing how TikTok can turn live sports into immersive, shareable storytelling moments that bridge broadcast and digital audiences. The Messi Player Spotlight represented a radical rethinking of how live sports could be consumed. Instead of the traditional wide broadcast, the TikTok stream placed the viewer directly in Messi’s orbit, making every touch, gesture, and pause feel magnified. The decision to focus on a single player created a new level of intimacy between athlete and fan, transforming what might otherwise have been a standard playoff match into a personal experience.

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The “Player Spotlight” stream featured a single-player camera feed focused exclusively on Leo throughout the match. The creative direction leaned into TikTok’s design system by stripping away clutter and prioritizing clarity. The pink Inter Miami kit was framed against darkened backdrops, ensuring Messi’s movement always commanded attention. The motion guidelines borrowed from TikTok’s vertical storytelling, with graphics and overlays that never distracted but rather flowed alongside the action. This aesthetic choice kept the focus squarely on Messi while subtly reinforcing TikTok’s identity as a cultural platform. This innovative broadcast drew record-breaking viewership and showcased how TikTok’s unique approach to storytelling can bring the energy and intimacy of live sports directly to the global fan community.

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Out of home activations reinforced the live stream with striking billboards across major U.S. cities. Large-format visuals spotlighted Messi in Miami pink with a strong typographic lockup, paired with TikTok Live and Apple TV co-branding. These placements extended the digital experience into physical spaces, meeting fans during their commute and reminding them that sports viewing had entered a new era. By embedding the creative into the everyday landscape, the campaign turned anticipation into spectacle. TikTok became the ultimate second screen for the modern fan, a place where live moments found instant afterlives through reactions, edits, and remixes that kept the energy of the game alive long after the final whistle.

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In-app executions carried equal weight. Mobile banners and interactive countdowns allowed fans to engage before kickoff, while the stream itself integrated TikTok’s native functions like chat, reactions, and trending hashtags. These tools gave audiences a participatory role, transforming them from passive viewers into co-creators of the moment. The Player Spotlight was less a broadcast and more a live cultural event built for the rhythms of TikTok. The Player Spotlight stream drew more than 6.4 million live viewers and peaked at over 150,000 concurrent viewers, making it the most-watched live sports event ever on TikTok.

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The format succeeded in part because it aligned with how TikTok users consume content: tightly focused, personal and emotionally resonant. By offering a player-centric view rather than a traditional broadcast, the stream turned passive viewing into an immersive experience of fandom and connection. Creators, fans and even casual viewers were drawn in to the immediacy of the athlete’s perspective, and the record-breaking numbers showed the demand for content that feels intimate, youth-driven and platform native.

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By breaking the live-sports barrier on a short-form video platform, the “Player Spotlight” concept also demonstrated how sport can be re-imagined for digital audiences. Instead of multiple camera angles and commentary overlays, the feed emphasized presence, context and the raw tension of live moments. In doing so, it helped bridge the gap between app-based viewing behavior and the traditions of sport broadcasting, proving that mobile-first formats can capture high-stakes events at scale.

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Messi’s debut proved to be the perfect top of the funnel moment, a once-in-a-generation convergence of global stardom, platform innovation, and cultural curiosity. His Player Spotlight wasn’t just a singular event but a proof of concept, showing that TikTok could transform the way fans experience live sports. That success opened the door to reimagine how the same technology could serve new storylines and communities. When Son Heung-min retired from Tottenham Hotspur and joined LAFC, we launched a new Spotlight stream that captured his first MLS match from a similarly intimate lens. The broadcast celebrated not only his transition but also the emotional handoff between European and American football culture, giving fans in both regions a way to participate in a shared digital moment. It marked the evolution of the Spotlight format from a one-off experiment into a recurring storytelling tool built around access, emotion, and the immediacy of fandom.

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TikTok’s partnership with Major League Soccer demonstrates how integrating into fast-growing leagues builds grassroots-to-global visibility. Soccer’s surging popularity in North America and its inherently international fanbase align perfectly with TikTok’s identity as a borderless platform for creators. By placing TikTok branding pitch-side at matches and collaborating on highlight-driven content, the platform taps into a younger demographic that consumes sports through mobile-first storytelling. These integrations create a natural pipeline for fans to transition from live matches to TikTok, where they can engage with players, behind-the-scenes content, and viral trends that extend the life of every game.

