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''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
's Turner Broadcasting System in August 2012 for $175 million. In March 2018, ''Bleacher Report'' and Turner Sports launched B/R Live, a subscription video streaming service featuring live broadcasts of several major sports events, although the service was discontinued in 2021 and merged with the company's mobile app. ''Bleacher Report'' owns multi-media social network House of Highlights, and its branding was used for Max's sports coverage prior to 2025.


History


Founding: 2005–2011

''Bleacher Report'' was formed in 2005 by Sam Erez, Harry Ryan, Bryan Goldberg, and Dave Nemetz—four friends and sports fans who were high school classmates at Menlo School in Atherton, California. Inspired by Ken Griffey Jr., they wanted to start writing about sports. With the help of two old friends, J. B. Long and Ryan Alberti, the company's nucleus took up residence in a Menlo Park office space, in the spring of 2007, for $650 a month. ''Bleacher Report'' announced the completion of a round of Series A funding on the occasion of its public launch in February 2008. The undisclosed sum came from Hillsven Capital, Transcoast Capital, and Vimeo founder Jakob Lodwick. Eight months later, in October 2008, ''Bleacher Report'' secured $3.5 million in Series B funding from Hillsven, Gordon Crawford, and SoftTech VC. Under the Turner corporate umbrella, Finocchio remains at Bleacher Report as the CEO. Goldberg and Nemetz transitioned out of their respective VP roles during the integration process. Freund left the company in 2009. A Series C round in December 2010, led by Crosslink Capital, netted an additional $10.5 million. ''Bleacher Report'' named Brian Grey as its chief executive officer in 2010. Grey came to ''Bleacher Report'' from leadership roles at Fox Sports Interactive and Yahoo! Sports. In the first year of Grey's tenure, ''Bleacher Report'' filled two more executive-level positions, adding Rich Calacci as chief revenue officer and Drew Atherton as chief financial officer. Calacci joined the company in May 2011; Atherton followed a month later in June. In August 2011, the company announced a $22 million growth round led by Oak Investment Partners, with participation from Crosslink and Hillsven. At the time, Oak general partner Fred Harman, a board member at both '' The Huffington Post'' and Demand Media, characterized the investment as a bet on ''Bleacher Report''s ability to keep pace with real-time fan interest across all forms of social media. For many years after its founding, ''Bleacher Report'' was one of the few mainstream sports websites in the United States that regularly covered
professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
, as the genre is generally seen as a form of entertainment within the U.S. due to the open secret that professional wrestling is staged. This continued under Turner ownership, as Turner had once owned
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
. Following WWE and
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
beginning to collaborate on projects on a regular basis in 2014, other mainstream sports outlets now cover professional wrestling, with ''Bleacher Report'' having strengthened theirs by forming a partnership with All Elite Wrestling to be the exclusive home to their pay-per-view events in the U.S., as well as parent company Turner having broadcasting rights to '' AEW Dynamite'' and '' AEW Rampage''.


