The VP of Sales and Strategy for Bleacher Report and House of Highlights discussed the evolving landscape of sports media and how to adapt to reach younger audiences.
The landscape of sports media is constantly evolving, and Adam Davidson, Vice President of Sales and Strategy for Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, has his finger on the pulse of how to adapt and connect with young audiences.
We're trying to create sports TV for the next generation of fans," Davidson said in a sit-down interview with Founder & CEO of Roundtable, James Heckman, at the Cannes Lions festival.
Quietly, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights have amassed a 190-million-follower empire, and they’ve done so by prioritizing Gen Z and younger audiences.
They serve as the digital and social arm of TNT Sports, and are partnered with nearly every major U.S. league, plus the French Tennis Federation with Roland-Garros.
They feature Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women's basketball league, NASCAR, and have packages for Big 12 football and basketball, a Big East package, and more. But equally important has been learning where the fans, younger ones specifically, are tuning in.
A core part of that strategy has been leaning on YouTube.
There are way more opportunities for attention for Gen Z. I want to dispel this myth that Gen Z does not have the attention span. They do. They spend over two hours a day on YouTube. That's appointment viewing. It's just on their terms,” Davidson explained.
They’ve found that 40% of long-form views on their YouTube content are coming from connected TV, meaning that their audience is choosing the YouTube app on their TV over linear, on-air programming and going to Bleacher Report and House of Highlights to watch their content.
80% of that audience is under 34.
It’s not a whole game. But it’s not a 20-second clip either. They’ll stick around and watch a range of different pieces of content over a couple hours. They’re not clicking around frantically with no attention span. It’s just targeted. And Bleacher Report has figured out how to capture them.
With the rights that they hold within the TNT Sports portfolio, Bleacher Report has the ability to sit within a unique Venn diagram that sits between broadcast rights holders and digital publishers – that’s unparalleled access that neither side holds alone.
With a two-fold strategy of premium league coverage and long-form, original IP, Davidson and Bleacher Report have kept up with adapting habits.
We’re seeing different consumption habits shift. Instead of 20 to 30 seconds of a highlight, we'll do full game recaps that are 5 to 12 minutes. We’ll see Gen Z sit through a seven-minute highlight compilation of Big 12 football from last night,” Davidson said.
As for what’s next, Davidson has goals centered on women’s sports growth and long-form content.
They are gearing up for their third season of Unrivaled as a top priority and will continue to invest in deepening the connection with Gen Z through YouTube long-form content. Both are essential to Bleacher Report’s next chapter.
