TikTok intends to engage with young NASCAR fans, who are most likely to use the app, by sponsoring the 20-year-old Vargas. TikTok announced that throughout the U.S., it has 100 million users, including 50 million people are checking in every day with the app.
According to data collected by Statista, about a third of its users are aged 10-19, while 30 percent are aged 20-29. Whereas the average age of a NASCAR television audience is 58, its streaming fan base appears to be younger, according to Statista. As per its media kit, half of NASCAR’s digital fans are aged 18 to 49, making the audience a primary target for TikTok.
The timing of the Latinx Heritage Month sponsorship is part of the initiative of TikTok to encourage diversity and equality that has become a core issue for marketers trying to attract younger viewers. Generation Zers’ target audience for TikTok is the most culturally diverse demographic in the history of the United States, and they appear to choose brands that display social consciousness and authenticity. A significant move in its diversity efforts is TikTok’s sponsorship of Vargas, who is defined as an “avid TikTokker.”
The sponsorship of a NASCAR driver by TikTok parallels other recent attempts in the United States to communicate with sports fans. During the league’s annual draught of college players, the video app undertook many promotional activities with the NFL, such as the #GoingPro hashtag contest. Before this one, during Super Bowl weekend, the NFL’s #superbowlliv challenge asked football supporters to express their team spirit. The global scope and success of TikTok among younger viewers have prompted other sports leagues such as the NBA and the International Cricket Council to share highlights on the social video app and other content.
The timing of the sponsorship of a NASCAR driver by TikTok is interesting because there is still the risk of the social video app being blocked in the U.S. due to national security.
Ideally, either from a favourable judgement in federal court or through a sales agreement that is agreeable to the Trump administration and the Chinese government, TikTok will avoid being prohibited in the U.S. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, based in China, faces an extended Sept. 27 deadline to comply with President Trump’s order to sell or be blocked from TikTok’s U.S. services.
The deadline arrives after a complicated week of contradictory comments from ByteDance and Oracle about TikTok’s potential ownership. To build a US-based company that will run TikTok, the business Software Company and Walmart are finding an arrangement with ByteDance.
