Social network has put sport at the heart of its future strategy to drive growth and advertising revenues.
X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter, wants to produce and distribute more sports-themed docuseries in a bid to engage users and attract advertisers back to its platform.
Chief executive Linda Yaccarino told Axios the company is in discussions with sports leagues about potential collaborations, hoping exclusive content will build on existing organic activity on its platform.
“The men’s strong teams, strong leagues are I think magnets to draw the audience,” said Yaccarino. “And the women athletes on the platform, the fandom is just as ferocious.
She added: “X wants to galvanise what’s already authentically out there on our platform, bring those audiences together, feed the user base but also give opportunity for brands in this moment.”
The company has identified sport and exclusive video content as pillars of its future strategy following a dramatic decrease in advertising revenue, its main source of income, since Elon Musk acquired X in 2022.
Both Yaccarino and Musk were at the Cannes Lions festival in a bid to woo advertisers, while the company has plans for a big screen TV app and is bolstering its portfolio of exclusive sports content.
X is also said to be working on subscription tiers that offer the ability to watch video content without advertising.
X has a serious challenge to find new sources of growth and repair reputational damage caused by the chaos of the past 18 months. Advertisers have been alienated by cost-cutting measures, content policies and technical issues, while paid-for verification has had a knock-on effect on organic engagement.
However, despite everything, X retains a hugely engaged and passionate fanbase when it comes to sport. Despite many pretenders to its throne, whether its Instagram’s Threads, Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky, or the mysterious Mastodon, none have managed to usurp X in terms of influence. Indeed, despite YouTube’s ubiquity, it is X that is usually the first port of call for in-game discussion and video.
The challenge for the company is to fix fractious relationships with advertisers, increase advertising income, and drive usage. Whether users will be willing to watch long-form content on X remains to be seen. But if anything will make it happen, it’s sport.
By Steve McCaskill – SportsProMedia
