Mar 29, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban interacts with the crowd during action against the Sacramento Kings in the third quarter at the Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, the hotly debated ban on TikTok in the United States is expected to go into effect, which will undoubtedly impact millions of users and content creators.

However, according to Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban, the ban will likely have little to no effect on sports leagues with a big following on the platform.

The looming ban is expected to go into effect following a U.S. law passed last spring that cited national security and personal data risks tied to TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. The law placed a deadline on January 19 for ByteDance to sell the popular social media platform or face a ban on national security grounds.

Massachusetts Senator Edward John Markey introduced a bill Monday to potentially delay the deadline by an additional 270 days. But unless fellow lawmakers bite on this proposed bill, it seems like TikTok will indeed be subject to Sunday’s deadline should ByteDance opt not to sell the platform.

The presumption at that point is that TikTok will continue to exist and be accessible in the U.S. but will no longer be updated and see a decline in functionality and usability.

Regardless, Cuban doesn’t believe that the ban will play a factor in the popularity of most major sports leagues. In an email to Jacob Feldman of Sportico, he outlined how leagues will simply “find the same league content elsewhere.” However, he does believe that smaller content creators may have trouble transferring their following to another platform.

“What will the impact be on sports as a whole? Nothing,” wrote Cuban. “Content creators who make a living… They would have a right to be angry.”

It’s important to note how the NBA in particular has done an excellent job of marketing on TikTok. The league had 23 million followers on the platform, the most of any professional sports league.

So while Cuban may be right, losing their TikTok platform won’t be too great at helping the league combat declining ratings this season.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.