As TNT Sports prepares for life outside of the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella, there’s one brand they hope to leverage in order to remain a key player in sports media: Bleacher Report.
The app and brand popular with younger demographics is seen as an essential bargaining chip for TNT Sports once it is officially spun off, according to TNT Sports SVP Raphael Poplock. Speaking with Jacob Feldman of Sportico, Poplock described Bleacher Report, and its sister brand House of Highlights, as “critical” for the company’s larger sports strategy.
“The fact that it is so darn critical to our overarching sports strategy is probably the thing that people underestimate,” Poplock told Sportico. “B/R and House of Highlights is a very successful business from a standalone standpoint—revenue, profitability, viewership, engagement, video views, all of that stuff—but it’s absolutely critical to our larger business.”
Bleacher Report could be a major selling point for TNT Sports as it vies for live sports rights without the corporate backing of Warner Bros. Discovery. “Bleacher Report’s reach is a key factor in TNT Sports acquiring sports rights from leagues intent on reaching young fans, Poplock said,” per Feldman.
The brand’s reach with a younger audience is undeniable. It’s Instagram’s “most engaged with sports media account and the most popular mobile sports app for those under 34 years old,” Sportico reports.
TNT Sports will face an uphill battle to gain and retain sports rights after it is spun off. The network will have no clear streaming partner after its separation from HBO Max, and cable networks are shrinking by the day. From that standpoint, it’s unclear why any sports property would want to sign a new deal with the company. But when including Bleacher Report and House of Highlights in the equation, there’s a real reach argument to be made, especially for younger audiences.
Will those two brands be enough to convince league partners to continue selling live sports to TNT? The jury is still out on that question. But there’s at least some room for cautious optimism, at least from a digital standpoint, for TNT Sports as it tries to leverage its valuable digital brands.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.