Twitter’s Top Sports Exec Steps Down Amid Brand Turbulence
While Elon Musk’s Twitter continues to convulse, the company has reportedly lost its top lieutenant in charge of relationships with sports leagues and brands.
TJ Adeshola has stepped down as head of global content partnerships after ten years at the company, as first reported by SBJ’s John Ourand. Adeshola was promoted to that role last year after leading U.S. sports partnerships. Before joining Twitter, he worked in sales and marketing for ESPN.
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Sarah Rosen, who took over for Adeshola as head of U.S. content partnerships, left the company in November and now fills a similar role at Reddit. It is unclear who, if anyone, has filled her post. Twitter’s full workforce has reportedly dropped by as much as 80% since Musk took over in October 2022.
Adeshola could not be reached for comment at time of publication. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on the news.
Twitter is currently changing its verification system, with all verified accounts losing their signature blue checkmarks on April 20, according to Musk. That change will likely encourage pranksters and other nefarious accounts to attempt to impersonate notable figures on the app, including the likes of Adam Schefter and LeBron James.
After NPR was recently labeled as “state-affiliated media,” the news organization elected to no longer post news on its 52 feeds. “I would never have our content go anywhere that would risk our credibility,” NPR CEO John Lansing said on Tuesday.
For now, no significant official sports accounts have taken a similar stand. Twitter has long held a primary place in fans’ media diets, and thus been a key element of sports brands’ distribution strategies. “People are going on Twitter much less until it comes time for a tipoff or kickoff,” Darren Rovell told Morning Consult last month. “They still want to be part of the shared experience of fandom.”
Adeshola played a key role in Twitter’s pitch to advertisers at last year’s Newfronts presentation. Twitter is not expected to participate in that event this time around. In a tweet, Twitter’s former global VP of ad sales Jean-Philippe Maheu called Adeshola’s departure “a huge loss” for the company. Meanwhile Saints and Pelicans senior director of social media Alex Restrepo deemed Adeshola “a social media legend.”
According to Ourand, Adeshola plans to focus on other commitments for the time being, including his work for the Black Sports Business Symposium and Cannes Lions’ Stagwell Sports Initiative.
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