At this point, it’s unclear who was behind the “massive cyberattack” that led to X enduring multiple outages on Monday, including throughout the first hour of the NFL’s legal tampering period.
But regardless of who perpetrated the alleged attack, it proved to be Bluesky’s gain, especially when it comes to the NFL media members who have presences on the platform.
According to bluefacts.com, NFL reporters and analysts saw their follower counts on Bluesky surge on Monday, undoubtedly as a result of X’s untimely outages. With X unavailable, several NFL media members turned to Bluesky to break news regarding the latest free agency negotiations, with all indications being that their followers made the same migration.
As noted by Bluesky’s chief operating officer Rose Wang, seven of the top 10 accounts in terms of new followers added on Monday were NFL media members, with ESPN’s Bluesky account also ranking in the top 10. Among those to significantly boost their followings were the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Cleveland Browns radio voice Andrew Siciliano, CBS’ Jonathan Jones and ESPN’s Field Yates, Matt Miller and Mina Kimes.
Top 10 users with the most followers added in the last 24 hours. Looks like @minakimes.bsky.social’s NFL starter pack is the hottest club in town
— Rose 🌹 (@rose.bsky.team) March 11, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Time will tell whether Monday’s X outage proves to be a turning point in Bluesky’s quest to cut into the app formerly known as Twitter’s market share, a minor blip, or somewhere in between. But it was certainly interesting to see so many NFL reporters and analysts quickly take to the alternative, with fans following suit.
It’s also worth noting that the NFL, itself, doesn’t possess much of a presence on Bluesky, which the league has barred its teams from joining, resulting in a subsequent lawsuit. It will be worth monitoring whether Monday’s outage changes the NFL’s calculus regarding the app, with X ultimately proving unreliable at the most critical time for its fans, players and teams.
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.