I'm a huge NFL fan, and Threads has already replaced X for NFL (and MLS) news for me. My team's beat writers have all already moved over to Threads.
Like I said, I've kind of thought this was the trend. Threads made pretty clear that they were going to be deferential to brands, and I'm betting that Facebook has more than enough money to fete itself to the NFL's whims in a far more compelling way than Twitter can. I'm very curious to see what comes of all of this in the spring, when the NFL can really reconsider its partnerships. They don't often switch things up mid-stream, but they seem to ALWAYS switch things up, post season, to whoever's going to pay them the most/give them the best deal. "Official X of the NFL" is not what I would call a "rare" designation.
So if Threads can put together a compelling set of numbers (actual experience on the app aside, the numbers they have are still pretty impressive; that's usually not enough to convince a human being, but it's usually plenty enough to sign a contract), they could get a one-two punch of pulling in the biggest sports talk and then attracting all other sports talk.
But, of course, that's top-down thinking. The same result could come about of very different circumstances, given proper engagement from the NBA demographic. So it'll be interesting to see if March brings about a full fledged NFL push, or a hard promotion of March Madness. (or, you know, maybe nothing; threads has been moving at a glacial pace and I'm way out ahead of any thing they've indicated even thinking about)
I'm not so certain that's an accurate statement. Threads launched only 5 months ago, and they've made some fairly large progress on things users have requested the most, and there's a number of things that are currently being tested in certain parts of the world (ex: trends).
It'll be interesting to see if they can continue that pace into the new year.
Personally, I just want to see a lists and bookmarks feature, which they've confirmed is in the works.
Now, I'll grant you that they are tending their own garden and putting in to place the things they want to put into place, at the cautious and respectful pace of a much more sensible company. But even taking your example of 'bookmarks', that's a REALLY simplistic feature. Be prepared for at least some snide eyebrows, if not snide remarks from this commentariat, about the idea that five months after launch, you still don't have a bookmark feature. Again, I'm not throwing any particular shade. Just noting that the pace of progress is well slower than modern companies/apps have accustomed us to expecting.