As the NBA playoffs continue heating up, Bluesky has introduced an intriguing new feature aimed at capturing the attention of sports fans and challenging the dominance of traditional platforms like Twitter.
During the NBA playoff games, posts from the league’s official Bluesky account will prominently display a distinctive red border marked with a “live” indicator. Users who click on the NBA’s profile image will be swiftly directed to a specific event’s page, even if that means taking them off the Bluesky platform entirely.
In an announcement posted Sunday, Bluesky’s Chief Operating Officer Rose Wang emphasized the company’s vision for openness, stating, “We aren’t trapping you in Bluesky. We want you to use Bluesky to discover what’s happening.”
This strategy stands in clear contrast to previous attempts by platforms such as Twitter, which historically invested millions in deals to stream live sports directly within their apps. Unlike those earlier efforts, Bluesky, backed primarily by venture capital funding rather than advertisements, is not driven by maximizing in-app viewing. Without depending on user attention for immediate ad revenue, Bluesky can afford to send users to external sports sources rather than investing heavily in expensive streaming agreements.
Wang also revealed that Bluesky plans to expand its testing to include live WNBA matches, extending the experiment beyond the NBA playoffs.
The move is an intelligent one, positioning Bluesky to gain credibility and cultivate loyalty among sports fans. Previously, “Sports Twitter”—a term fans still prefer despite Twitter’s rebranding as “X”—was considered vital for quick reactions, live commentary, and breaking sports news. Although some of those fans have gradually started adopting Bluesky as their go-to for live sports discussions, many remain hesitant, staying put on platforms with larger existing audiences. With initiatives like these, Bluesky hopes to bridge that gap, offering unique real-time engagement to lure reluctant users away from legacy social media.
