Welcome to 2022 (and back to reality)!
Before we get started on another trip around the sun, we just wanted to take a minute to thank you for making JohnWallStreet by Sportico a part of your morning routine. (And for those reading for the first time, you can sign up for the free newsletter here.)
As has become tradition, we start the New Year by shining a spotlight on 50 individuals who help to make the Twitter experience a worthwhile one for sports business professionals. In an effort to spread the love around (and grow your list of smart follows), we kept just 10 of our favorite Tweeters from the 2021 compilation. Those individuals are represented in bold below.
Presented in alphabetical order and without further ado, the Top 50 Sports Business Twitter follows of 2022:
Rachel Bachman (@Bachscore): Wall Street Journal reporter covering the Olympics, World Cup and college sports.
Nathan Baugh (@nathanbaugh27): Building a “sports media startup for the modern-day sport fan,” he publishes a daily newsletter called Sideline Sprint (think: SportsCenter in a newsletter).
Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom): Thought-provoking content from the co-founder of The Room Where it Happens (think: wants to form a DAO to buy the X-Games).
Charlie Boss (@Charlie_Boss): Former ESPN/Disney EMEA executive turned Jockey Club CCO. Insights and observations through the lens of a U.K.-based commercial director.
Michael Broughton (@mbrought9): Former FIFA executive shares his expertise in digital media and technology. Co-host of the OTT Sports podcast.
Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP): Publishes Extra Points for D1 Ticker. The newsletter gets into the weeds of college sports off the field.
Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets): Wagers.com’s managing editor actively tweets about sports betting legislation, stocks and other gaming industry news.
Meredith Cash (@mercash22): Business Insider sports business reporter. A “must follow” for fans of women’s sports.
Simon Chadwick (@Prof_Chadwick): Global professor of Eurasian sport at the Emlyon business school (based in Paris and Shanghai). Serves as an authority on the geopolitical economy of sport.
Jay Chaudhry (@producer_jayc): Feed is a useful series of thoughts/observations on media, content and boxing-related subjects. Recently named Players Media Group’s director of content.
Patrick Crakes (@Aquinas82nd): Long-time Fox executive turned media strategist/consultant. Smart context and opinion on sports media happenings.
Salil Dalvi (@sd_so): Criminally under-followed former NBCUniversal executive. Now operates a consultancy at the intersection of content, media and tech.
Kristi Dosh (@SportsBizMiss): Writes about sports business for Forbes. Focus is often on college sports, the NFL or UFC.
Joe Favorito (@joefav): Longtime strategic comms consultant is the Kevin Bacon of sports business (he’s connected to everyone). His weekly newsletter (Sports Marketing and PR Roundup) reaches more than 55,000 readers.
Sara Germano (@germanotes): A long-overdue nomination for the Financial Times’ U.S. sports business correspondent.
Richard Gillis (@UnffclPrtnr): Covers sports business happenings across the pond. Host of the Unofficial Partner podcast. Publishes a weekly newsletter by the same name.
Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport): New York Post sports and entertainment reporter. Volume tweeter opining on everything from sports media to pro wrestling.
Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker): Catena Media’s VP of North America-Content offers entertaining, unfiltered commentary on the sports betting industry.
Chris Grove (@OPReport): Widely respected gambling industry strategist and investor.
Nick Harris (@SportingIntel): Opinionated sports news correspondent (Mail on Sunday) tries to make sense of sports’ relationship with money.
Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner): Sports, entertainment and IP lawyer has become an authority on NIL.
Laine Higgins (@lainehiggins17): Wall Street Journal college sports reporter. You’ll also find NHL and Olympic sports coverage on her timeline.
Victoria Jackson (@HistoryRunner): Sports historian, whose feed is full of commentary on (and stories tied to) the intersection of sports and society. Affiliated faculty with the ASU and Adidas Global Sport Institute.
Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan): ESPN national NHL reporter. If it is happening in the NHL (or even being talked about), Emily is on it… and tweeting about it.
Liam Killingstad (@LiamKillingstad): Leads Front Office Sports’ research efforts. Brings a finance background to the #sportsbiz discussion.
Jake Kline (@JakeAKline): The single most prolific sports/sports business tweeter in the game. Spends his days as an associate at Sidley Austin.
