Fans Sue NFL for Not Letting Teams Use Bluesky

A pair of Bluesky users filed a lawsuit against the NFL for not letting its teams create individual accounts on the platform due to its partnership with X/Twitter.

Patrick Brown and Collin Vincent filed a 14-page complaint Tuesday in the Southern District of New York claiming antitrust violations and alleging the NFL is unlawfully restricting its teams and fans from engaging on the new platform. The suit says Brown wants to follow the Bears on Bluesky and Vincent wants to follow the Seahawks.

The lawsuit claims the league’s “refusal to deal with Bluesky” was “pursuant to an agreement between [the NFL], the 32 competitor teams and X.” The filing says the anticompetitive behavior harms both the teams and fans. It says individually owned and operated teams and their fans should be able to choose their own social media platforms and not be restricted to X when another option exists.

“Where the teams meet their fans on social media is between the teams and the fans,” an attorney for the plaintiffs, Thomas Burt, tells Front Office Sports. “The NFL does not have the legal right to inject themselves into that decision.”

In January, the vice president of content at the Patriots’ umbrella company Kraft Sports & Entertainment, Fred Kirsch, said the team is “not allowed to” have a Bluesky account. “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,” Kirsch said. “Whenever the league gives us the green light, we’ll get back on Bluesky.”

The lawsuit cites “published reports” that say the NFL’s decision is “a financial matter.” On Jan. 30, Sports Business Journal reported the NFL wants a paid partnership with Bluesky if its teams are going to be on the platform rather than allowing them to use it without any kickback from the app.

The filing says the NFL announced on Feb. 3 that its teams could not use Bluesky, but no such official announcement by the league was made or reported on that date or otherwise. The league also didn’t make an announcement when it renewed its partnership with X in April 2024. Following that agreement, X launched its NFL Portal in November, a dedicated algorithm for the league with standings, stats, schedules, and a custom NFL-focused feed.

The fans are not seeking money damages but instead an injunction and attorney fees. “The injunction would deprive the NFL of nothing, except the centralized power that it has unlawfully claimed and has no right to,” the suit says.

Representatives for the league, Bluesky, and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sports are still finding their way onto Bluesky. Some leagues like the NWSL and PWHL have accounts, but teams have been slower to join.