Bleacher Report (B/R) is building out e-commerce and content licensing departments, as the company looks to diversify its revenue streams (1/3 currently comes from ad sales on the company’s social media accounts) and reduce platform dependency (12% of referral traffic comes from Facebook). Best known for their “team streams”, delivering fan-specific news; the company intends on selling content themed merchandise, capitalizing on a series of successful original video brands (Game of Zones, Gridiron Heights, No Script) and their House of Highlights Instagram account (8 million followers). Come Spring, the company’s parent company Turner Broadcasting System will launch a sports streaming service; using B/R to drive viewers both through their website and mobile application. President Rory Brown said the goal is for the app to become the “home base for sports fans.”
Howie Long-Short: Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner (TWX), acquired B/R for $175 million in ’12. They then invested $100 million in to the company in March 2016. President Brown said the company increased revenue 17% YOY in 2017 (though no figure was provided); but, that the company is profitable. As for TWX, the company grew revenue 6% YOY in Q3 ’17, with HBO leading the way (+13% YOY); Turner was up 6% YOY during the quarter. The company will report Q4 ’17 and Full-Year 2017 earnings on Feb. 1.
Fan Marino: The B/R Entertainment division (just 2 years old) has experienced early success. Facebook (FB) reportedly paid the company “millions of dollars” to license the series, “No Script” starring Marshawn Lynch; while, it’s animated (NBA stars as medieval characters) series “Game of Zones”, has received 40 million views and landed AT&T as an ad sponsor. The company plans on introducing 5 more original series in ’18.
Editor Note: B/R is the premier digital sports media outlet. In December, the company had 120 million “interactions” on social; more than 2x the number ESPN reported (55 million). The company has the most engaged readers because it consistently delivers the best content (across all sports). I don’t write that because B/R publishes our work; I pursued a partnership with B/R because I wanted to align with the best. We couldn’t be prouder to have an association with them.
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