As the 2021 WNBA Finals tipped off, a 2017 Twitter Sports post sparked a 25th anniversary celebration as Twitter Sports supported its WNBA partnership via a campaign called ‘WNBA Hero Tweet’.
Whilst the majority of the 140-/280-character tweets sent on Twitter have very short shelf lives, the one posted by Bleacher Report co-founder Ari Chambers on 5 April 2017 has had a surprisingly long lifespan.
The short, simple and succinct tweet read: “The WNBA is so important.”
The WNBA is so important.
— Arielle (Ari) Chambers (@ariivory) April 5, 2017
And it was brought back to life four years later as the centrepiece of Twitter’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the WNBA which was spearheaded by a hero video posted before the start of the 2021 WNBA Finals between the Chicago Sky and the Phoenix Mercury.
don't say #WNBATwitter didn't tell you pic.twitter.com/ZdcEl4YvgU
— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) October 8, 2021
According to Twitter Director of Consumer Marketing Robin Tilotta, Chambers’ original tweet was a powerful and lasting “rallying cry around an important sentiment and an important tweet that has persisted over the years”.
“The anthem video was our own way to add texture to the WNBA and to elevate the voices of key community members who have supported the league for years and show the power of diverse voices,” explained Tilotta. “Twitter is really the microphone of a community of changemakers.”
Chambers’ tweet also featured as the header image on the Twitter Sports account and the initiative drove hundreds of influencers, WNBA and NBA stars to quote the tweet in their own posts whilst adding their thoughts.
— Andy (@_rallycap) October 6, 2021
Tell em @ariivory. Nothing but respect for the @WNBA fam and the W community, always leading the convo on how we can be more equitable and showing our daughters the power of women #WNBATwitter https://t.co/iVHBUKy7y5
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) October 6, 2021
2021 TV audience is off the charts. Retail sales up huge. pic.twitter.com/vtJBHrD2iP
— SheilaG/BU (@SheilaGChewning) October 6, 2021
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Twitter has been a long-time partner of the league in an alliance dating back to 2016 which seeks to bring fans closer to the game and to expand its reach. In August 2020 the WNBA and Twitter extended their partnership which sees a set of live regular-season WNBA games streamed on Twitter via @WNBA during the season supported by social content and fan interaction as part of an extension of their partnership, marking the fourth consecutive year that the league’s games will be available on the platform.
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