Mark Cuban Says TikTok Ban Won't Hurt Sports: Fans Can 'Find the Same League Content Elsewhere'

NBA team owner Mark Cuban says a pending TikTok ban could impact the lives of content creators, but will likely have a minimal impact on the NBA and other sports leagues.

What Happened: Cuban, who is a part owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, was recently asked if the TikTok ban could be bad for sports and how it would impact how fans get their news and content.

The billionaire said that fans can "also find the same league content elsewhere" in an email to Sportico. The comment suggests that a pending TikTok ban could have a minimal impact on the NBA and sports according to Cuban.

Fans would be able to find clips on media networks and other social media platforms.

Cuban doubled down on this opinion when answering the question of what the overall impact will be on sports from a TikTok ban.

"Nothing," Cuban said.

According to Sportico, Walt Disney Company DIS brand ESPN is one of the most followed sports companies on TikTok with 50 million followers. ESPN is a media partner of the NBA and also shares clips on other social media platforms.

The NBA has 23 million followers, making it one of the most followed sports leagues on the platform.

Together, these two accounts regularly share clips daily featuring NBA highlights and in the case of ESPN, clips from other sports leagues as well. Sports leagues have also partnered with content creators on TikTok to reach a younger fan demographic and sell tickets in the past, according to the report.

The ban, which is scheduled to go into effect Sunday Jan. 19, would see users unable to download TikTok if not already on their phones and would see no further updates or security bug fixes. There is also the possibility that TikTok parent ByteDance shuts the app down for the 170 million Americans who use the platform.

President-elect Donald Trump has voiced support for TikTok and a new report said he could use an executive order to save the company.

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Why It's Important: While the TikTok ban wouldn't have a huge impact on the NBA or sports according to Cuban, the billionaire did show sympathy for the content creators who use the platform.

"Content creators who make a living (on TikTok), they would have a right to be angry," Cuban told Sportico.

In a recent interview with Jules Terpak, Cuban said he loved the old TikTok and referenced being on the musical.ly platform, which went on to become TikTok, saying he tried to invest in that precursor company.

TikTok changed the world with quick videos, dance and attention grabbing content, but a push to make money made the platform feel more corporate, Cuban added.

To fight off a potential ban, TikTok brought Cuban in for a meeting to share suggestions on how to get around the troubles, he told Terpak. Cuban said he suggested the company have an output in the form of a url for the feed of videos watched by anyone 16 and under.

This would make it to so parents would be able to go back and see the list and watch videos their children had watched at any given time. Cuban said this would benefit parents and help ensure people aren't exposed to propaganda.

Cuban said TikTok was an early winner of using an algorithm to put content that people would like in front of them based on what they were watching and were liking.

The billionaire predicted that TikTok would not get banned on Jan. 19 as the company could sue and could also be saved by Trump. Cuban also referenced one of Trump's friends having a stake in the company, which is likely in reference to investor Jeff Yass, who is a Republican megadonor, owning a 15% stake in ByteDance.

Several interested parties have placed bids on buying the U.S. division of TikTok to prevent the ban. Among the interested parties is Kevin O'Leary, Cuban's fellow shark on "Shark Tank."

Cuban offered his advice and a warning to O'Leary not to buy the U.S. division of TikTok recently.

"You have done the math saying that even if you lose half of your users, you can sell enough ads to cover your loans, and your overhead. You won't. Ad sales ain't like they used to be. Keeping users ain't what it used to be," Cuban wrote.

Cuban told O'Leary to "please say no" to acquiring TikTok.

"I'll leave you with this. When you sit at the negotiating table, you always look for the sucker. If you don't see one…"

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