Founding: 2005–2011 Bleacher Report was formed in 2005 by Dave Finocchio, Zander Freund,
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. 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 Reports ability to keep pace with real-time fan interest across all forms of social media. This continued under Turner ownership, as Turner had once owned
World Championship Wrestling. Following
WWE and
ESPN 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 Reports 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 Reports 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, reporting to Turner Sports Chief Operating Officer, Matt Hong, up until September 2014. In May 2014, Bleacher Report launched
Game of Zones, a parody of
HBO'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 page
House of Highlights. In January 2016, Finocchio returned to
Bleacher Report as CEO. 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 shows and tropes. In 2021, in conjunction with the
NHL on TNT,
Bleacher Report launched a new
ice hockey 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 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 as part of its football coverage. ==Verticals==