Sports and online virality go hand in hand. A large reason for this, of course, is the non-stop nature of the sports calendar; between the collegiate and professional ranks, there’s always a new noteworthy performance or meme-able moment to share.
However, this dynamic is not at play for one of the internet’s newest sports pages, 20 Years Ago Sports, which shares images, broadcasts, and “on this day” factoids of sports happenings from 2006. And yet, it’s still found a massive audience.
In just over two weeks, the X (formerly Twitter) account has gained more than 400,000 followers and earned effusive praise from all corners of the sports world. A typical 20 years Ago Sports post—of which there have been several per day since mid-July—nets roughly 100,000 views. Old SportsCenter clips are proving especially popular: Its posts of “Top 10 Plays” segments from July 28, 2006, and July 30, 2006, have nearly 30 million and 2 million views, respectively, to date.
Now that August is here, users are starting to clamor for throwback football content. Front Office Sports caught up with the owner of the account, who wished to remain anonymous, to chat about its inception, plans for its future, and the connective power of sports nostalgia.
