Bleacher Report set out to be the best publisher in sports with one goal in mind: make it as easy as possible to be a sports fan.
Our goals to accomplish this were to create an industry-leading sports app with social functionality aimed toward building community, develop easier access points to engage football and sports betting audiences, produce meaningful mid-to-long form original sports content that celebrate all aspects of sports and sport culture, and by up-leveling our free-to-the-public premium fan event experiences.
In everything we do, we want our audience to find their sports passion easy, innovative and enjoyable.
Bleacher Report created multiple access points for fans to engage in our content with every iteration designed specifically with the platform and distribution mechanism in mind. We harnessed the power of our industry-leading portfolio of social accounts, along with our B/R App, original programming, and live events to advance our mission to make it as easy as possible to be a sports fan.
2019 was a significant year of development for the B/R App with new social features rolled out allowing communities to DM, post comments, share content, and engage directly with the world’s top athletes in our own AMA’s (Ask Me Anythings). Coupled with the fastest alerts in the industry it has become the definitive destination for all things sports and was the #1 sports app of the year in terms of engagement and time spent.
Seeing an opportunity in American football and sports betting coverage, Bleacher Report debuted two new brands, B/R Gridiron and B/R Betting. The B/R Gridiron brand gave Bleacher Report’s professional football coverage an authentic, year-round voice quickly became the No. 1 digital sports publisher on NFL Sunday across all platforms earning 198 million total engagements - a growth of 41%. Similarly, Bleacher Report saw a gap in the coverage of sports betting, and debuted B/R Betting to provide a distinct, and entertaining voice in the space. Since launch the account grew to 13.3 million video views per month with a 50 percent increase on Instagram since September of 2019.
With a new Chief Content Officer in place, B/R turned its focus on the creation of premium mid-to-long form programming to further advance sports storytelling and reach fans. From Mo Saleh’s candid exchange in “Take it There with Taylor Rooks” and Percy Harvin’s confession of smoking marijuana before every NFL game in “Untold Stories with Master Tesfatison.” Bleacher Report’s original content gave fans a premium feel to get closer to their favorite pastimes.
Finally, our live events programs gave sports fans free access to premium experiences that enhanced connections with the brand. These events included The Drop-Up, a physical representation of the B/R Kicks brand, NBA Summer League’s Jump-Off, and NBA All Star Weekend’s B/R x NC - all of which hosted thousands and drove millions of engagements.
Bleacher Report is the No. 1 most engaged sports publisher in the world earning 3.5 billion engagements, reaching more than 200 million Gen Z and Millennial sports fans each month and 11 billion video views. This was accomplished while the B/R App topped 1 billion engagements with users opening the app an average of four times per day.
These numbers are only possible by helping our audience follow the sports they love and engage with a community of like-minded people who share their passions. We give fans access to their players they love and the moments they cherish, because Bleacher Report is made for sports fans by sports fans. We’re different because we understand the culture that surrounds the game and provide multiple touchpoints for fans of every stripe.