Turner Sports acquisition: 2012–present

''Bleacher Report''s sale to Time Warner (via Turner Sports) was announced on August 6, 2012. Under the terms of the deal, Grey, Finocchio, Calacci, and CTO Sam Parnell all assumed official Turner Sports titles while retaining their management responsibilities at ''Bleacher Report''. In a press release announcing the purchase, Turner president of sales, distribution, and sports David Levy cited the site's rapid growth and loyal user base as key factors in his company's decision to make a deal—and also alluded to the potential value of ''Bleacher Report''s multimedia platform as an outlet for Turner's various video resources: Nemetz continued with the company for eight months after the acquisition, going on to advise and invest in other media platforms including '' Elite Daily'' and '' Bustle''. As part of the integration process, Atherton's CFO responsibilities were assumed by Turner corporate in February 2013, and Grey stepped down from the CEO position in October 2013. After Grey's departure, Finocchio headed ''Bleacher Report'' up until September 2014. In May 2014, Bleacher Report launched ''Game of Zones'', a parody of
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
's '' Game of Thrones'' featuring animated NBA figures. In September 2014, ''Bleacher Report'' named Dorth Raphaely General Manager, taking over for Finocchio, following his departure as CEO. In 2015, ''Bleacher Report'' acquired the popular sports-themed
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
page House of Highlights. In January 2016, Finocchio returned to ''Bleacher Report'' as CEO. In October 2016, ''Bleacher Report'' launched ''Gridiron Heights'', a cartoon web series featuring satirical portrayals of NFL stars and executives. In February 2017, the company announced that it was laying off over 50 employees, as the site stepped away from its open content model. In July 2017, ''Bleacher Report'' announced that it named Howard Mittman as chief revenue officer and chief marketing officer. In September 2018, ''Bleacher Report'' launched the first episode of ''The Champions'', an animated show involving the current Champions League members of that season. There are currently seven seasons of the show. In February 2019, Turner announced a deal with casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corporation to open a ''Bleacher Report'' studio at the Caesars Palace sportsbook, from which the site would produce sports betting-oriented content. Later that month, it named Mittman as CEO, following Finocchio's resignation. In June 2020, Mittman resigned as CEO of ''Bleacher Report'', following staff concerns regarding a lack of diversity at the company. Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports, would take over as CEO. After ''Game of Zones'' ended in 2020, it was replaced with another NBA-centric series called ''Hero Ball'', which parodies several
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
shows and tropes. In 2021, in conjunction with the '' NHL on TNT'', ''Bleacher Report'' launched a new
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
vertical known as ''B/R Open Ice''; the site hired social media personality Andrew "Nasher" Telfer to lead the new outlet. In January 2025, the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
announced an agreement with ''Bleacher Report,'' allowing it to distribute video highlights and game recaps via its platforms, as well as receive expanded access to league players, personnel, and tentpole events such as the NFL Scouting Combine, draft, and the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
as part of its football coverage.


Verticals

''Bleacher Report'' operates various verticals devoted to specific sports and activities, which include dedicated online, video, and
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
content; * ''B/R Betting'': Launched in 2019, and dedicated to sports betting-oriented content. * ''B/R Football'': Dedicated to soccer (
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
) content. * ''B/R Gaming'': Launched in 2016, and dedicated to video gaming and
esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
content. * ''B/R Gridiron'': Launched in August 2019, and dedicated to NFL and college football content. The launch lineup featured web series such as ''Ditch the Playbook'' with Adam Lefkoe, the ''NFL Betting Show'', the fantasy football show ''Your Fantasy Fire Drill'', and ''Untold Stories'' with Master Tesfatsion, as well as its existing animated shorts ''Gridiron Heights''. * ''B/R Hoops'': Dedicated to basketball content. * ''B/R Kicks'': Launched in 2018, and dedicated to
sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...
and sneaker collecting. * ''B/R Open Ice'': Launched in September 2021, and dedicated to the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
. * ''B/R W Sports:'' Dedicated to women's sports; the vertical was originally established as ''HighlightHER'' in 2019, before being relaunched in January 2025. * ''House of Highlights'': Social media accounts devoted to sports highlight videos; acquired by ''Bleacher Report'' in 2015.


B/R Live

In March 2018, ''Bleacher Report'' announced a new internet television service known as B/R Live. The service features original studio programming, as well as live event coverage from Turner properties and other sources, including NBA League Pass, all
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
and
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
matches, the PGA Championship,
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
championships, the
National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...
, and The Spring League. B/R Live offers both subscription and per-event pricing, and will also support the NBA's planned microtransaction service to allow users to purchase five-minute look-ins of a live game. B/R Live also streams all of the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) pay-per-view events. On November 23, 2018, the service streamed The Match: Tiger vs. Phil, a match play golf event between
Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...
and Phil Mickelson. Meant as a pay-per-view event, the PPV system struggled to keep up with demand, prompting B/R Live to stream the event for free instead, and all buyers being offered refunds. B/R Live was shut down and merged into the ''Bleacher Report'' app in June 2021. As a spiritual successor, TNT Sports launched a ''Bleacher Report''-branded streaming hub on Max in October 2023.


