Leeds Rhinos make history with Twitter shirts

Leeds Rhinos became the first rugby team to use Twitter handles on their shirts instead of their player’s names on Friday night.

The club used the Twitter handles during their Super League match with Hull FC which was broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The current Super League champions have more than 18,000 Twitter followers with Leeds players Rob Burrow and former England captain Jamie Peacock both having more than that.

The club’s media and PR manager Phil Daly said: “We are always looking for ways to innovate and spread the word about Leeds Rhinos. With over 500 million users on Twitter worldwide it is massive around the globe and a tremendous vehicle for us to grow our brand.”

Ryan Bailey will not be allowed to use his Twitter handle, @Hayemaker16, after the RFL banned the former Great Britain prop from using it as it may promote violence.  In addition to this, the Rhinos offered all fans the chance to get the player’s Twitter handle or their own Twitter handle on the reverse of their Leeds Rhinos shirts.

Although Twitter handles have appeared on sports teams shirts before it is thought to be the first time a professional rugby team have used this innovative promotional tool.

The full list of players on Twitter is as follows:

 

Player Twitter Name
Luke Ambler @Ambler09
Ryan Bailey * @hayemaker16
Luke Briscoe @lukebriscoee
Rob Burrow @Rob7Burrow
Jamel Chisholm @jamelchisholm7
Chris Clarkson @chrisclarkson00
Brett Delaney @brettdelaney3
Zak Hardaker @zakhardaker1
Weller Hauraki @Weller_Hauraki
Liam Hood @Liamhood24
Ian Kirke @IanKirke
Shaun Lunt @Shaun_Lunt
Danny McGuire @DannyMcguire6
Paul McShane @mcshane_paul
Jamie Peacock @JamiePeacock10
Brad Singleton @bradsingo
Daniel Smith @smithdaniel1
Lee Smith @Smith2Lee
Jared Stewart @Jaredstewart9
Stevie Ward @Ste_Ward
Kallum Watkins @kallum_watkins
Brent Webb @Brent_D_Webb79

About author

Niall McGlone
Niall McGlone 6 posts

Niall is an experienced writer of online content, filming and editing video content as well as producing podcasts. He has worked as an intern for Goal.com and contributed to the award winning football website In bed With Maradona amongst others. He is currently studying his final year as a BA Multi Platform Journalism student where he is writing his dissertation on how social media has changed football. Follow Niall on Twitter: @NiallMcglone

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