Twitter has 'changed the relationship between fan and team'
Monday 21 March 2016 14:13, UK
Twitter has "changed the relationship between fan and team", the company's UK head of sport has told Sky Sports News HQ.
On Twitter's 10th birthday, Alex Trickett says the online social network, which has over 300m users, has brought top athletes closer to their supporters wherever they are in the world.
"Fundamentally, it has changed the relationship between the fan and the team," he said.
"If you wound back in time pre-Twitter, that relationship was pretty formulaic and structured around certain moments.
"You could get near a player or two at a press conference or at a structured point in time. Twitter kind of changed that.
"Suddenly, as a fan, wherever I am in the world, whoever I support, I can follow them all the time and get direct contact with them."
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is the most popular sportsperson on Twitter with 40.9m followers, followed by NBA basketball player LeBron James with 28.6m.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is the UK's most followed sports personality with 12.7m. Tennis player Andy Murray is the only non-football-related figure to make the top five of that list.
