As of January 28, the Phillies officially have a Bluesky account, making them the 28th of 30 MLB teams to join the sitte.
While Elon Musk's social media platform X dwarfs upstart rival Bluesky in terms of total users, the latter is gaining ground quickly. Bluesky had about 9 million users in September, but now boasts about 30 million, with something of an X exodus taking place after November's elections.
Most MLB teams now maintain accounts on both sites.
Screenshot via Bluesky appMany users moved from X to Bluesky because of political concerns, given X owner Elon Musk's close ties with the Trump administration. The Bluesky platform looks and functions nearly identically to X, making it an appealing alternative to folks who do not wish to support Musk's venture. But many who made the switch lament the loss of sports content that they enjoyed on X.
One of the biggest things I haven't found on BlueSky is active engagement from sports teams/personalities. Any good sports reporters/networks I should be following for analysis? (Mostly NFL, NBA, MLS, Prem, maybe MLB)
— Austin Nieset (@ajnieset.bsky.social) January 1, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Professional sports teams, like other corporate brands, are quickly taking notice. Though most of the 28 MLB teams that created a Bluesky account are not actively posting (it is the offseason, of course), the 28 have at least planted their flag by creating an account and (generally) decking it out in team branding.
Official team accounts on the platform can be identified by their user handle. Any Phillies fan can make a Bluesky handle called "@phillies.bsky.social," for example, but they would not be able to create an "@phillies.com" account.
Here's the handle and status of each MLB team's Bluesky account as of January 25, 2025:
NL EAST
Phillies - @phillies.com, no posts
Braves - @braves.com, no posts
Mets - @mets.com, active
Nationals - @nationals.com, no posts
Marlins - @marlins.com, no posts
NL CENTRAL
Brewers - @brewers.com, no posts
Cardinals - @cardinals.com, no posts
Cubs - N/A
Reds - @officialreds.bsky.social (@reds.com redirects to this official account), no posts
Pirates - @pirates.com, active
NL WEST
Dodgers - @dodgers.com, no posts, no logos
Padres - @padres.com, no posts
Diamondbacks - @dbacks.com, no posts
Giants - @sfgiants.com, no posts
Rockies - @rockiesofficial.bsky.social (@rockies.com redirects to this official account), no posts
AL EAST
Yankees - @yankees.com, no posts
Orioles - @orioles.com, no posts
Red Sox - @redsox.com, no posts
Rays - @raysbaseball.com, no posts
Blue Jays - @bluejays.com, no posts
AL CENTRAL
Guardians - @cleguardians.com, no posts
Royals - @royals.com, active
Tigers - @tigers.com, no posts, no logos
Twins - @twins.com, no posts, no logos
White Sox - @whitesox.com, no posts, no logos
AL WEST
Astros - N/A
Mariners - @mariners.com, no posts
Rangers - @rangers.com, no posts
Athletics - @athletics.com, no posts
Angels - @angels.com, no posts
The league itself has created an @mlb.com Bluesky account with branding, but has yet to make a post.
It will be interesting to see how many of these accounts start regularly producing content when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Once a team account is created on Bluesky, it is not a heavy lift to duplicate content across platforms.
The teams' decisions may play an important role in Bluesky's success as an X alternative, at least among baseball fans.
When contacted by On Pattison before the Phillies created their account, a member of the Phils' public relations staff indicated that the organization is monitoring the situation.
This article was updated:
- immediately after it was published on Jan. 23 to correct a headline typo (24 teams, not 26);
- early on Jan. 25 to reflect the establishment of a Chicago White Sox account;
- later on Jan. 25 to reflect the establishment of a Colorado Rockies account and verify the authenticity of a Cincinnati Reds account; and
- on Jan. 28 to reflect the establishment of a Philadelphia Phillies account.
