Subscribe
Follow Us
With the looming ban on TikTok potentially set to take effect on Sunday, many influencers are scrambling to inform their followers of which other socials to migrate to, and athletes are no exception. The platform has been the home base for many big pro names, though the ones most hurt by the TikTok ban might not be who you expect.
Basically, for collegiate and pro athletes who are already household names — such as Olivia Dunne, Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Serena Williams, Russell Wilson and Angel Reese — one need not worry about them too much. They have plenty of comparable followers on at least one other popular social media platform and their followers are sure to find them elsewhere.
But some athletes have specifically made names for themselves as influencers under the TikTok banner, and now will have to find a way to pivot or attract their legions of followers to another outlet.
One such athlete is NFL defensive end Isaac Rochell, who has played for four NFL teams in seven seasons. He didn't exactly become a breakout star for his play on the field, but he sure did on TikTok. That's primarily due to the fact that he's married to another superstar TikTok creator, Allison Kucharczyk, better known online as Allison Kuch. Kuch is famously one of the faces of WAG culture (Wives and Girlfriends of pro athletes).
“You don’t have to be a big name for people to be invested in your story,” Kuch recently told the New York Times.
That may be true, but getting fans invested on one platform and then segueing them over to another platform is a different story. Together on TikTok, the couple captures a behind-the-scenes look, and the less glamorous details, of life as a journeyman NFL player and his spouse/family.
Rochell has 2.2 million followers on TikTok and Kuch has 3.2 million, but on Instagram the two only combine to have 1.14 million — which is a substantial difference when one's primary salary comes from social media.
Similarly, Nikolas Plytas, a professional water sports athlete who posts impressive aquatic feats on his socials, has amassed 2.4 million followers on TikTok, which is far fewer than the 200,000 he has on Instagram.
Matilda (Tilly) Kearns is an Australian water polo Olympian, and the daughter of a former pro rugby player. She has 506.9K followers on TikTok, compared to 137K on Instagram.
Maddie Mastro, also an Olympic athlete, is an American professional snowboarder whose specialty is the half pipe. Her TikTok videos have garnered over 26.5 million likes and she boasts 592.3K followers. On Instagram, her follower total is 179K.
So as big-name pros encourage you to check out one of their other primary social media pages, remember first to find your favorite under-the-radar TikTok athlete influencers if you want to ensure the ban doesn't affect them too drastically.
