NHL Kicks Off New Partnership With TikTok At 2022 Stadium Series In Nashville This Weekend

What better place than Music City for the NHL to debut a new partnership with TikTok, the social media platform that’s known for making viral hits out of both new songs and classic tracks?

And what better artist to christen the league’s new TikTok Tailgate Stage at this weekend’s Stadium Series game in Nashville than Walker Hayes? The country star’s single, “Fancy Like,” became one of the biggest crossover hits of 2021 after his teenage daughter Lila helped him develop a dance tailor-made for TikTok.

Music will be front and center this weekend, as the Nashville Predators host the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series game in front of 65,000 fans at Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, and the game will feature live performances during the first intermission from a pair of top country stars, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley.

Hayes will take to the TikTok Tailgate Stage at 5:30 p.m. ET, for a pregame performance that will be livestreamed exclusively on the NHL’s TikTok account.

One of the TikTok community’s favorite artists will also perform at the league’s final outdoor game of this season, the 2022 Heritage Classic featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres on March 13 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario.

Fashion has become another integral element at the NHL’s tentpole’s events, with participating teams finding ways to walk the red carpet, so to speak.

On New Year’s Day, the St. Louis Blues hit it out of the park at Target Field in Minneapolis with their beachwear looks for the 2022 Winter Classic, where the temperature was a record-setting -6F° at puck drop.

Whatever the Predators and the Lightning deliver on Saturday, the NHL and TikTok will be there to capture and share the moment.

Fashion-related plans for the new partnership include player interviews, “Who Wore It Best” and “Get Dressed with the Best” segments, and other programming designed to showcase players’ styles and personalities.

“As the digital media landscape has continued to grow and evolve, it’s clear that TikTok has established itself as a premiere platform to connect with fans around the world,” said Mathieu Schneider, the special assistant to the executive director of the NHL Players’ Association. “We are excited to help showcase the style, interests and engaging personalities of our players to a large and diverse audience.”

Compared to established brands such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, TikTok is in its infancy. Now with a global user base of over 1 billion people, it didn’t become widely available around the world until 2018. It quickly became the platform of choice for younger users who enjoyed consuming its bite-sized videos and easily creating their own content — often ‘remixing’ an existing trend like a dance challenge to make it their own. It has expanded from there.

Sports highlights fit neatly into the TikTok aesthetic, and leagues started to take notice. By the end of 2018, the NBA was creating custom highlights for the brand. The NFL came on board in 2019.

The NHL’s TikTok account currently reaches 1.7 million followers, and team accounts have logged more than 546 million worldwide views. Popular hockey-related content includes player activities from behind the scenes and away from the rink, especially if their pets are involved. Trick shots and other skills-based videos featuring pros, prospects and fans also reach large audiences.

“TikTok is an extremely influential entertainment platform with a growing audience of Gen Z users,” said the NHL’s senior vice president and chief marketing office, Heidi Browning, in a league statement announcing the new partnership on Wednesday.

“While highlights are among our most engaging content, through this partnership, we hope to reach the broader TikTok community with exclusive content that captures the amazing fan experience at NHL games and tentpole events, player lifestyle videos, and concerts and global livestreams.”

At the beginning of the 2021-22 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs became the first NHL team to ink a partnership deal with TikTok. As part of the partnership, players wear the TikTok logo on their helmets.

Now, the entire league is on board. On-ice branding is another component of the new deal, and the league and the Players’ Association are looking to innovate within a digital ecosystem that rewards creativity.

“Sports content is evolving; fans on TikTok want to see an authentic and multi-dimensional side of the athletes, leagues, teams, and games they love,” said Daniel Habashi, the GM of TikTok Canada. “We’re lucky to work with partners like the NHL and NHLPA who recognize this and want to bring music and fashion into the fold — two verticals that are both integral to TikTok and extremely popular with our global community.”