Mohamed Harb: Continuing the Game Long After the Final Whistle
Sports has never been only about what happens on the field. The real story often continues long after the final whistle, in conversations between fans, reactions shared online, stories told by athletes, and communities that come together around the moments they care about. As digital platforms have become part of everyday life, that connection has grown faster and more personal. Sports organizations are no longer speaking to audiences through only television, newspapers or stadiums. They are meeting fans where they spend their time, giving them more ways to discover, follow and participate in the sports they love.
At the center of this changing landscape is Mohamed Harb, Head of Partnerships at TikTok in MENA, whose career has followed the evolution of online business from its early days to today’s creator-led digital world. Drawn to the internet when its possibilities were still being defined, Mohamed has spent more than two decades working across e-commerce, online operations, media, broadcasting and sports. His journey has included working with Kooora, where he was involved in launching its first video platform, as well as helping a traditional media business navigate its move into the digital space.
Those experiences shaped a simple understanding that continues to guide his work: technology may change quickly, but people remain driven by many of the same needs. They want information, entertainment, community, access and, increasingly, the opportunity to take part rather than simply watch from the sidelines.
The internet steadily brought audiences closer to the things they cared about. Social media shortened that distance further, while mobile made access almost constant. Platforms such as TikTok have taken participation another step forward, allowing audiences to become creators, storytellers and active members of the communities they follow. Mohamed’s work sits within that shift, bringing together sports, technology, creators and partnerships to create new ways for fans to connect with the games and people they love.
The Digital Ecosystem Behind Modern Sports Fandom
Sports had always been personal to Mohamed, but professionally, its connection to digital became particularly compelling because sport is one of the strongest forms of community.
A football match may last 90 minutes, but fandom continues well beyond the final whistle. Fans discuss games before they begin, react while they unfold and continue debating, celebrating, complaining and connecting long afterwards. Digital platforms were naturally going to reshape that relationship.
Mohamed describes his work as building a “dynasty,” but more in the sense of creating an ecosystem. That ecosystem brings together rights holders, leagues, clubs, federations, broadcasters, athletes, creators, brands and, most importantly, fans.
The goal is not to own the conversation, but to give more people the tools and opportunities to participate in it. Some of the work he values most follows that philosophy. It includes helping sports organizations establish themselves on TikTok, supporting athletes and creators in finding audiences, and working with major sports properties to rethink digital fan engagement.
The strongest sports ecosystems, in his view, are not built around one tournament or campaign. They continue growing long after the final whistle.
When Sports Content Finds Its Audience
TikTok’s power of discovery is what makes the sports community on the platform engaging. A fan does not necessarily need to already follow a league, club or athlete to encounter their content. Strong content can find its audience.
That creates a different opportunity for sports organizations. They can reach committed fans while also attracting new audiences through a player’s personality, a creator’s reaction, a behind-the-scenes moment, sporting history, culture or even humor.
Mohamed has seen this across MENA. The partnership with the UAE Pro League, for instance, has focused not only on distributing official content but also on bringing together creators, clubs, players and interactive fan experiences. The league’s work in fan engagement was later recognized at the 2025 Sports Industry Awards.
That, for Mohamed, represents the real power of the platform. Sport becomes more than something people watch. It becomes something they discover, create around and participate in.
The Digital Layer Around the Game
Short-form video has made the relationship between sports properties and fans more continuous, personal and participatory. Traditionally, sports organizations controlled much of the storytelling. Today, a supporter, athlete or creator can sometimes produce the defining piece of content around a sporting moment. That shift requires rights holders to rethink their approach. The match remains the premium product, but the digital experience surrounding it has become much broader.
Behind-the-scenes footage, player personalities, fan reactions, archive material, explainers, creator storytelling and even the journey to the stadium can become part of the overall experience.
Digital discovery is also increasingly connecting back to the core sports business. Product suites such as TikTok GamePlan allows sports teams, leagues, and broadcasters to drive discovery, deepen engagement, and deliver real business results. It transforms how fans experience sports on TikTok as it drives them to a dedicated in-app destination where fans can discover official accounts, check schedules and standings, buy tickets, add games to their calendars and create their own content.
Mohamed sees the opportunity not as replacing traditional sports consumption, but as expanding the number of doors through which someone can become a fan.
Why MENA Holds So Much Potential
MENA has never lacked passionate sports fans, but, according to Mohamed, we’re seeing more investment, ambition and infrastructure surrounding them. The region is investing more in leagues, events, athletes, facilities, media, gaming and entertainment. At the same time, the region has a young and highly connected population whose approach to consuming sport is different from previous generations. That combination creates significant opportunity.
Yet Mohamed believes MENA cannot be treated as a single audience. Saudi culture differs from Egyptian culture, just as the UAE differs from Morocco. Even within football, fandom, humor, language and behavior can vary significantly between markets.
