NFL Reportedly Told Teams To Shut Down Their Bluesky Accounts
If you're wondering why you haven't seen your favorite NFL team on Bluesky, it's because they're not allowed to be. Not yet, anyway.
Bluesky is a fairly new social media platform conceptualized by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and meant to rival X and Meta's Threads. As of January 2025, Bluesky has surpassed 25 million users — many of whom just didn't like the way Elon Musk was running X since he bought the platform in October 2022.
Since Bluesky's inception, multiple prominent Left-wing voices have publicly announced their departure from free-speech-fostering X in favor of safe-space Bluesky.
The NFL, though, has yet to officially embrace the new platform.
The NFL has not yet embraced Bluesky.
(Getty Images)
On the Jan. 16 episode of Patriots Unfiltered, host and VP of content for Kraft Sports & Entertainment/New England Patriots Fred Kirsch was answering messages from fans, one of whom asked if the team could soon get an account on Bluesky.
"Please consider adding Bluesky to your social media outreach," Kirsch read from a Patriots fan. "NFL content/engagement is growing there with folks like Mina Kimes leading the way."
The Pats exec responded: "Right now we're not allowed to," Kirsch said. "We had an account briefly on Bluesky but the league asked us to take it down because it’s not an approved social media platform for the NFL yet. . . . Whenever the league gives us the green light, we’ll get back on BlueSky."
The NFL and Bluesky didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The NFL Does Not Yet Have A Partnership With Bluesky
Of course, some folks ran with Kirsch's comments, as if there were some nefarious reason why the NFL hadn't yet jumped aboard the Bluesky train.
Awful Announcing, after reiterating the Elon Musk "Nazi salute" hoax, wrote: "It could be a subtle attempt to appease Musk, who has become more volatile in recent years and prone to lashing out at companies that he feels cross him."
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk piled on, also referencing the manufactured controversy: "Hopefully, the NFL isn’t waiting for some sort of signal, such as a hand gesture, from Twitter."
RELATED: Sports Media Is Leaving X For Bluesky Because They Lost The Election
In reality, though, there are a myriad of reasons why the NFL isn't yet allowing its teams to go full-steam ahead on Bluesky, and none of them involve Elon Musk holding Roger Goodell at gunpoint.
First, the NFL is protective of its product, and it does have existing partnerships with more established social media platforms (like Meta, TikTok and YouTube, for example — not just X) that the league must honor. These agreements cover things like license fees, ad dollar splits and promises to sponsors. There are many, many stakeholders involved, not just media members with their britches in a twist.
Further, Bluesky is a new platform that didn't start to gain popularity until October and November 2024. A couple of months is hardly enough time for the NFL to vet the platform, to understand its reach, to determine ROI and to negotiate a partnership — especially in the middle of the season.
And finally, does Bluesky have staying power? The league isn't going to throw a bunch of resources at a platform that may or may not even maintain its current active usership by the time the 2025 season rolls around.
(Photo by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
As for the NFL teams themselves, some clubs, like the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions do appear to have a presence on Bluesky, but none of these accounts are verified and none appear on the teams' or the league's official website.
And the same goes for the NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLB, by the way.