Kathy Kopacz (@kkopacz1): This longtime sports marketer is also an active aggregator of sports business news.
Chris Krafcik (@CKrafcik): Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s managing director provides followers with data-backed thoughts and forecasts.
Vincenzo Landino (@VincenzoLandino): A mix of sports business and F1 coverage. Publishes The Qualifier, a newsletter looking at F1 through a business, content and media lens.
Paula Lavigne (@pinepaula): ESPN investigative reporter provides followers with a mix of aggregation and insight. Always focused on important subjects.
William Mao (@TheWilliamMao): The VP of Octagon’s global media rights consulting division always has a smart take on the sports broadcasting business.
Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand): New York Post sports media columnist and co-host of the Marchand & Ourand podcast is a fun follow (he also regularly breaks news). 4.5/5 clickers.
Andy Marston (@AndyMarstonSP): Spots trends. Shares insights. His weekly Sports Pundit newsletter is worth the read.
Meredith McPherron (@mlmcpherron): Venture capitalist investing in—and tweeting about—sports, gaming and media. CEO and co-founder of Drive by DraftKings.
Nick Meacham (@SportsProNick): SportsPro Media’s managing director shares thoughts and content, often tied to OTT/streaming. Host of the Streamtime podcast.
Roger Mitchell (@RPMComo): Italy-based “second-order thinker” with a TMT/finance background. Co-host of the Are You Not Entertained Podcast.
Tariq Panja (@tariqpanja): New York Times reporter covering the business of global futbol.
Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano): Storyteller with a popular newsletter (Huddle Up).
Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell): Covers the business of sports betting for The Action Network. NFTs and memorabilia are also in his wheelhouse. The replies to his posts are half the fun.
Patrick Ryan (@PRyanTexas): The Eventellect co-founder is ticketing industry thought leader. He is also a valuable source of insight for those interested in trading cards and/or collectibles.
Maddie Salamone (@madsal15): Legal analyst and athlete activist—she was a Duke lacrosse player and chaired the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee—with smart thoughts/observations on the business of college sports.
Adam Seaborn (@AHBSeaborn): Toronto-based media analyst shares insight on the Canadian market. Sports betting and advertising-related news is also in his wheelhouse.
Alex Silverman (@AlexMSilverman): Senior sports reporter at the Morning Consult. Assembles a daily email briefing highlighting the top industry news.
Will Stern (@Will_Stern4): Rally’s content lead. Writes interesting threads about the collectibles industry. Publishes the Shiny Thing$ newsletter on collector culture.
Alfonso Straffon (@astraffon): Sports trader turned sell-side equity analyst. “Logs” the most important sports betting/gaming industry news.
Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang): Senior investigative writer at The Athletic. Her byline was on several important stories in 2021 (see: Mickey Callaway accusations, Blackhawks investigation, Coyotes delinquent taxes).
Phillip Swann (@TVAnswerMan): The “TV Answer Man” uses his Twitter account and website (TVAnswerMan.com) to answer timely questions about the sports television business.
Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline): No one is more dialed-in to the news/rumblings involving the “Conference of Champions” than Wilner. His newspaper columns are syndicated across all 12 conference markets.
Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung): CNBC’s national sports business reporter. Touches on everything from sponsorship to media rights.
@SwissRamble: His/Her identity remains a secret. But the handle breaks down the money behind global football as well as anyone (often with easy-to-digest data viz).
You may notice that no Sportico (@Sportico) reporters were included in the #JWS50. Naturally, we would recommend that you give everyone on the editorial team a follow.
Lev Akabas: @LevAkabas
Kurt Badenhausen: @kbadenhausen
Barry Bloom: @Boomskie
Matt Bok: @MattBok
Emily Caron: @_emcaron
Brendan Coffey: @bpcoffey
Anthony Crupi: @crupicrupicrupi
Luke Cyphers: @LurkCyphers
Jacob Feldman: @JacobFeldman4
Eric Jackson: @epjackson
Sarah Kwak: @sarahkwak_
Daniel Libit: @DanielLibit
Michael McCann: @McCannSportsLaw
Eben Novy-Williams: @novy_williams
Asli Pelit: @asli_pelit
Scott Soshnick: @soshnick
…and you can find JohnWallStreet at @howielongshort