Localization therefore becomes essential. One example he particularly enjoyed was helping launch LALIGA’s first dedicated Arabic TikTok account. The initiative was about more than translating Spanish football content into Arabic. It was about creating an experience specifically designed for Arab fans.
Organizations that understand these nuances, Mohamed believes, will build much deeper relationships with audiences across the region.
Partnerships That Create Value Beyond Business
Mohamed does not see commercial objectives and audience experience as opposing forces. If something creates genuine value for fans, he believes there is usually a way to create business value around it too. His approach to partnerships has rarely been about simply putting two logos together. His focus is on asking what the partnership can unlock.
Can fans gain access they did not have before? Can creators tell stories they previously could not tell? Can a broadcaster guide audiences toward a match? Can a league reach a new audience? Can an athlete develop a more direct relationship with fans? When those elements come together, commercial value becomes more sustainable.
The strongest partnerships, Mohamed believes, are those in which the platform, rights holder, commercial partner and fan can all clearly understand what they gained from the relationship.
Where Sports Meets Gaming
The convergence of sports and gaming was already happening naturally, long before the boundaries between the two became harder to define. Sports fans play games. Gamers follow athletes. Footballers stream, while creators move between gaming, entertainment and traditional sports. Esports has developed its own stars, competitions, communities and fan cultures.
What interested Mohamed was less the debate over whether gaming should be considered a sport and more the way audiences behave. Younger audiences do not organize their interests around traditional industry categories. The same person can watch a football match, play an online football game, follow an esports player, watch a creator reacting to the game and create their own content, sometimes within a few hours.
Working across both categories taught Mohamed to think less about industries and more about communities and fandom. That perspective became increasingly valuable as major gaming and esports properties developed sophisticated media, creator and commercial ecosystems.
Creators Become Part of the Sports Ecosystem
Creators are increasingly becoming part of the sports media ecosystem rather than simply another marketing channel. The shift is already visible. A creator offers something different from a broadcaster or rights holder: a personal relationship with an audience, a distinct language and, most importantly, trust.
Mohamed sees the next stage as deeper integration. Creators need access, opportunities to work responsibly with sports IP and closer connections with athletes and events. Instead of bringing them in at the end to promote a campaign, sports organizations can build formats with them from the beginning.
Global sports partnerships are already moving in that direction, with creator access and networks becoming formal parts of how leagues engage audiences.
Authenticity, however, remains essential. A creator with millions of followers is not automatically right for every sport or community. Relevance will increasingly matter more than reach alone.
Staying Curious Through Every Digital Shift
Mohamed’s approach to adaptability begins with accepting that there will always be more to learn. His career has taken him through several generations of the internet, from websites and online portals to video, social media, mobile, short-form content, creators and now AI. Every few years, a new technology arrives promising to change everything.
The greater risk, he believes, is becoming too attached to what made someone successful yesterday. Curiosity keeps him moving. He listens to younger colleagues, learns from creators, spends time with partners and watches what fans are actually doing rather than what people assume they should be doing.
His long-term direction, however, has remained consistent: connecting content with audiences and creating value around that connection.
Finding Meaning in What Did Not Exist Before
After more than two decades in digital and online businesses, Mohamed still finds something new to learn almost every day. The greatest satisfaction comes from building something that did not exist before.
When he joined TikTok in 2019, the sports ecosystem around the platform was far from what it is today. He and his colleagues had to convince leagues, clubs, broadcasters, athletes and other stakeholders that TikTok could become an important home for sport.
Seeing major sports organizations later develop dedicated teams, strategies and communities around the platform has been deeply rewarding.
Yet the moments he values most are often smaller. It could be an account reaching its first million followers, an athlete discovering that audiences want to hear their story, a creator gaining access they once dreamed about, or a partner succeeding after taking a chance with the platform. Those moments are a reminder that behind every large number are people.
From Digital Presence to Digital Business
Mohamed sees the next phase of sports and digital entertainment across MENA moving from digital presence toward digital business. For years, sports organizations often measured digital success through followers, views and engagement. Those metrics remain important, but the conversation is becoming more sophisticated.
The bigger questions now concern how digital discovery can drive people to watch a match, how content can create commercial value, how creators can participate in sports IP, how athletes can build sustainable businesses around their identities, how leagues can serve fans differently across markets and how technology can make these experiences more personal.
Sports partnerships are already evolving in that direction, connecting content, creators, discovery and tune-in rather than treating social media as a separate promotional layer.
MENA has an opportunity to do more than follow models developed elsewhere. It can help create some of the next ones. Mohamed’s ambition is to remain part of that evolution by connecting sports, technology, media and culture while keeping the fan at the center.