TikTok on the clock

The GIST: Let’s get personal. The GIST is joining forces with dedicated women’s sports marketing and sponsorship platform Parity to launch our new Athlete Roster offering, which will integrate athlete talent into branded content shared between our platforms. The first-of-its kind partnership allows both companies to uplift women athletes in a brand new way.

The details: The GIST will tap into Parity’s network of over 1K women athletes to amplify their stories through branded content, allowing them to enjoy additional exposure through GIST platforms. This means new social and newsletter content, podcasts segments, and in-person events featuring your women’s sports faves, all in conjunction with Parity’s extensive network.

• The partnership technically kicked off last month with Modelo at the Concacaf W Gold Cup and featured its first branded content activation with Angel City FC defender and NWSL All-Star Ali Riley, with more to come in the near future. Stay tuned.

The alignment: Parity and The GIST are both women-led companies created to address equity gaps in women’s sports, and this collaboration aims to drive increased coverage and entrepreneurial access to ensure women athletes get paid. It also allows The GIST to step further into the athlete-driven branded content space.

• “Our partnership will bring well-deserved attention and opportunities to these incredible athletes, and in turn, the brands will benefit from the immense value these athletes will add to their campaigns,” said The GIST co-founder Ellen Hyslop.

• Notably, this is Parity’s first-ever partnership with a media company. The platform has been expanding its own women’s sports footprint through recent deals with clubs like Tampa Bay Sun FC, leagues like the WFA, and content platforms like Grandstand.

The trend: The women’s sports space has taken the best lessons from the startup industry by embracing innovation and integration, especially through partnerships with like-minded companies. The GIST and Parity can leverage their unique services into brand partnerships that allow them to do more beyond their in-house infrastructure. We’re always here for more parity.

The GIST: On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a controversial bill that mandates TikTok parent ByteDance either sell its ownership stake in the social media platform or face a ban in the U.S. If TikTok is banned, the move could devastate the economy built around the platform and have unique implications for women’s sports.

The details: ByteDance has up to 12 months to find an American buyer or TikTok will be banned, forcing Google and Apple to remove it from their stores. In the meantime, it’s business as usual for the app’s 170M U.S.–based users, as legal challenges and barriers to selling are expected to cause months of delay — long enough for Biden to use the platform to campaign for re-election.

• However, ByteDance intends to challenge the bill, and stated yesterday that it would rather shutter TikTok than sell it. Drama.

The context: Since its 2017 launch, TikTok’s global popularity has skyrocketed while sparking security concerns around users’ private data, especially about if the Chinese government has access to it. The app has also had a considerable impact on younger generations — it’s where many young Americans get their news and offers a path to Gen Z’s fave career: social media influencer.

The sports side: Tiktok has been integral in the social media strategies of sports entities, but it’s also helped young women athletes dominate the NIL space with strong social media presences. The app allows them to organically grow audiences (like Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson did) and produce branded content, appealing to the 90% of Gen Z fans who follow sports on social media.

The partnerships: The app has emerged as a preeminent sponsor in European women’s sports. It’s the Women’s Six Nations rugby tournament’s title sponsor, a sleeve sponsor of Juventus Women, and was the official entertainment platform of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. On the U.S. side, TikTok entered the women’s soccer game early by signing a Portland Thorns partnership in 2021.

Lingering questions: The ban may not even go through, but if it does, would a past suitor have the chance to swoop in? And would new ownership undo the progress the platform has facilitated for women’s sports? Make it make sense.