The news: TikTok announced a multiyear partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). 

The agreement combines creator access to marquee events with live-game discovery through TikTok GamePlan and new advertiser inventory through TikTok Pulse Premiere. 

• Accredited TikTok creators get credentialed access to capture and share content from big moments, starting with WNBA All-Star Weekend this weekend.
• GamePlan links highlight videos directly to viewing options, and Pulse Premiere places ads alongside official league content like NBA’s Tap to Watch.

Zooming in: The partnership ties in the NBA’s and WNBA’s rewatchable highlights, user-generated content (UGC), and the virality of short-form videos as a conduit back to game engagement on bigger screens. 

• Nearly half of TikTok’s more than 1 billion global users follow basketball, and one in three users has an interest in the NBA specifically, per GWI research cited by TikTok.
• The NBA and WNBA accounts draw 30 million followers on the platform, giving both leagues a built-in distribution channel for game highlights and UGC.
• The 64% of women who name TikTok as their primary sports destination show the platform is often a fan’s first touchpoint with the game, ahead of any broadcast.

Implications for brands: The partnership hands sports advertisers a rare bridge between second-screen behavior and first-screen viewership. Fans are already on TikTok during games, and that scrolling can convert into live viewership rather than compete with it. 

• Brands should place ads inside that viewing loop, using Pulse Premiere inventory tied to highlight moments, so a second-screen glance turns into actionable engagement rather than a distraction.
• For advertisers chasing fans outside an increasingly fragmented viewing landscape, TikTok’s GamePlan anchor links and in-app hubs offer a direct path to convert casual scrollers into trackable viewers.
• Creator access to marquee events keeps fresh highlight content and UGC flowing well after the game ends, giving brands a channel multiplier to stay present in fan conversations year-round instead of only during live windows.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.