The NFL’s “Media-Friendly” Twitter Policy

By Ben Haber

September 1st, 2009

The NFL has had a few image problems this summer, ranging from Donte Stallworth’s driving incident to Plaxico Burress’ prison sentence and Michael Vick’s return to the football field.

Maybe that’s why they’re taking such a hard policy on Twitter:

“Coaches, players and football operations personnel are permitted under league policy and with club permission to use social media on game day during specific time periods before and after games… up to 90 minutes before kickoff and after the game following media interviews.”

Well, maybe not…

It seems like this policy has been set up to keep certain (media) parties happy, many of whom have paid a LOT of money to broadcast NFL games. In reality, a player taking 45 seconds at the end of a half to do a sideline interview is a lot more disruptive them posting a message to Twitter, as a player can’t control the questions during an interview,. However,  a quick 140 character tweet to say “Played a decent first half, but we need to make some plays to win the game” would be pretty simple.

The other key to this policy is that Twitter is banned until after the post-game interviews. Clearly, the NFL does not want players conducting their own press conferences with fans immediately following the game via Twitter, and wants the first post-game thoughts and analysis to be given directly to the media covering the game.

While you can’t blame the NFL for having a distinctive strategy here, it’s important for the NFL to remember that connecting with fans directly is extremely important, especially during a time when many high-profile players are having trouble with the law (not to mention the enormous contracts that some players are receiving).

What do you think of the NFL’s Twitter policy?

Entry Filed under: Social Media, Twitter