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In terms of football culture and expanding soccer awareness within the key North American market, the MLS collaboration was instrumental in unlocking new audiences. It proved that the appetite for the sport had matured beyond niche fandom and into a broad, youth-driven movement that valued storytelling and connection as much as the matches themselves. FIFA took notice of this shift and partnered with us through DAZN for the FIFA Club World Cup, aiming to capture that same cultural momentum on a global scale. The partnership brought together DAZN’s broadcast expertise and TikTok’s community-led storytelling to create a holistic experience that bridged traditional sports coverage with new-age digital engagement. For the first time, the tournament wasn’t just about who lifted the trophy but about how fans everywhere could live and feel the journey in real time.

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The partnership between DAZN and TikTok expanded the reach of the Club World Cup by combining live coverage with the everyday storytelling that fans naturally create. While DAZN handled the matches and official highlights, TikTok became the home for the atmosphere surrounding them, from training clips and post-match celebrations to sideline interactions and team arrivals that gave viewers a sense of emotion and immediacy. The content showed how North American fans were engaging with global football in a way that felt fresh and participatory, using edits, trending sounds, and creator reactions to make the tournament feel alive on their feeds. This collaboration showed how a major international event could connect different cultures and audiences through shared passion and humor, bringing football closer to people who might never have tuned in otherwise.

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The Club World Cup Hub on TikTok became the heartbeat of the tournament, a living digital arena where the global football conversation unfolded in real time. It brought together behind-the-scenes footage, creator reactions, match highlights, and spontaneous moments that reflected the spirit of the game beyond the pitch. The Chelsea vs PSG final gave the Club World Cup Hub its defining moment, turning TikTok into a global gathering place for football culture in motion. Chelsea’s victory over PSG wasn’t just a sporting triumph but a shared cultural experience that played out across millions of screens. The hub brought together the formal beauty of elite football and the informal creativity of its audience, proving that the game’s most meaningful stories often live in the moments that fans create together.

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Vertical video content is designed around immediacy, intimacy, and adaptability to mobile consumption, optimized for the natural ergonomics of how users hold their devices. Unlike traditional broadcast highlights formatted for widescreen storytelling and linear editing, vertical video prioritizes dynamic framing, algorithmic discoverability, and user interaction. Every shot is composed with the viewer’s thumb and attention span in mind, enabling seamless transitions between live moments, reactions, and creator commentary without the visual or cognitive friction of reorientation. Its aspect ratio allows for proximity and scale, where faces, gestures, and emotions dominate the frame, creating a stronger sense of presence and authenticity. This format not only drives retention and engagement metrics but also enables micro-moments of participation where users can remix, duet, or respond instantly. The technical optimization behind vertical video transforms consumption into contribution and positions it as a core driver of modern sports storytelling and fan engagement strategy.

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Building upon this sports partnership success in the football world we also expanded to the major leagues where the big boys play. TikTok and LALIGA expanded their strategic partnership to bring Spanish football closer to fans across the globe through exclusive, mobile-first storytelling. The renewal reaffirmed TikTok’s role as a key innovation partner in sports content, positioning the platform as the premier destination for discovering and engaging with Spanish soccer. The collaboration deepened TikTok’s relationship with both leagues and fans, offering content tailored to the fast-paced, creative ecosystem of the platform and cementing its position as the most vibrant digital stage for football culture.

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TikTok and LALIGA worked together to train clubs and players in digital communication, helping them build stronger relationships with fans and leverage the platform’s tools to tell their stories more effectively. Through workshops and strategic content initiatives, players learned how to share their perspectives authentically, while clubs found new ways to engage younger audiences who might discover their teams first through TikTok.What makes LALIGA special is its ability to blend star power with storytelling.

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The partnership between TikTok and LALIGA marked a turning point in how global audiences experience Spanish football, blending the tradition of the sport with the creativity of short-form storytelling. By becoming LALIGA’s priority innovation partner, TikTok helped redefine how fans connect with their favorite clubs and players. The collaboration introduced new digital activations, behind-the-scenes series under #InsideLALIGA, and creator-led experiences that gave fans an intimate view of life both on and off the pitch. LALIGA has long been home to some of the biggest stars in football, and its global appeal continues to grow with each new generation of talent. The league’s reputation for artistry and intensity has drawn icons who define the sport, from legends who shaped its past to emerging prodigies like Lamine Yamal who are shaping its future. With Kylian Mbappé set to light up Spanish football, the league once again finds itself at the center of global attention, where the balance of power, skill, and spectacle defines every match.

