‘Missed opportunity’: Twitter exec urges Olympic bosses to relax rules around sponsors

Twitter’s Danny Keens

Twitter’s US head of sports has called on the International Olympic Committee to loosen its strict guidelines banning athletes from social media to promote companies which are not official sponsors ahead of the Rio games.

Australian Danny Keens, a former producer of 60 Minutes who has been head of US sports partnerships for the social network for the last 18-months, told an audience at SXSW in Austin, Texas, current rules denied athletes from smaller sports the chance to cash in.

Asked about the future of social media for brands which are not official sponsors Keens said: “It’s a huge missed opportunity not to allow athletes to use Twitter. For a lot of these athletes from smaller sports it’s their moment in the sun and it’s their one opportunity to monetise what they’ve been passionate about.