What’s to Become of “Sports Twitter”?

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As we settle into the new year, the phrase “deer in headlights” feels like an apt description for the state many members of “sports Twitter” currently find themselves in. More than two years after Elon Musk took over Twitter, now known as X, the platform has become an increasingly unpleasant space for sports conversations. While many users have already migrated to other platforms like Threads and Bluesky, plenty more are staying put—unhappy with the current state of affairs but reluctant to abandon the communities they’ve carefully curated and built. Today, we’re joined by three guests who have been notable contributors to the sports Twitter community for more than a decade. TJ Adeshola (X, Instagram) formerly oversaw sports partnerships at Twitter, Reeta Hubbard, aka “The NFL Chick” (Bluesky, X), is a longtime sports commentator currently hosting Gridiron Gals, and Jason Concepcion (Bluesky, Instagram, X) is the Emmy-winning host of Six Trophies. They spoke with David Dennis Jr. to reflect on the glory days of sports Twitter, explore how and why it took a turn for the worse, and discuss where the community goes from here. Check out the playlist, featuring our favorite stories of 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody, quick note before we start today. As we get going into the new year, we want to make sure you caught all our best stories from last year. You can find our favorite episodes of 2024 at the link in today's episode description. That includes Wright Thompson going behind the scenes of Caitlin Clark's final season at Iowa,
0:24.4	the story behind the best NCAA tourney bracket ever,
0:27.9	and my own chat with Clinton on how the malice at the palace changed the NBA forever.
0:32.7	So please do check all of it out.
0:35.3	Now, on with the show.
0:39.9	I'm not exactly breaking news here, but for the purposes of this conversation, I have to kick things off today with the observation that has been more than two years since a certain someone took over a certain website.
0:55.0	Elon Musk has now taken over Twitter.
0:57.0	The world now watching what Elon Musk will do with the platform.
1:01.0	He has promised to restore banned accounts.
1:04.0	Twitter has suffered a massive drop in revenue.
1:06.0	This is playing out like some crazy reality TV show.
1:09.0	You can't make this stuff up.
1:11.5	In the time since, those of us who have long relied on Twitter as a crucial part of the sports media ecosystem
1:16.8	have been forced to grapple with the fallout.
1:19.5	A bevy of bad decisions have made sports Twitter an absolute nightmare to go on.
1:26.3	Sports Twitter was already toxic as fuck.
1:28.6	This isn't going to make it better.
1:30.4	By the time the 2024 election arrived, many of the space's most prominent personalities
1:35.7	decided they'd had enough.
1:37.6	A lot of people have migrated to blue sky.
1:40.2	It's the new social media app gaining huge buzz.
1:43.4	And enjoying huge growth in the aftermath of the presidential election.
	...

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