Digital sports media is a competitive field. Countless social media pages and podcasts come about each year to try and get a taste of fame.
They will do anything to gain clout, whether they have to jump on a bandwagon, expose the negatives in athletes, or even steal another platform’s idea.
Timeless Sports does it differently.
The sports content page relies on “insightful,” “eternal,” and “timeless” content according to its Instagram bio. Its material revolves around posting throwback images of athletes in-game, with their families, or enjoying the many aspects of life.
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I had the opportunity to speak with Fabien Gashi, the man behind the magic. Our conversation covered his reasons for starting the page, his choice to focus on throwback content, and the mission of his page to present a level of respect and dignity to the sports world.
Timeless Sports is a precise, distinguished sports content page that shines a positive light on athletes’ lives. The decision to positively represent athletes is crucial and unique and is something the sports world needs more consistently.
Gashi’s beginnings
Gashi grew up playing sports, participating in basketball and baseball throughout high school. Being around the sport as a child made him appreciate the game itself.
He graduated from Seton Hall University in 2017, and still plays basketball for fun regularly.
Timeless Sports started as an Instagram-only page in September of 2015, from Gashi’s dorm room. He first conceptualized it as a passion project, a place that he could post material that he cared about.
“Basketball, throwbacks, sports, hip-hop are stuff I’ve always loved,” Gashi told me. “It was pretty much a way to get that as an outlet.”
(1981) Mike Tyson having this kind of speed and power at FIFTEEN is just flat out unfair.
Happy birthday, @MikeTyson 🥊
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) June 30, 2020
Capturing an identity
The name “Timeless Sports” was selected because it was simply available, and it also seemed like something that could turn into a brand. It gave him an opportunity to turn his content into a brand, instead of simply being a throwback sports page.
Gashi started posting in September of 2015 and has not missed a single day since. Consistency is something that has always been important to him, and delivering content that one can not find anywhere else is another one of his mantras.
“I’ve always loved the late 90s, mid 90s, early 2000s era of everything,” said Gashi.
“It was an easy way for me to just put that out there on social media, instead of trying to be a media outlet with like, ‘what’s going on today.’”
Importance of authenticity
In terms of setting himself apart from other sports outlets, Gashi takes pride in the content that he posts. He upholds the integrity of his brand as one of his most important values, constantly focusing on putting athletes in a positive light.
“I think a lot of brands or sports pages compromise integrity on social media,” Gashi said.
“Again, I’m not one for obviously controversial takes or clickbait reactions. The way I look at it is, if I wouldn’t say a caption to an athlete’s face, I won’t post it on social media.”
Every single day, there are countless people trying to tear athletes down. This ranges from ignorant and rascally fans, tabloids, and platforms trying to gain a desperate drop of clout. These people identify a single, minuscule flaw in an athlete’s life, and they attack it.
It is something that these people thrive on, not necessarily with malicious intentions, but with the drive to gain a sense of power over these famous athletes.
This is the unfortunate truth of the sports world. For every genuine and positive platform, there are ten alternatives that will attempt to break them.
It is rare to come across a humble, integrity-driven outlet that wants the best for athletes.
Timeless Sports is committed to representing athletes in a different way, one that includes unity, appreciation, and respect for the good things that athletes do with their lives.
“I know that I can say something; I can easily get a reaction out of people,” Gashi said. “I don’t want that to be my lane of how I increase engagement. I want to just [have] genuine love for a play or moment that happened in the past.”
Gaining a following
The page recently crossed 500k followers on Instagram and is closing in on 200k Twitter followers. Several prestigious, real-deal athletes follow the pages, including LeBron James, Saquon Barkley, and Baltimore Ravens legend Ed Reed.
Gashi isn’t doing jumping-jacks about his fame, though. He said:
“The number doesn’t really mean much to me honestly, I think it’s cool. But the best part of it is I’m growing an audience with followers that I care about, because I post content I care about.”
LeBron James followed him on Twitter sometime in 2017, one of Gashi’s most memorable moments. Having these superstars doesn’t necessarily change the way he posts, however.
“I don’t think it changes the way I put it out, but to be honest, it does motivate me to put out high-quality stuff.”
Gashi frequently mentioned Jay-Z, his favorite rapper. He told me about how he can post a reference from a song, and there are people in the comments who will just continue with the lyrics. It is the coolest thing for him to feel that others genuinely love the things he cares about.
Jay-Z dropped ‘Reasonable Doubt’ on this date in 1996.
Here’s rookie LeBron getting off the bus at summer league wearing a shirt with the album cover. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/lT8qycLwQ8
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) June 25, 2020
Eyeing the future
What are the next sports for Gashi? He wants to continue to grow the page itself, and branch out just as a normal media outlet would.
“I think now that I have a pretty big, nice audience, it allows me the opportunity to branch out in a way that I would like, and I think creating original content is definitely one of the routes. I think podcasting might be the next step early on in that process.”
For those just starting out, Gashi offered his piece of advice:
“Stay consistent. I think things are going to take longer than you expect. But if you stay consistent, and you genuinely enjoy what you’re doing, you’re not even gonna realize it. And have actual meaning or value behind what you believe in and don’t just post up. Don’t just put stuff out there to get a reaction post. Put stuff out there because you genuinely enjoy what you’re putting out there.”
It is the positive representation of athletes Timeless Sports provides that keeps the community flowing in the proper direction. The media industry has a massive level of power, and it can crush those with platforms if it is used improperly.
Timeless Sports is making sure to not only keep a productive light on athletes but to preserve and cherish their memories in an amazing landscape.