UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) – the world’s premier mixed martial arts association – recently entered into a multi-year partnership deal with the video-sharing giant TikTok. This new alliance is monumental, given that UFC is the third most popular sports league on TikTok – with more than 6.3 million TikTok users following them on the platform.
.@UFC to Produce Weekly Live Show on TikTok in groundbreaking sports content partnership.
— UFC News (@UFCNews) February 18, 2021
In their new alliance, UFC and TikTok will share weekly live streams that will feature pre-and post-fight access, behind the scenes footage, interviews with UFC athletes, and other exclusive content. This content will be available across all of UFC’s TikTok channels – which include @UFC, @UFCRussia, @UFCBrasil, and @UFCEurope.
Moreover, a representative from UFC will directly work with the TikTok team and be responsible for video production as well as live-stream video content on UFC’s official accounts – which collectively have nearly 7 million followers.
David Shaw – the Senior Vice President of Content at UFC – shares that this new alliance with TikTok will be a “ tremendous addition to UFC’s content distribution ecosystem. We want to be everywhere our fans are consuming content and TikTok continues to break new ground in reaching a diverse, global audience”.
This statement from Shaw demonstrates a shift in how the Sports Industry is distributing content to its audience. Traditionally – sports fans consume sports media via Television or news outlets online. However, the industry is taking notice of changing content consumption behaviors – which include the rise in popularity of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
Moreover, Harish Sarma – Director of Global Strategic Partnerships in the Americas and Oceania at TikTok – adds how the alliance was partially sparked due to Covid-19:
“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with UFC and launch a robust slate of exclusive live content for the TikTok community. Now more than ever, sports fans are craving the up-close-and-personal moments they are missing by not attending live events. Through this partnership, we are excited to bring to TikTok, the action and excitement of UFC both inside and outside the Octagon”.
The partnership will officially commence on Saturday February 20th, 2021 with live-streamed coverage on UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis .