If TikTok be prohibited in the United States, the National Football League has the option to cancel its sponsor deal, according to a person with clear knowledge of the details.
The U. S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law passed in April that may ban TikTok, owned by Chinese-based ByteDance, starting Jan. 19, unless its U. S. businesses were sold. It’s more complicated by the uncertainty of how Donald Trump’s successor may carry out the resolution when he takes office the following morning.
The lack of quality has left celebrities, firms and TikTok partners—among them sports team and leagues—preparing for many benefits.
The NFL and TikTok have a legal relationship that began in 2019 and ended in September 2024, giving them access to features and a reputation at the Super Bowl, among other things. The protracted improvement signed four months ago includes language that allows the country’s richest group to cancel the deal if TikTok’s lawful status in the U. S., a long-running debate in the U. S. government, actually changed, said the person, who was granted anonymity because the details are secret.
A NFL member declined to comment. A TikTok member didn’t respond to an email that contained a comment. CEO Shou Zi Chew expressed gratitude to Trump for “working with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok accessible in the U.S.” in a video released Friday. S”.
Other U.S. sports organizations are eagerly awaiting the results of their own Twitter deals over the upcoming days. The NHL’s Washington Capitals have a package that includes TikTok’s symbol on their absent clothes. If the restrictions come into effect, a team representative declined to comment on the state of the partnership. Lionel Messi’s second postseason game with Inter Miami was life streamed by MLS through a partnership with TikTok last October. The league’s representative declined to comment right away.
The MLB teams New York Yankees, YES Network, and Portland Timbers all had TikTok talks that expired at the end of next year.
In the late 2010s, sports leagues like the NBA and NFL began uploading content to TikTok in an interesting video format in response to the platform’s young users. First, they posted funny videos tied to the phone’s popular trends, though glad strategies developed over time to include more conventional highlights and behind-the-scenes clips.
Sports businesses saw TikTok as a way to increase player engagement with games, and selling and other revenue opportunities followed.
More than 15 million people follow the NFL on the program, with several unique finals videos receiving more than four million views. Some personal groups have also grown sizable fan bases. The Kansas City Chiefs have five million supporters, for example. This time, the Texans utilized the program as part of their solution sales strategy. Days after Friday’s Supreme Court decision, the NFL’s standard TikTok account was also posting, uploading a 96-second review of the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers ‘ 2022 regional round sport.