May 14, 2026

Building Platform-Native Sports Content Strategies

Discovery in sports no longer starts with a search. It starts with a swipe.

Key takeaways:

Discovery in sports is now driven by short-form, platform-native content, requiring rights holders to adapt storytelling to each environment.

Most TikTok consumption comes from non-followers, forcing rights holders to package content in different ways to ensure users understand the context.

AI-powered content creation tech enables rights holders to scale tailored, multi-format storytelling that maximizes platform-specific engagement.

In its Q1 2026 earnings letter to shareholders, Netflix announced it was launching an updated mobile experience that includes a vertical video feed. The new feature, the streaming giant explained, is meant to improve discovery across its expanding offerings, prompting prominent media outlets to refer to it as a “TikTok-like” feed.

TikTok has become synonymous with discovery in recent years. A recent survey by Canadian digital marketing firm The Influence Agency revealed that 63.1% of consumers discover new products, services, and trends on TikTok, with 73% saying short-form video is the content type most likely to grab their attention during discovery.

Nowhere is this more evident than in sports. “Discovery is now social-first and mobile-first, driven by short-form video,” said Jaume Pons, head of social media and digital content at LALIGA. “TikTok is not just a distribution channel, it’s an entry point into the LALIGA ecosystem. It allows us to connect with audiences in a native, emotional, and culturally relevant way, especially with Gen Z.”

The TikTok Playbook

Connecting with younger audiences is one of TikTok’s main benefits, but it’s certainly not the only one. To maximize these benefits, including the ability to cultivate and monetize global fandom, many organizations are reshaping their content strategies to align with consumption habits on the platform. Here are some lessons from rights holders who have been particularly successful on TikTok:

Identify the right type of content

“Our approach is to treat TikTok as a primary storytelling platform,” said LALIGA’s Pons. “That means prioritizing vertical, short, emotional, and immediate content. This includes highlights, goals, skills, and ‘near live’ clips, but also creator-driven formats, behind-the-scenes content, and player stories.”

Recent data supports this approach. A survey of 7,000 sports fans aged 18-49 across the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Korea, and Brazil, conducted by TikTok in collaboration with market research company Ipsos, reveals that highlights & recaps (67%) and athlete interviews (50%) are ranked highest when it comes to the types of content fans want to consume on TikTok, with 94% of fans using the platform to catch up on highlights they missed.

Context and tone matter most

TikTok’s algorithm is designed to curate a hyper-personalized “For You Page,” focusing on behavioral signals (watch time, likes, shares) rather than who the user is following. This is what drives discovery. The flip side is that rights holders need to provide a frame of reference for the content they publish on the platform.

“On TikTok, most of the people who view our stuff don’t follow us,” said Sandro Gasparro, senior director of social media for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. “If we look at our top-performing posts, 98% of the views come from non-followers, so we have to package team content in a different way because they’re not aware of the context of what’s happening.”

While users may not be up to date with the current storylines, they expect the content to fit the more playful and bold nature of TikTok. “It’s a completely different place from Instagram and Twitter,” noted Gasparro. “I’ve had staff come up to me and say, ‘My 14-year-old cousin loves your TikTok,’ and that’s the age range we’ve cultivated for our audience. It’s truly teens who are into internet culture.”

Guide users to your owned platforms

According to TikTok’s and Ipsos’ research, the platform’s users are a high-value segment. After viewing sports content on TikTok:

42% of fans will tune in to watch sports via TV or streaming services.

27% will purchase items promoted or worn by athletes.

23% will attend a sporting event.

To capitalize on this, rights holders need to funnel TikTok users to their owned channels after the initial engagement. DAZN, for example, leveraged TikTok to amplify conversations during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and guided over 500,000 fans to its streaming service. “Combining DAZN’s storytelling with TikTok’s innovative platform,” said Joseph Caporoso, president of Team Whistle, a DAZN Group company, “we were able to drive tune-in for meaningful results.”

Utilize AI-powered content generation

In addition to reaching new audiences and driving tangible commercial value, rights holders use TikTok to establish habitual consumption and to test content trends and fan behavior. Doing this requires a steady stream of video assets in the right format, tone, and timing, which is where AI-powered content creation platforms come into play.

“AI is a core enabler of scale and relevance,” said Jaume Pons. “At LALIGA, we use AI to automatically tag, index, and generate content in real time, especially through technologies like WSC Sports. This allows us to create thousands of clips per match, adapted to different platforms, formats, and audiences.”

Content Without Borders

For rights holders, the broader lesson extends well beyond TikTok itself. Every platform rewards different formats and storytelling styles, which means content strategies can no longer rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. Adapting to that requires AI-powered tools that can instantly create and distribute content tailored to each environment, allowing organizations to match audience expectations and maximize the unique strengths of every platform.