TikTok’s next sports play is not just about highlights. It is about making basketball fandom live inside the app before, during, and around the actual game.
The platform has announced new partnership deals with the NBA and WNBA that will bring exclusive content to TikTok, including posts from marquee league events such as All-Star games and in-season tournaments. As Social Media Today reports, the move is designed to help TikTok engage a fast-growing basketball audience that is already using the app as part of how it follows the sport.
Basketball is becoming a TikTok behavior
The numbers explain why this deal makes sense. TikTok says global interest for “NBA” is up nearly 30% since the start of 2026, while interest for “WNBA” is up nearly 15%. The company also says one in three TikTok users has an interest in the NBA, and that 64% of women’s basketball fans choose TikTok as their go-to destination for updates.
That last number matters. The WNBA is not simply being folded into a generic sports package here. Women’s basketball has become one of the clearest examples of how TikTok can turn player personalities, behind-the-scenes moments, fashion, fan commentary, and game clips into a continuous culture feed. The game is still the anchor, but the story now travels through many more formats.
TikTok says NBA and WNBA content already reaches fans globally, with a combined 30 million followers across the leagues’ TikTok presence. Through the new partnerships, both leagues will post exclusive app content and use TikTok’s GamePlan offering to direct fans into dedicated in-app hubs where they can discover more related content.
In other words, TikTok is not positioning itself as a place where a highlight randomly goes viral. It wants to be the place where the fan loop keeps moving: clip, creator reaction, player story, league content, live-game interest, repeat.
The platform wants the moments around the match
The interesting tension is that TikTok does not need to replace live sports to become more important to sports culture. It needs to make the time around live sports feel bigger.
Previous TikTok insights cited in the report suggest that around 59% of users find watching sports content in the app more entertaining than watching actual games. That sounds like a threat to traditional viewing, but TikTok also says basketball fans are 42% more likely to tune into live games after watching in-app sports content.
That is the strategic sweet spot. TikTok can frame itself as a discovery and engagement engine for leagues, not just a distraction from the broadcast. For the NBA and WNBA, the value is not only reach. It is the ability to package basketball as culture in between scheduled games, especially for younger fans who may encounter the league through a creator, a tunnel-fit video, a locker-room clip, or a player’s off-court personality before they ever watch a full match.
For brands, the implication is simple but important: sports media is no longer limited to sponsorship inventory around the event. The more fandom becomes a daily content habit, the more valuable the edges become. The pre-game mood, the player narrative, the fan remix, the reaction format, and the post-game argument may all carry as much attention as the official clip.
That is what TikTok is really buying into with the NBA and WNBA. Not just basketball content, but basketball as an always-on social feed.