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Football partnerships on TikTok continued to expand across every major market, solidifying the sport’s presence as one of the platform’s most dynamic and engaged ecosystems. The building of the partnership between TikTok Italia and Juventus reflected this growth, uniting creativity, fandom, and innovation under a shared vision. What began as a collaboration focused on visibility evolved into a cultural alliance that placed Juventus Women at the forefront of digital storytelling. The numbers were proof of impact: millions of views, hundreds of thousands of followers, and a wave of engagement that reflected genuine connection rather than curated promotion.

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The partnership extended beyond digital reach. TikTok and Juventus created spaces and experiences that gave fans unprecedented access, from the TikTok Corner at the Allianz Training Center in Vinovo to content led by creators embedded with the team. The collaboration turned the everyday rhythm of training, travel, and match preparation into compelling narratives, making players not only athletes but cultural icons within a growing online ecosystem. Campaigns like “Awareness Is a Team Sport” demonstrated how sport could be used to drive conversations that mattered beyond the field, blending social awareness with entertainment.

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Women’s football has become one of the fastest-growing sports communities on TikTok, transforming how fans connect with the game. The platform gave players and clubs a direct channel to tell their stories, celebrate wins, and show the moments that traditional coverage often overlooked. From major European leagues to grassroots clubs, the energy around women’s football has grown exponentially, powered by authenticity, creativity, and access. Campaigns and live streams have brought new audiences into the fold, turning once-niche matches into global events that trend across feeds and hashtags.

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That same spirit of inclusion and impact extended beyond the pitch with campaigns like #MentalHealth on TikTok, which Juventus Women showcased on their kits. By wearing the message across their sleeves and feeds, players made vulnerability a part of visibility, showing that strength also comes from openness. These moments reflected how TikTok partnerships could turn social movements into cultural milestones, where women’s sport wasn’t only about competition but about connection, empowerment, and the power of being seen.

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Together, TikTok and Juventus proved that the future of sports media lies in collaboration between technology and creativity. It is no longer about watching the game but participating in its ongoing narrative. Whether through a vertical video, a creator-led series, or a global campaign, the partnership between these two brands captured the energy of modern fandom and set the standard for how digital platforms can reimagine the world’s most beloved game.

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It’s hard not to notice a little magic in the mix. After Burnley FC Women’s viral success and Juventus Women’s incredible run, they went on to win their league in the 2024–25 season, proving that maybe there’s something about being powered by TikTok. Like Wrexham before them, these teams turned social momentum into real-world glory, showing that creativity and community can lift a club as much as tactics and transfers. It has become a fun pattern to spot: where TikTok shows up, silverware tends to follow. Maybe it’s the global energy of a billion fans rallying behind a team, or maybe the platform’s algorithm is secretly scouting talent. Either way, it’s clear that when football and TikTok collide, winning becomes part of the storyline.

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Serie A’s collaboration with TikTok marked a new chapter in how Italian football connects with fans around the world. What began as an editorial partnership quickly evolved into a redefinition of how digital audiences experience live sport. By simply searching “Serie A” on the app, fans could access an immersive hub filled with match highlights, player profiles, and real-time updates that transformed scrolling into an act of fandom. For TikTok, the partnership reflected a vision that extended far beyond short-form entertainment. It was about building a living ecosystem of content where clubs, athletes, and fans could interact directly.

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TikTok opened a window into the lifestyle and fashion side of football that fans had never seen so closely before. Beyond match highlights and press conferences, the platform gave access to the rituals and aesthetics that surround the game, from the tunnel moments before kickoff to the travel fits and locker room energy that define modern football culture. One of the best examples of this new visual language came through AC Milan’s collaboration with Off-White, where the players’ pre-match look became as anticipated as their performance on the pitch. When the team arrived in London wearing Off-White varsity jackets ahead of a Champions League clash, the moment wasn’t only covered by sports outlets but celebrated across TikTok, where clips of the squad’s arrival went viral within hours. Through partnerships like this, TikTok became the intersection of sport, fashion, and creativity. It transformed football into a cultural movement where players doubled as style icons and tunnel walks became catwalks for the global stage.

