TIKTOK AND EURO 2020
Major social media platform, TikTok, is an official global sponsor of the UEFA EURO 2020. For those of you that follow the football, you would have seen the banners on the pitches, and for those of you on TikTok, you would have noticed the various sponsored ads and hashtags on your feed.
TikTok is already a vibrant hub of sports content; in the last two years football content has been kicking off on the platform. In 2020 alone, the daily consumption of popular sports hashtags has quadrupled to 1.5 billion video views daily, including some of the most popular footballers and football moments being watched, recreated and relived.
In the digital world, this is an exciting partnership because it’s the first time a digital entertainment platform has partnered with the UEFA EURO. But along with the statistics from the last year, this partnership just makes sense; leaving TikTok to present itself as the ideal platform for fans and players to share their passion during the important football event this month.
And the partnership is clearly working well; in the last ten days, as we’ve been getting stuck into the middle of the tournament, the hashtag #Football has grown to more than 140 billion views, double the 70B when the partnership was announced in early February. There are now over 800 football labelled accounts and #TikTokEURO2020 & #EURO2020 already have over 4.6 billion video views combined since February. Tiktok has also Launched 60+ EURO related hashtags.
The slogan and hashtag #wherefansplay also encourages football enthusiasts to connect with their favourite football content creators, make their own football content, and share their reactions and celebrations during the tournament. And as well as user generated content surrounding the European Championships, UEFA EURO 2020 has launched an official TikTok account to further inspire and entertain millions of football fans worldwide with exclusive behind-the-scenes content including current and archival footage.
The #wherefansplay hashtag and tagline is also a clever move on TikTok’s part. By not using the Euros in the phrase, it can also still use it when the tournament is over to demonstrate the endless fun football fans can find on TikTok, which in turn, fully cements the platform's connection with football.
James Rothwell, Head of Marketing, Europe, TikTok said at the beginning of the tournament: “It's been a long year for football fans waiting for the EUROs and now it's here, the excitement is palpable. This campaign isn't just about celebrating the return of football but also giving those expectant fans around the world a way to get involved in the return of the beautiful game - whether they're lucky enough to get a ticket or watching elsewhere.”
What’s next?
Now that TikTok has cemented itself as the go to place for football fanatics, as well as successfully rooting itself within the tournament, we can probably expect to see it engage in more large sporting partnerships to come. In fact, just last week, Ryan Reynolds owned Wrexham FC secured a shirt sponsorship from the social media platform- in time for their upcoming documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.
One thing is crystal clear from their partnership with UEFA EURO though; whatever the subject matter, TikTok successfully engages audiences and gives them somewhere to collectively celebrate what they love. Especially in a year where international travel still isn’t viable to many to see these matches- finding sports community on a platform such as TikTok is a real boost, and the stats are ever promising for its future as a sports community hub.