Report: Yankees sign TikTok sponsorship deal

The New York Yankees aren't turning down a sponsorship opportunity, even if it runs afoul of President Donald Trump's position on the sponsor.

The Beijing-based video app TikTok signed a deal to back the baseball team, Sportico reported Tuesday.

Last Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that would prevent TikTok from operating in the United States unless it is sold by its Chinese owners within 45 days. According to the order, the app "threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information -- potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage."

The Yankees' deal with TikTok would expire if Trump's ban takes hold next month, per Sportico. Otherwise, the sponsorship would go for two more years.

The original terms of the agreement, which was in the works for months, according to Sportico, would have included branding signs at Yankee Stadium. However, the Yankees and all other Major League Baseball teams are currently playing in vacant stadiums due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The deal would have netted the Yankees $10 million annually, according to the report. It was unclear if the pandemic affected that figure.

TikTok is extremely popular with tweens and teens, a group being targeted by MLB, whose viewership skews older than that of the other major U.S. pro sports leagues.

--Field Level Media