This week saw TikTok announce that it is partnering with the British Olympic and Paralympic teams, with British athletes using the app to connect with fans around and during Paris 2024.

TikTok will hold content workshops for hundreds of Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes ahead of the Games. These will provide content creation guidance, aimed at improving their use of TikTok.

This is an interesting development as TikTok ups its efforts to become the go-to second screen app for sports events.

For many years, conversation around live events has taken place on Twitter (now X), but given all of the controversies around the app in recent years, and an increasing consumer demand for video content, TikTok has found itself as an increasingly popular option for people sharing content before, during and after events.

Why is TikTok focusing on sports?

Ultimately, the broader goal around this partnership, and a lot of TikTok’s efforts this year, is to make the platform a key destination for sports fans.

There is already a strong appetite for sports content from their existing user base. 68% of users say that they’re interested in seeing content around rising athletes in this summer’s Games.

Meanwhile, 57% of users say that they watch sports content on the platform every week.

Yet despite this, many fans turn to X for second-screen activity. And this is what TikTok is trying to change this year.

What is second-screen usage?

Second-screen usage is the use of an additional screen for a secondary activity while watching TV. This isn’t necessarily related to what’s on TV, but most second-screen activity is linked to what the user is watching.

And this is an incredibly common activity. Data from Go-Globe shows that over 70% of adults use a second screen while watching TV.

This presents a huge opportunity for brands to reap the benefits of social activity during events. Go-Globe identified these among the most common second-screen activities:

• 81% of people use their second screen for more information about what they’re watching
• 76% use social media while watching TV
• 61% find out more about products which feature on the show they’re watching

Each one of these gives brands an opportunity to get involved in conversations and search activity related to events.

If you can provide background information on a sporting event and publish an article about it prior to the event, then the 81% of people wanting to find out more may find your article useful.

When your brand is sufficiently relevant to the event, you can take part in social media conversations around the event. This way you can engage with the 76% of second-screen users on social media.

If you offer products and services related to the event, then shout about it. Make sure that your content is visible to the 61% of people that are expressing an interest in those products.

What is the goal of this partnership?

TikTok say that “The partnership aims to help Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes share their unique journeys, connect with new audiences and grow their personal fanbase through TikTok, while encouraging support for the entire teams across the UK in the lead up to Paris 2024.”

This strategy offers both short and long-term benefits as TikTok seeks to become the go-to second screen for sports events. They get more athletes posting during the Games and become more of a destination for content around such a huge event.

Presumably, a decent portion of these athletes will see good results from this and remain engaged on the platform beyond the Olympics, cementing it as a place to go for more personal, BTS sports content.

Why partner with a federation?

While this is the first we have seen of TikTok partnering with a federation to produce content around sporting events, there are examples of federations at global events getting involved in TikTok and creating native content.

At last year’s Women’s World Cup, the Australian, English and Canadian federations produced highly engaging behind-the-scenes content which helped followers feel closer to the players. This gave fans access to the players in a new way, while also letting them have fun with the platform. They can control, this kind of content, but it is more authentic than typical marketing efforts.

What can your brand do?

We’ve already covered what your brand can do to make the most of second-screen usage during events, but that’s not all that you can take away from this partnership.

If you have people in your team dedicated to social media content, or regularly work with content creators, you can offer them training to make sure that they are familiar with the platforms that you want to be active on, and what your goals are with those platforms. If you want to make the most of second-screen usage, make sure that they’re accustomed to the content that you want to produce (and that your customers want to consume) on TikTok, X and Threads.

Give them license to experiment with the platforms and build connections with your followers through the content they produce. If TikTok as a platform is following this strategy, then it’s definitely worth your company exploring.