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Sorry TikTok fans: there are still many ways it could be banned.

ByteDance still owns the tech, and Chinese companies need approval from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for a move like this.

Is there a chance China may just say ‘no sale’?

Also in this edition:

• Rooster Teeth Crows Again

• The Creator Bowl

• YouTube Publishes ‘Posts’

• TikTok’s Back in the U.S. on Android

• Creator HQ Pays Creators to Move to Dubai

• Spotify Steals YouTube’s Creator Reward Playbook

• Job ops from Reddit, Snap Supplements, and Every Man Jack.

• …and a dank creator economy meme by yours truly!

Let’s get into it.

NEWS:

China May Say ‘No’ To a U.S. TikTok Sale

How quickly we Americans forget that China also has to agree to a deal to avoid the ban.

We’ve been so lost in the hype of the U.S. drama that we forget about theirs.

After all, our new administration has been bashing China daily in the press, introducing new tariffs, and closing the very profitable De Minimus Loophole, which isn’t a great position when you want the other side to broker a TikTok deal.

So will China allow TikTok to go away in the U.S.?

My hot take: No way. Not if a reasonable offer is on the table.

China is happy to engage in a trade war with the U.S. (we deserve that much) but they’re not crazy.

And when $8 billion of your annual $18.5 billion ad revenue comes from the U.S., you’d be insane to ban it.

But they’d also be insane not to play some hardball. This is, after all, going to help define the potential for China to have future dominance in the global social media market.

They’ll likely settle on a huge cash payout, limited transparency into their amazing algorithm (if at all possible), and they’ll almost certainly be planning to roll it back into the company when the political climate becomes more convenient to do so.

Rooster Teeth is the Cock of the Walk Again

For gaming fans like myself, Rooster Teeth holds a special place in our hearts.

They were among the first to create internet content for gamers, not just reviews and tricks—tongue-and-cheek comedy.

But after their sale in 2014 to Fullscreen (conflict note: I was the VP of Network at Fullscreen at the time), which then rolled into AT&T and Chernin media’s Otter Media, which then rolled into Warner Media, which then shut down Rooster Teeth, I wasn’t confident it could return.

That’s a long time for a brand to fade.

But the great original co-founder Bernie Burns announced he’s repurchased the brand and many assets to reboot it, bringing it back to its roots.

Can it survive a second round?

My hot take: Yes, but let’s not be too faithful to its roots.

Red vs. Blue was revolutionary when it was released in 2003. It was the first time I, and many others, saw comedy made in a video game engine.

Now there are so many comedy shows made with video games, most notably Dream and his Minecraft crew, that Rooster Teeth will have to make big moves to re-establish themselves as gaming culture leaders.

Their core that grew with them in their teens now have families and jobs.

If they can win back that nostalgic vibe while capably playing by modern day rules (RWBY episodes on TikTok?) there’s a place for their unique voices.

Creators Win The Super Bowl

In past years, the creator economy would only buzz about The Super Bowl when a brand featured one in their commercials.

Now they’re everywhere in the ads. That’s not special anymore.

This year, 150 creators were given special access at the event, and iShowSpeed and Kai Cenat played an NFL-pushed flag football game leading up to the event. The official video on the NFL YouTube channel had 4.7 million views at the time of this writing.

What does this mean for the future of sports and creators?

My hot take: Everything. This means everything.

I couldn’t open any social networks during the big game without seeing content creators, from mid-tier to huge, making content from, around, and about the game.

The game became secondary to the meta-commentary around the smartphones casting from the sidelines.

The final numbers aren’t in yet, but I stand to wager that there were an additional hundreds of millions of Super Bowl views generated from all of these activations.

And if I were the MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, Cricket leagues, Bocce federation, or any other sport that wants more attention, I would be screaming ‘get me more YouTubers!’ in the office today.

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FAME & FORTUNE:

YouTube announced it’s renaming its old ‘Community’ tab to ‘Posts,’ which is a far better descriptor to what the feature does. Creators have mostly slept on the opportunity presented with the Community tab (I’ve seen massive results with it) so hopefully this will get creators to give it a real shot.

U.S. Android users rejoice! TikTok now allows you to side-load the app on Android devices without using the Google Play or Apple App stores, which have not had the app in their U.S. stores since the original ban date. It’s a further signifier that even if the app is ultimately banned, there will likely be ways to get around it.

Dubai has been courting international creators for a while, but a more structured campaign is taking shape. Creators HQ will deploy over $40m to get 10,000 creators to move to Dubai. Digital nomads, get in there!

Congrats on your YouTube milestone plaques, but do you have a Spotify Creator Milestone Award? The music app is continuing to make moves to compete directly with YouTube on the podcast front, even giving one of their inaugural awards to Jason Nash & David Dobrik’s pod.

INDUSTRY HIRING:

Reddit needs a Senior Client Partner, Mid-Market (Goods, Acquisitions). And even though it’s Reddit, you have to acquire more than Futurama memes.

Snap Supplements is looking for an Influencer Marketing Manager. If you don’t get Snap Stars to do this, boy are you missing a huge branding opportunity.

Every Man Jack wants an Influencer Marketing Assistant. Untidy beards need not apply.

MEME ZONE:

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Until next time, protect yo rep.