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This type of access became especially powerful during moments that transcended sport, like Zlatan Ibrahimović’s retirement. Fans could witness not only his final walk off the pitch but also the quiet, emotional scenes that followed, from teammates embracing him to fans chanting his name in the stands. TikTok’s pitch-side coverage gave viewers an unfiltered look into the human side of these monumental moments, capturing raw emotion and reflection in real time. It showed how the platform wasn’t just about highlights or entertainment but about documenting the deeper connection between players, fans, and the culture of the game itself.

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As the conversation around access and storytelling in sport evolved, TikTok’s approach naturally extended beyond football into other global arenas where fandom and business intersect. Few industries embody that intersection more powerfully than Formula 1, where performance, precision, and brand identity merge at incredible scale. The sport’s rapid commercial growth, driven by new media and data accessibility, mirrored the same dynamics transforming football’s digital presence. For TikTok, F1 represented not only a new content frontier but an economic ecosystem where entertainment, technology, and luxury branding collided, creating opportunities to reimagine how audiences experience speed, strategy, and personality both on and off the track.

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Across these sports partnerships the TikTok logo often appeared in its monochromatic white form and frequently in the stacked version to maximize vertical space on kits, cars, and stadium signage. While this treatment was less common in other brand environments, it mirrored the user experience of opening the app itself, where the logo sits boldly on a dark background. This approach created visual consistency between the live sports world and the digital platform, reinforcing recognition while adapting the mark to high impact, fast moving contexts.

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The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One partnership was a turning point in TikTok’s global branding strategy, placing the design system and logo in one of the most prestigious sporting arenas. By featuring on the car at Silverstone and on the driver headrest and inner Halo, the TikTok mark stood alongside some of the world’s most established sponsors as the years evolved so didthis partnership. This visibility created instant recognition while reinforcing TikTok’s credibility as a cultural brand. Formula One is synonymous with speed, precision, and elite performance, and by aligning with that environment TikTok gained new equity in trust, innovation, and global influence.

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Formula One has become one of the fastest growing global sports, expanding far beyond its traditional motorsport fan base to attract younger, digitally native audiences. Viewership is rising not only in Europe but also in the United States, where Netflix’s Drive to Survive created an entirely new wave of fandom. This audience tends to be younger than other major sports leagues, with a strong interest in behind the scenes access, personality-driven storytelling, and interactive formats that make the sport feel more human and accessible.

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For TikTok, the partnership with F1 opens a direct channel to this valuable demographic. The fanbase is international, socially engaged, and deeply active on digital platforms. Placing the TikTok logo on cars, helmets, and team assets provides more than visibility, it places the brand inside a culture that values innovation, speed, and authenticity. This alignment reinforces TikTok’s role as a destination where the next generation comes together to watch, remix, and share.

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From a brand strategy perspective, F1 delivers a premium stage where TikTok stands alongside some of the world’s most iconic sponsors. It complements partnerships across football, basketball, and esports, extending TikTok’s cultural reach while shifting perception from a social app to a global entertainment brand. The association with elite performance and aspirational storytelling not only builds credibility but also ensures TikTok is helping shape the future of sports fandom.

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The partnership also extended far beyond logo placement. As the Official Creator Partner, TikTok wove its creative DNA directly into the F1 story. Exclusive behind the scenes content, interactive hashtag challenges like #CatchChallenge and #DayInTheLifeOf, and collaborations with creators transformed the team narrative into a living, participatory culture. This approach fit within TikTok’s broader sports strategy, showing that the platform is not simply a sponsor but a cultural engine. With activations spanning MLS, the Euros, and now F1, the Aston Martin collaboration proved that TikTok can sit beside legacy brands while building ecosystems where fan passion, brand storytelling, and cultural relevance meet.

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The Creator Collective was launched as a collaboration between TikTok and Aston Martin Aramco F1 to identify and mentor new talent who could tell authentic stories about the sport. The program gave five emerging creators direct access to the team, its facilities, and its season calendar, enabling them to craft original content rooted in their own perspectives. By combining mentorship with unprecedented behind the scenes access, the initiative turned fans into storytellers and expanded the cultural reach of both the team and the platform.