Reception


Criticism

Early criticism of ''Bleacher Report'' stemmed from the network's initial commitment to an open publishing model. Such critiques cited the fact that all registered users on the website were permitted to publish articles on the site, arguing that ''Bleacher Report''s policy resulted in a glut of low-quality content, which made it difficult for the network's readers to find credible coverage of their favorite teams and sports. It was also argued that the model tarnished the reputation of every writer associated with the ''Bleacher Report'' brand, which made it difficult for the network's more talented contributors to build loyal audiences, and that it empowered unqualified writers without editorial oversight, which compromised the prestige and credibility of the sports writing profession.
SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Blezinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2003. The blog from which the netwo ...
Senior MMA editor Luke Thomas described it as the "
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
of Journalism" and its MMA coverage "toothless amateur coverage". Since abandoning the content farm model in 2010, ''Bleacher Report'' has been the subject of continued criticism for its exploitation of unpaid contributors, its blanket policy prohibiting writers from breaking their own news, and its high-volume production of low-quality, search-optimized slideshow content. These critiques found their strongest voice to date in an October 2012 '' SF Weekly'' article, in which tech columnist and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa was quoted accusing ''Bleacher Report'' of "dumbing down of the web" with "custom-manufactured garbage." In December 2012, a lampoon article in '' The Onion'' played on the same themes. In July 2014, '' Deadspin'' published a lengthy narrative written by Tom Schreier, a former ''Bleacher Report'' featured columnist. Detailing his journey from hopeful intern to "just one more drone pumping content to get clicked on," in three years, Schreier "wrote over 500 articles, generated nearly three million page views, and received $200 for isservices."


Response

''Bleacher Report'' attempted to address the concerns of its early critics by making substantive reforms to its editorial and personnel policies in 2010 and 2011. These reforms were aimed chiefly at the mechanics of ''Bleacher Report''s Writer Program, with emphasis on enhancing quality and credibility by doing the following: *Initiating a formal application process for all prospective writers, wherein only the top 20 percent of candidates earn the right to publish on the site. *Introducing educational resources for new and veteran writers, including the "B/R U" new-media training program. *Establishing a paid team of Lead Writers to headline the network's sport-specific writer communities. Although some detractors likened such changes "to spritzing a little room deodorizer after leaving a steaming deposit in the toilet and failing to flush", apart from a published rebuttal disputing the objectivity and accuracy of the October 2012 SF Weekly article, ''Bleacher Report'' has mounted a substantive response to ongoing criticism of its contributor compensation structure, news-breaking policy and search-optimization strategies. In 2013, ''Bleacher Report'' hired Mike Freeman as a columnist from CBSSports.com. The company then brought on
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
reporter Howard Beck from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. He was convinced by Bleacher Report that they were on the verge of transforming its website. In addition to Beck becoming their lead NBA writer, ''Bleacher Report'' also added Ethan Skolnick from '' The Palm Beach Post'' to report on the
Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
, Kevin Ding of ''
Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...
'' to cover the Los Angeles Lakers, and Jared Zwerling from
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
to pen NBA features.


Accolades

Forbes.com called ''Bleacher Report'' "one of the leaders" among sports startups "figuring out the digital space" in August 2011, noting the company's success in "providing publishing tools to all sorts of knowledgeable sports fans to report and express what they know." ''Bleacher Report'' was also named one of ''Time'' magazine's "50 Best Websites of 2011", and was picked by '' Adweek'' readers as 2011's "Best Sports Media Brand". In 2017, ''Bleacher Report'' was named "Hottest in Sports" in Adweek's Annual Hot List. ''Game of Zones'' has received Sports Emmy Award nominations in 2015 and 2018 and was nominated for Outstanding Digital Innovation at the 2017 Emmy Awards. ''Bleacher Report'' has received a number of Clio Sports Awards: :2015 ::*Gold for "MJ All Day" :2018 ::*Grand for ''Game of Zones'' ::*Silver for "NBA Playoff Battle Royale" ::*Silver for "Up Your Game" ::*Silver for ''Gridiron Heights''


Programming


References

{{Commons category, Bleacher Report American sport websites Internet properties established in 2008 Companies based in San Francisco TNT Sports (United States) 2012 mergers and acquisitions