While X suffered multiple outages on Monday morning, the social media platform appeared to be back up and running at 11 a.m. ET, one hour before the start of the NFL’s legal tampering period.
That fix, however, proved to be short lived, as the app suffered another outage at approximately 11:30 a.m. ET, which continued through the first hour in which NFL teams are permitted to negotiate and agree to deals with free agents.
X’s multiple outages — including three separate occurrences between 6 a.m. ET and 11:30 a.m. ET according to DownDetector.com — threw an unexpected wrench into the plans of NFL insiders, who often prioritize breaking stories on the Elon Musk-owned platform. As a result, multiple reporters covering the league turned to alternatives throughout Monday morning and early afternoon, including Bluesky and Threads.
“Well guess we will break news here today,” The Athletic’s Dianna Russini wrote on Bluesky during the second X outage on Monday.
Well guess we will break news here today.
— Dianna Russini (@diannarussini.bsky.social) March 10, 2025 at 10:18 AM
“Fun day for an X outage,” the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added on the same app in a post breaking news that free agent tight end Evan Engram is visiting the Denver Broncos.
“X is down on Day 1 free agency,” the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero wrote on Threads. “I’ll be posting here and on Instagram. Spread the word.”
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter doesn’t appear to have an active Bluesky account, but he does possess a presence on Threads, where he’s been breaking news throughout Monday. Schefter has also been live on ESPN2’s NFL free agency special, where he’s repeatedly pushed the ESPN app’s ability to send his breaking news directly to subscribers’ phones.
“Sign up for those ESPN app alerts. We’re going to bring them right to you with that,” Schefter said after breaking the news of Haason Reddick’s one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“You don’t need to see it on X,” host Laura Rutledge added. “It’s on the ESPN app, as well as right here.”
“Haason Reddick going to Tampa Bay. Sign up for those ESPN app alerts. We’re gonna bring ’em right to you with X being down!” – Adam Schefter
“You don’t need to see it on X. It’s on the ESPN app, as well as right here.” – Laura Rutledge #NFL
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) March 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
X appears to be fully functional again as of 1:15 p.m. ET. But it will certainly be interesting to see where insiders prioritize breaking their stories moving forward considering the platform’s multiple issues during one of the most critical times on the NFL calendar.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.