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The Creator Collective’s amplification came from the distinct audiences each winner brought to race weekends. Alicia Hullott’s lifestyle edits pulled in casual viewers, Chelsea Tucker’s food and paddock hospitality angles reached culinary and venue communities, Rheanna Mazzaschi translated race craft and data for STEM-curious fans, Catherine Bruce leaned into fan POV access and Q&A formats, and Ella Welch focused on creator collabs and trend-driven sounds. Their posts cross-pollinated through stitches, duets, and reposts across @astonmartinf1 and TikTok’s sports surfaces, seeding multiple entry points into the same moment and compounding reach beyond the team’s core following.

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Sports content on TikTok thrives because it humanizes the spectacle, and behind the scenes storytelling is at the heart of that connection. Training sessions, travel routines, pre-race rituals, and the personalities that live off the pitch or track build a sense of intimacy that highlight reels alone cannot deliver. When creators share these moments, they give fans entry points into a world that feels more approachable and authentic. For the brand, this positions TikTok as the space where sports culture is not only consumed but reimagined, strengthening awareness and credibility while deepening fan engagement.

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The NBA and TikTok have built one of the most enduring and successful partnerships in sports media, rooted in creativity, access, and cultural relevance. Since the early days of the platform, the league has used TikTok to bring fans closer to the personalities, rituals, and humor that define basketball culture. Together they transformed highlights into human moments, from player reactions and locker room celebrations to challenges that invited global participation. The partnership has also evolved to include localized content across continents, tapping into regional trends while keeping the league’s storytelling unified under one digital heartbeat. What began as an experiment in short-form video has become a global case study in how sports and social media can move in rhythm, building connection and community far beyond the court.

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On TikTok, basketball culture doesn’t live in highlight reels, it lives in the scroll. The For You Page has become the new barbershop, the new bleachers, the place where hoop culture is remixed, debated, and celebrated in real time. LeBron James songs become the soundtrack to inside jokes, Jared McCain’s dances blur the line between athlete and entertainer, and cinematic edits stitched to Creed scores turn fan moments into mythmaking. The comments read like a running pulse of the game, where creators, players, and fans build on each other’s energy until basketball becomes more than sport, it becomes a shared language. Even Sora AI career tributes, where fans reimagine their own journeys through surreal highlight tapes, show how deeply TikTok has fused imagination with identity. The FYP is not just reflecting basketball culture, it is actively creating it, one post, one remix, one highlight at a time.

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Basketball has always spoken its own language, one built on rhythm, rivalry, and myth, and TikTok amplified that language into a living, breathing dialect of internet culture. The NBA thrives in this ecosystem because it is already fluent in meme logic and visual storytelling. Every highlight becomes a symbol, every expression a reaction, every player a piece of evolving lore. The comment sections read like collaborative fan fiction, where irony and awe coexist. Through short-form storytelling and remix culture, TikTok turns moments on the court into cultural idioms that ripple across timelines, proving that meaning in modern sport is no longer broadcast from above, but co-authored by the crowd.

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Baseball represents a deep connection to community, ritual, and shared emotion, which aligns closely with the spirit of TikTok. The partnership between TikTok and the New York Yankees brought one of the most storied teams in sports into the heart of digital culture, creating a new way for fans to experience America’s favorite pastime. It blended the timeless rhythm of baseball with the immediacy and creativity of TikTok’s short-form storytelling, giving fans moments of joy, humor, and behind-the-scenes access that extended far beyond the stadium. This collaboration illustrated how tradition and innovation can thrive together, showing that even the oldest sports can feel fresh when filtered through the lens of a new generation. The partnership includes multi-year collaboration between TikTok, the New York Yankees, and the YES Network, featuring exclusive TikTok content on YES broadcasts, in-stadium branding, and cross-platform storytelling. It allows TikTok to engage with fans through short-form video experiences, behind-the-scenes access, and creator-led moments that bring the excitement of Yankees baseball to a global digital audience while giving the team new ways to connect with younger fans.

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For us, one of the most important lessons from our baseball partnerships was understanding the value of presence inside the ballpark itself. Baseball stadiums have always been more than sports venues; they are social ecosystems, the original third places where generations come together to relax, share a beer, eat garlic fries, and soak in the rhythm of the game. The experience is as much about community and memory as it is about competition, and being part of that atmosphere mattered. That is why in-game signage became a crucial part of our strategy. It wasn’t just about visibility on camera but about embedding the brand in a space where nostalgia and identity run deep. Stadiums like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park are cathedrals of tradition, and within them exists a loyal core of fans who show up rain or shine. These season ticket holders, the mythical 20 percent who drive most of the league’s economic impact, are the ones who shape perception, influence habits, and keep the sport alive between generations. For TikTok, having our logo and creative integrations in those spaces meant aligning with history while speaking to the future. It allowed us to reach the fans who matter most while still meeting new audiences in the moments that define American culture’s enduring relationship with sport.

