The NFL is sticking to its guns about how its team members use social media — namely, by keeping teams away from X competitor. bluesky.
This tidbit comes courtesy of a sports media site Terrible announcementAt which an exchange was held Patriots Unfiltered. In response to a fan suggestion that the team expand its social media footprint to Bluesky, Patriots VP of content Fred Kirsch revealed that “at this point we’re not allowed.”
Kirsch explained that while the Patriots briefly tested the waters on Bluesky, “the league asked us to take it down because it’s not yet an approved social media platform for the NFL,” he said.
bluesky, Now boasting more than 28 million usersIn view of the X has emerged as a leading alternative Elon Muskand Mark Zuckerberg’s apparent shift toward far-right politics. Sports teams are exploring life beyond X, as are Bundesliga clubs FC St. Pauli After the US presidential election, the jump started in November.
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Recently, there are several prominent sports-focused subreddits X introduced the idea of banning links altogetherEven though most of their content relies heavily on posts from the platform. At the same time, prominent sports journalists and media personalities began to build an active presence on Bluesky, making X’s role as an introductory hub for sports fans feel increasingly redundant.
As for the presence of the NFL on the Bluesky? It does not exist by default. The league maintains active partnerships with META and X, and despite a wave of sports fans and media personalities migrating to Bluesky, the NFL has yet to follow suit. The decision appears to be less about ideological alignment with Musk or Zuckerberg and less about League’s business interests and active brand partnerships with both platforms.
An NFL spokesperson did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
That said, a handful of NFL teams appear to have a leg up on the Bluesky — kind of. The Detroit Lions (53.8k followers at the time of publication), New York Giants (13.5k), Minnesota Vikings (22.7k), and Philadelphia Eagles (50.6k) All have accounts that look legitimate. But based on recent comments from Patriots VP Fred Kirsch, these accounts are likely fan-run, as they are unverified and unauthorized.
