NFL rift with Bluesky is reportedly over money

Last month, a New England Patriots executive revealed that the team, and presumably other NFL franchises, had been prohibited by the league from creating an official account on the social media platform Bluesky.

Now, the league’s reasoning is becoming more clear.

Bluesky has recently gained popularity by becoming an alternative to the popular social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Many users have departed X in recent months over complaints ranging from the site’s new ownership to the platform’s algorithm that promotes engagement bait content.

Naturally, pro sports franchises want to have a presence wherever their fans are, be that X, Bluesky, TikTok, Facebook, etc. So it came as a bit of a surprise, at least to some, that the league was actively prohibiting teams from posting on the growing social media platform.

However, according to a recent report in Sports Business Journal, the NFL’s policy simply comes down to dollars and cents. Per the report, the league is “acutely aware” of its “capability to be a business kingmaker.”

Thus, “If all 32 teams organically got on Bluesky, the platform could create a robust NFL news hub out of those accounts without much work at all. The NFL knows exactly what that would be worth to Bluesky, and wants to be paid for it. That requires an official relationship, which involves lawyers and negotiations, and more time than teams think it should.”

So it seems that NFL teams will be on Bluesky in a matter of time, as long as the platform is willing to pay for it. Should a deal be struck, the NFL could provide a significant windfall to the X alternative.

One of the biggest gripes with Bluesky is that it is bereft of official team accounts and the key insiders that make X such a valuable platform for sports fans.

With the NFL’s blessing, it’s easy to imagine the sport’s community on Bluesky can become comparable to that of X.