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Nothing is more American than baseball, and that made our presence in the sport a strategic play as much as a cultural one. The ballpark sits at the heart of American identity, a place where nostalgia, family tradition, and regional pride intersect. By aligning with baseball, we weren’t just sponsoring a game; we were connecting with a symbol of everyday Americana that cuts across generations and demographics. It positioned us not only in the stands but in the stories that make baseball part of the national fabric. In many ways, our presence in baseball functioned as soft power, allowing the brand to integrate naturally into cultural moments and shared experiences rather than relying on overt marketing.

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If baseball is the great American pastime, then hockey holds that same place in the Canadian psyche, and our instrumental strategic partnership with MLSE reflected that understanding perfectly. The NHL partnerships, such as those with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals, provide TikTok with access to one of the most passionate and tradition-rich fan communities in North American sports. Jersey and helmet patches place TikTok at the heart of iconic moments from Alex Ovechkin’s milestone celebrations to Maple Leafs’ playoff runs cementing the platform as part of hockey’s evolving visual culture. This visibility reinforces TikTok’s relevance in spaces where legacy brands have historically dominated, showing its ability to honor tradition while driving modern fan engagement. TikTok’s creative edge offers teams and leagues a fresh way to connect with fans, blending nostalgia, star power, and digital-native storytelling. I actually have one of the Maple Leaf's official game worn helmets with the TikTok branding sitting on my bookshelf as you read this.

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The TikTok Creator Studio at Scotiabank Arena was a 12x10 concourse installation designed to bring content creation, fandom, and live sports closer together during select Raptors and Maple Leafs games. It was a modular environment built for dual-brand activation, featuring a fabric wall skin that could switch seamlessly between team colors and partner brands like Ruffles and Tostitos. The setup included neon TikTok signage, branded glass panels, and a central portrait-mode display that streamed live content and interactive creator moments to fans in the arena and beyond. Each night, it served as the physical hub for shows like “Crunch Time,” “Kick Back,” and “Creator Post Up,” merging the excitement of game night with real-time digital storytelling.

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I was brought in to lead the creative direction and environmental design for the space, working with our Canadian team and agency partner Decor & More in shaping its look, feel, and storytelling rhythm. My focus was to make the studio both visually magnetic and highly functional, balancing creator needs with the elevated tone of a major sports arena. I oversaw layout strategy, lighting mood boards, signage hierarchy, and the integration of reflective and branded materials to channel the energy of the TikTok ecosystem within a premium live environment. The visual system adhered closely to TikTok’s brand guidelines, with a consistent use of motion-inspired geometric patterns, bold color blocking, and the iconic note logo placed in focal zones to anchor the brand presence. The seating layout was designed to create intimacy and flexibility for hosts, guests, and talent filming short-form content on site, allowing the space to shift easily between interviews, live segments, and fan engagement moments. The result was an environment that felt cohesive, on-brand, and purpose-built for creators, athletes, and fans to share the same storytelling stage.

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Similar to the deal with MLSE in Canada, TikTok’s partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment marked a major expansion of its presence in professional U.S. sports, establishing the brand as a unifying force across Washington, D.C.’s biggest teams. The collaboration extends through the 2026–27 season and includes the Washington Capitals, Wizards, Mystics, Capital City Go-Go, and Wizards District Gaming, along with Monumental’s media network. This partnership reflects TikTok’s continued investment in sports as a cultural touchpoint, bringing fans closer to their favorite teams through exclusive content, digital storytelling, and in-person experiences. As the official patch partner for the Capitals’ road jerseys, TikTok also claimed a visible space in one of the NHL’s most historic franchises, underscoring the strength of its brand integration strategy.

