Bleacher Report puts a fan-first spin on NFL coverage

For Bleacher Report, that access isn’t just about game footage — it’s a chance to test new content formats, audience strategies and advertiser opportunities around one of the country’s biggest sports properties.

Bleacher Report has access to eight games during the season, which it is using to focus on the fan experience. That means coverage with a twist — tailgate antics, concourse energy, the view from the seats — content that feels less like NFL traditional footage and more like what a fan might post if they had a field pass, according to Bleacher Report’s head of content Tyler Price. 

“We’re not trying to be the NFL documenting the ins and outs of the game itself, but really we like to call it a ‘virtual credential’ — like how would our fans experience that time?” he said. That access is being paired with the field content that the NFL has produced via its in-house LCC network, meaning Bleacher Report can tap materials like touchdown celebrations, player entrances, and close-up shots of equipment, which gives a unique combination of content, according to Price.

Full game recaps and select play highlights will be used within its app. That means users can check scores, watch recaps of their favorite team’s games and see single-play highlights from around the league, alongside community discussions and the ‘virtual credential’ content. The goal is to create a comprehensive NFL experience inside the BR app, with additional content distributed on external platforms to draw audiences back in, added Price. 

The publisher has 25 show formats in total that will roll out throughout the season. Some will be tried and tested formats like “The Edge with Micah Parsons” (30-45 minutes long) and “Cleats and Convos with Deebo Samuel” (15-30 minutes long) Others will be new or determined on the fly as the results of the season develop. A new format series called “Blueprint” will run later this month, featuring Hall of Fame Ravens safety Ed Reed. Each episode, which will run after each of the eight games that Bleacher Report has the rights to, will feature Reed watching footage from the games and commenting on how he’d stop the rising stars who are emerging as the season unfolds.

NFL international push

Another of its series, called “Fireside Correspondent,” mics up celebrities, sits them on the sideline, and captures their experience watching an NFL game. The publisher has used this franchise for other sports, including the NBA, but not the NFL. The first episode will be filmed in Dublin, Ireland, where the Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 28. They’re still in the process of confirming the celebrity. “It’ll be a more European-leaning name, bringing them to an NFL experience in Ireland. This one will lend itself more towards someone’s first experience at an NFL game, which I think really excited our partners….international is a big push for the NFL,” said Price. 

The NFL has become a model for how to globalize a sports league, stressed Rory Natkiel, chief strategy officer for sports agency Sid Lee Sport, pointing to its staging of regular International Games in new markets and its Global Markets Program — all designed to build brand awareness and fandom outside the U.S. through fan engagement, events, commercial partnerships and NFL Flag initiatives. 

“The NFL’s approach is all about diversifying distribution, and making sure the content reaches younger fans where they already spend time,” said Natkiel. “Doing it through established brands like Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, who know how to package it for attention, reduces the onus on the league itself to invest in new creative formats.” 

The NFL is an outlier in the linear decline story: it remains the single biggest driver of live TV audiences in the U.S., with 93 of the 100 most-watched broadcasts last year coming from NFL games, according to Sportico and Nielsen data. The Super Bowl alone set an all-time U.S. viewership record with more than 123 million viewers in 2024, per Nielsen. Meanwhile for the 2025 opening week, NFL games averaged a record 22.3 million viewers per game across TV and digital platforms.

But the growth is happening elsewhere. Younger fans are more likely to follow the league through YouTube highlights, TikTok clips and meme-driven content than by sitting through a full broadcast. That’s the gap Bleacher Report is trying to fill — not competing with the NFL’s massive live ratings, but building complementary digital coverage that feels native to the way its audience consumes the sport, stressed Price. 

Linear still dominates, but it is a channel where viewership is falling, especially among younger generations, said Mark Thompson, CRO at EngageRM, which provides CRM services for sport and entertainment organizations. That makes Bleacher Report’s digital-first approach a strategic necessity, he stressed. “Live and even highlights packages are more frequently viewed on YouTube than linear sports shows. Increasingly, younger audiences want TikTok and Instagram Reel-ready behind-the-scenes and player-centric content that can be amplified by athlete influencer accounts, he said. 

Tapping its creator network 

Bleacher Report has 125 people working on NFL content across its platform and House of Highlights, its social-first sports brand known for bite-sized highlights, memes and viral athlete moments aimed at Gen Z. Though they’re not exclusive to NFL coverage. 

The publisher is also leaning on its creator network to fuel NFL coverage. The company has about 600 creators in its roster, and around games they’re tapped to produce real-time reactions using official NFL footage. 

The approach plays out at both the team and league level. After a close Steelers-Jets finish, for example, BR might feature simultaneous fan-driven content from creators tied to each side, giving very different perspectives on the same game, said Price. The goal is to generate content for every team, every weekend, while also layering in broader NFL storylines during the week.

BR has a dedicated platform “Creator Studio” that lets contributors log in, record, and publish directly into the app in minutes. That makes the network less about long-tail influencer posts and more about instant, fan-flavored reactions tied directly to live NFL moments, with footage rights as the differentiator. Along with the sports stars, the creators it’s working with include Theo Ash, Blaiden Kirk, Kurt Benkert, Kentsports, and Max Loeb.

Bleacher Report sees creator partnerships as a key revenue driver. Rather than slapping logos onto content, BR works with creators to weave sponsors into their formats and personalities — a strategy BR head of brand and creative strategy Zach McCann says drives better performance for advertisers. “That can look like a creator in his or her specific room, that they’re creating content, having a visual cue that fans are known for, putting a brand logo on that, and then like pointing to it and speaking about it in a comedic way,” said McCan. “It can get as granular creatively as that, but that helps conversion, that helps performance, with the brand placements.”

Alongside shows featuring NFL stars like Micah Parsons and Deebo Samuel, BR uses a tier of more relatable creators to reach younger fans, creating a complementary slate of content that reflects different consumption habits.

New opportunities to tap the NFL scatter market

Bleacher Report’s NFL partnership is fueling growth, with the publisher forecasting a 50% year-over-year increase in revenue tied to the deal, according to McCan. It has just over 12 sponsors that are specifically tied to NFL coverage, with the rest coming from cross-sports and channel partnerships with TNT Sports. 

Bleacher Report is using its NFL rights to open up new sponsorship formats, according to Mccan. One example is a partnership with Little Caesars around a House of Highlights series, ‘Game Show on the Go,’ produced at NFL tailgates. The deal gives the brand content filmed directly in stadium environments.

McCann added that Bleacher Report is also for the first time, positioned to sell into the NFL scatter market – the ad inventory that remains unsold in advance and is bought closer to air. That’s normally limited to official broadcast partners.

“We are hyper-focused on this millennial and Gen Z sports fan — on the next generation of sports fans,” said McCan. The goal is to complement the NFL’s existing broadcast machine and to give sponsors an option that feels native to how these fans consume content. “Whether it’s part of a bigger NFL campaign or a bespoke activation with us, the idea is to help fan the flames,” he added.