Bluesky is taking steps to capture the attention of sports fans with a new feature currently being tested during the NBA playoffs.
During live NBA games, posts from the NBA’s Bluesky account will now display a red “live” border. When users click on the league’s profile picture, they’ll be redirected to the event being promoted – even if it takes them off the platform. “We aren’t trapping you in Bluesky,” wrote COO Rose Wang. “We want you to use Bluesky to discover what’s happening.”
The approach marks a notable contrast with the strategies of Bluesky’s predecessor, Twitter, which under previous leadership invested heavily in live sports streaming rights. Instead of vying for expensive licenses and centralising major sports coverage on their own platform, Bluesky is leveraging its non-advertising-based business model to prioritize user experience and utility over in-app retention. This feature is not limited to the NBA; Bluesky plans to extend it to WNBA games as well.
The decision to invest in sports content comes as Bluesky seeks to court users from “Sports Twitter,” one of the more notable “(niche) Twitter) subcultures that remained prominent even after the rebranding to X. While some fans have begun making the transition, many may remain tethered to X due to its scale and deeply embedded sports culture – at least until Bluesky can deliver an equal or better experience.