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The partnership’s kickoff coincided with the Capitals’ 50th anniversary celebration, “50 Fest,” where TikTok served as the presenting sponsor. The festival blended nostalgia and community with modern digital engagement, featuring performances, meet-and-greets, and interactive fan moments shared across TikTok. By connecting live experience with digital participation, the sponsorship embodied what TikTok does best, turning shared moments into stories that travel far beyond the arena. This collaboration reinforced the brand’s position at the intersection of sports, culture, and technology, showing how TikTok continues to shape how fans engage with the teams and traditions they love.

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For the NHL, the partnership signaled a bridge between legacy fandom and a new digital-first audience. Hockey’s demographic skews older compared to some other sports, yet the sport has an intensely loyal following built on heritage, rituals, and community. By bringing TikTok into this space, the league tapped into the habits of younger, mobile-first fans who consume highlights, celebrations, and behind-the-scenes content in short, shareable bursts. It allowed the sport to maintain its roots in tradition while modernizing the way it reaches and engages with people. This dynamic approach reflected how fans now experience live sports not only in the arena or on television, but through the social feeds that shape the cultural conversation.

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Strategically, TikTok’s integration within NHL arenas and uniforms symbolized a brand that understands how to meet fans where their passion is strongest. The monochromatic patches on jerseys and helmets stood out sharply against classic designs, making the logo instantly recognizable during televised moments and viral highlights. Beyond visibility, TikTok positioned itself as a cultural amplifier, reinforcing its role as the platform where both the legacy of players and the creativity of fans intersect. By combining deep tradition with forward-looking digital storytelling, TikTok demonstrated its ability to help leagues and teams build bridges between generations of fans while amplifying their cultural relevance on a global stage. With my heavy sports background and experience at Bleacher Report, I tapped into my network to expand these sports partnerships and provide guidance and creative consulting.

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Building on the success of other key partnerships in sport, the Women’s Six Nations became another example of how TikTok used creativity and storytelling to elevate entire leagues and audiences. The campaign showed that sport could be both entertaining and empowering when presented through the right lens. By collaborating with creators, athletes, and fans, the partnership brought a fresh, inclusive energy to rugby and opened doors for new audiences to engage with the game. It stood as proof of how thoughtful digital strategy could expand visibility for women’s sport while reinforcing TikTok’s role as a platform where culture, competition, and community intersect. The initiative went on to be shortlisted for a Leaders in Sport Award, alongside the Burnley FC partnership, marking another milestone in TikTok’s growing influence in the global sports ecosystem.

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The TikTok Women’s Six Nations partnership represented a major evolution for both rugby and the platform’s global ambitions. It was the first time TikTok became the title sponsor of a major women’s sports tournament, a move that symbolized the company’s commitment to inclusion and representation in sport. The collaboration brought together technology and tradition and proved that digital storytelling could elevate live sports in ways previously unimaginable. With creative activations across six countries and a refreshed brand identity, the partnership didn’t just celebrate competition but built a cultural ecosystem around it, creating new entry points for fans and audiences who might never have engaged with rugby before.

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At the heart of the campaign was a focus on community and participation. TikTok empowered creators and influencers to translate the intensity of the Six Nations into native, shareable content that lived naturally on the platform. This opened up a new channel for discovery, where fans could learn the rules, celebrate their favorite teams, and champion female athletes as cultural icons. The results were extraordinary, with billions of impressions, millions of views, and a measurable shift in how people perceived women’s rugby.

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The partnership with the Women’s Six Nations Rugby Championship further underscores TikTok’s role as a champion of inclusion and innovation in sports. Sponsoring this premier women’s rugby competition highlights TikTok’s commitment to elevating underrepresented sports and fostering community-driven storytelling on a global stage. By investing in women’s rugby, TikTok not only gains exposure in a rapidly growing market but also positions itself as a brand that actively shapes cultural conversations around gender equity and sports representation. These moves demonstrate that TikTok isn’t simply sponsoring teams or leagues, it’s rewriting how fans discover, share, and emotionally connect with sports content worldwide.

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TikTok’s success in sports sponsorship is amplified by a meticulously crafted brand identity system that ensures its logo feels both iconic and adaptable across every arena, jersey, and broadcast. The minimalist design and bold color palette translate seamlessly to a wide range of applications, from pitch-side LED boards to embroidered patches on NHL jerseys, while always maintaining consistency with global brand guidelines. This disciplined yet flexible approach makes the TikTok logo instantly recognizable, even in high-speed action shots, and reinforces its status as a cultural marker. By embedding its branding in these high-visibility environments, TikTok has turned every televised goal, touchdown, or try into an organic ad placement, extending the reach of its brand without diluting its core aesthetic. This strategy has been central to positioning TikTok not just as a platform, but as a lifestyle brand woven into the sports ecosystem.

