For decades, sports marketing and media rights revolved around broadcasting deals and official channels. Fans tuned in, sponsors paid for prime placements, and rights holders controlled the flow of content. But a new model is emerging.
This one does not rely on set schedules or TV networks, but on short-form video, creators, and direct audience engagement. And at the centre of that shift is TikTok.
Rollo Goldstaub, TikTok’s Global Head of Sports Partnerships, is helping to redefine how commercial value is created in sport. Speaking to Insider Sport, he explains how the platform is challenging assumptions in the industry — not by competing with broadcasters in a traditional sense, but by changing how content is discovered, shared and monetised.
Goldstaub is clear that TikTok is not aiming to become a broadcaster. But its influence on the way fans consume sport is becoming difficult to ignore. “TikTok has become a force of discovery,” he says. “Fans are finding new sports, or the ones they love, in much deeper ways.”
This has real implications for rights holders. Where once the value of a rights package might have rested in exclusive footage or highlight reels, TikTok encourages a different approach; one where moments are remixed, reinterpreted and shared organically. This poses both a challenge and an opportunity.
“Those rights holders who are the most flexible with IP, who allow fans to create with it, will be the ones that grow their sport,” Goldstaub says.
A recent example comes from WWE, which partnered with TikTok to allow content from WrestleMania to be used in a post-campaign format. Fans created their own content using clips from the event. It was a test case for a broader trend: the rise of fan-led creation as a driver of reach and commercial engagement.
Data-led commercial strategy
TikTok has proven not just a creative platform, widely becoming a source of real-time consumer insight. Goldstaub’s team works closely with sports organisations, reviewing content performance, growth metrics and user engagement.
“We’ll sit down with leagues like the NFL or the Premier League and go through everything,” he explains. “That data then informs their strategy.”
One of the more notable examples was the Chelsea Women’s team, which used TikTok to grow its audience to the point where it would rank ninth in the men’s Premier League by follower size. That kind of growth changes the conversation with sponsors and helps unlock new commercial partnerships.
Similarly, lower-league teams have been able to demonstrate value through reach rather than legacy. Burnley Women, who competed in the fourth tier at the time, used TikTok to live stream matches. The result was increased exposure and, eventually, a front-of-shirt sponsor they previously lacked. “It’s a very clear return on investment,” says Goldstaub.
The Olympics: Not just a content moment
Perhaps no event better illustrated TikTok’s strategic potential than the Paris Olympic Games. The platform worked across multiple levels — with the IOC, national committees, broadcasters and athletes. Over half of Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes joined the platform. “We were a content partner at every level,” Goldstaub says.
TikTok worked with athletes to track performance and report back to sponsors and teams. Athletes like Ilona Maher reached more people than many traditional celebrities. Her content, which blended rugby with themes like body positivity and lifestyle, received 1.4 billion views in a single year.
It demonstrated that attention is no longer tied to scheduled events or media deals. It can be earned — and monetised — in real time, by athletes and creators who understand how to connect with their audience.
Pushing broadcasters, not replacing them
The shift does not mean broadcasters are obsolete, but it does mean the ground beneath them is moving. “We need to be working with every rights holder and every broadcaster,” says Goldstaub. But TikTok is also pushing those partners to rethink how value is created.
The platform enables content to travel outside of its original context. A clip from a rugby match might spark a trend, become part of a comedy skit, or be used in a motivational edit. This kind of reuse expands the reach of a moment well beyond the original broadcast.
In that sense, TikTok is changing the distribution model. Not by replacing long-form coverage, but by offering a faster, more flexible route to audience growth. It is a complementary layer that, for some fans, is becoming the first place they encounter a sport.
Growth from the ground up
TikTok’s discovery model also allows emerging sports to find an audience without needing a broadcaster. Sports like pickleball, paddle and freestyle football have seen rapid growth through creator content. TikTok tracks these trends closely, often identifying new opportunities before they surface elsewhere.
This early identification means TikTok can reach out to associations and leagues with evidence of growth. “We’re really the starting point for some of these sports,” Goldstaub says.
That approach aligns with how TikTok sees its role in the ecosystem. It is not about controlling rights or locking down content. It is about creating tools, surfacing trends and supporting the growth of sport in new directions.
A changing definition of success
When asked what a successful sports partnership looks like, Goldstaub points to integration. “If we’re fully immersed with a rights holder — the league, the broadcaster, the athletes, the creators — that’s success,” he says. One example is the Women’s Six Nations, where TikTok served as title sponsor and content partner across the board.
That kind of involvement has measurable effects. Growth in women’s rugby content, increased ticket sales and stronger sponsor interest all followed. But TikTok’s ambition is broader. “We want to be the place fans go first,” Goldstaub says.
For sports organisations, that means rethinking how they define media value. The traditional broadcast model is no longer the only route to reach or revenue. Fans today remain viewers but they are also creators, curators and communities.
And in that landscape, TikTok is a new kind of partner; one that is already reshaping the business of sport from the ground up.