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Sports became one of the most powerful ways for TikTok to evolve from a social platform into a true media destination. It allowed the brand to move beyond entertainment into storytelling that carried cultural and emotional weight. It was a new kind of TV channel, where fans could see all the behind-the-scenes clips, locker room energy, and unfiltered human moments that traditional broadcasts never showed. Through live moments, highlight edits, creator commentary, and fan tributes, TikTok became a digital broadcast booth where every user could play a part in shaping the narrative. Sports gave the platform rhythm and routine, anchoring it in the daily conversations that define fandom and community. It positioned TikTok not only as a place to watch but as a place to belong, where the collective act of sharing and reacting became the new language of modern media.

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Working on experiential events in the sports space meant translating digital energy into real-world immersion. These activations brought agency partners, brands, and clients together to feel the momentum of TikTok’s sports ecosystem in person. Every element, from the event architecture to the content capture zones, was designed to embody the spirit of fandom and performance. The focus was on creating environments that inspired participation, strengthened relationships, and reinforced the platform’s role as both a cultural hub and a commercial engine for sport.

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Attention to detail was everything. We designed custom jerseys for brand ambassadors, integrated localized signage, and curated textures and lighting that reflected the pulse of the platform while staying authentic to each venue. Every touchpoint, from the check-in lockers to the hospitality spaces, worked in harmony to make clients feel part of the game and part of the culture. These experiences became living proof of how creativity and commerce intersect when brands step into the same energy that drives the fans.

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There was a rare kind of joy in knowing that a brief written in a conference room could ripple into millions of feeds and shape how the next generation experiences sport. It required both humility and ambition, to balance reverence for the games with the audacity to redefine how they are seen. Our team lived at the intersection of fandom and innovation, creating work that honored the athletes, celebrated the fans, and elevated the stories that bring both together. To help write that chapter of TikTok’s impact on the sports world was to witness what happens when storytelling, technology, and culture all play on the same team.

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Working on sports as a vertical at TikTok meant contributing to one of the company’s most powerful engines of growth. Across my tenure, I played a direct role in shaping how we presented our sports narrative through campaign sizzles, brand films, and measurable partnership success stories. Whether it was aligning with leagues, teams, and agencies to expand our footprint or developing creative systems that bridged marketing and product, my focus was on precision and performance. Each collaboration added to a broader ecosystem that not only elevated TikTok’s cultural relevance but also drove tangible business outcomes and long-term brand equity in the global sports economy.

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Sports has always been a universal language that transcends borders, generations, and demographics, which made it a powerful medium for TikTok to build brand trust and deepen market penetration. By engaging fans where their passion already lived, the platform was able to strengthen its reputation as a positive force in culture and community. Thoughtfulness in creative execution was essential, ensuring our tone remained authentic and humble, never overshadowing the athletes or the game itself. This sensitivity allowed TikTok to earn credibility in spaces where legacy and loyalty mattered most, turning sports partnerships into both a business driver and a meaningful expression of shared human connection.

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Key Collaborators: Arthur Guisasola, Brooklyn McDaniels, Rollo Golldstaub, Kenny Yansen, Kohl Threlkeld, Jake Bulgarino, Donna Wood, Beatriz Diogo, Matt Tanski, Jake Williams, Colin Yarack, Michael Hinson, Eric Schroeder, Jason Gomez, Dexter Fedor, Raisa Janjua, Vanessa Rizk, Joy Seet, Kenneth Liew, Stephanie Yin, Tracy Llewellyn, Hamilton Tamayo, Alainna Schiano, Sophie Rosseau, Connor Kort, Ali Lebow, Parris Pierce, Emma Tobin, Peter Henderson, Amy Heathorn, Jessica Dong, Ellie Sunakawa, Josh Covarrubias, Madison Laclair, Sophia Lipp, Dana Viltz, Hyunjin Park, Christie Ramistella, Jose Hunt, Henry Kaye

Tools: After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, Cinema 4D, and Sketch

Deliverables: Brand Guidelines, Design System, Motion Package, Merch Guidelines, Product/UI Guidelines, Brand Photography, Presentation Templates, Events

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