House of Highlights
House of Highlights (often abbreviated as HoH) is a sports media brand that focuses on the creation and aggregation of viral video clips and original video series for a predominantly Gen-Z audience. HoH is headquartered in New York City within Bleacher Report’s office.
Since being acquired by Bleacher Report in December 2016..[1], House of Highlights has expanded into a multi-platform media business with over 24 million followers across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok[2]. According to Bleacher Report CEO Howard Mittman, House of Highlights accounted for 10% of Bleacher Report’s total revenue as of June 2019[3].
 | |
| Media Network | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Sports, Entertainment, Youth Culture |
| Founded 📆 | 2014 |
| Founder 👔 | Omar Raja |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | New York, New York |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| Parent | Bleacher Report |
| 🌐 Website | https://www.instagram.com/houseofhighlights/ |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
HISTORY[edit]
Founding: 2014-2016[edit]
The company was founded by Omar Raja in his college dorm room at the University of Central Florida in the summer of 2014[1] When NBA star LeBron James left Raja’s favorite team, the Miami Heat, to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Raja wanted to find videos across the internet to relive and share memorable moments of the team with his friends. He started an Instagram account in August and decided to call it “The Highlight Factory”, but eventually changed the name to “House Of Highlights” about a week later[4]. Raja focused on collecting footage of Heat players both on and off the court, and reposting unique highlight clips, many of which had not been widely circulated. The House of Highlights audience contributed to the content on the page with user-generated content discovered online or by submitting videos to the page via direct message for the consideration of reposting.
Bleacher Report Acquisition: 2015 - Present[edit]
Raja had about half a million followers on Instagram by the time he caught the eye of Doug Bernstein, then the vice-president of social media at Bleacher Report, who contacted him about working together in July 2015 [1]. Bleacher Report acquired House of Highlights the following year in December 2016, and hired Raja after he graduated from college[1][5]. While under Bleacher Report, House of Highlights started to grow rapidly and the popularity of the account allowed House of Highlights to transition into a revenue-generating business, starting with a first partnership with Lexus in 2016 where HoH produced creative videos highlighting some of the best user-submitted content[6]. In addition to Lexus, other brands that were early to partner with House of Highlights were Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas and Netflix[6]. One of the most newsworthy early partnerships was with Under Armour in which House of Highlights created “The Curry Challenge” where they posted clips of ordinary people trying to imitate Stephen Curry’s signature pre-game basketball moves that went viral[5].
Other viral internet challenges popularized by House of Highlights include the viral 2016 dance craze the Running Man Challenge[7], the Drive By Dunk Challenge[8], and “Hoodie Melo” in which HoH posted clips of Carmelo Anthony working out in a hoodie, which soon became a viral meme with the nickname "Hoodie Melo"[1], which expanded to a clothing brand.
In January 2018, HoH expanded the business and created its own YouTube channel[9]. The channel shares NBA highlights, player recaps, basketball podcasts, House of Highlights original content and other viral clips[10]. Esquire reported that House of Highlights would get about 700 million video views a month during the NBA season, with 10,000 new followers daily[1].
In October 2018, the company partnered with Twitter to launch “House of Highlights LIVE”, a recurring live show built for the Gen-Z audience and featuring athletes and entertainers[11].
In April 2019, Twitter ordered a second season of “House of Highlights LIVE” with a new focus on activating before huge live sporting events including NBA Opening Night, All Star Weekend, and College Football Rivalry Week[12]
In 2019, House of Highlights became the only U.S. sports media brand to surpass ESPN in followers on any social platform[12]. In November 2019, Raja announced that House of Highlights was officially the most followed U.S. Sports Media account on Instagram[13]
In 2020, it was announced that Raja would be leaving House of Highlights at the end of his contract and moving to ESPN to increase their social media presence[14]
ACCOLADES[edit]
House of Highlights has been recognized as the "modern SportsCenter built for and by Generation Z" by maintaining an established voice of content that "celebrates, reflects and amplifies multicultural youth sport culture"[15]
Since 2018, House of Highlights has been nominated and awarded for the brand's success across social media ranging from its use of Instagram, presence on Instagram and collaborative brand sponsorship campaigns.[16] [17][18]
Shorty Awards
- 2019 "Instagram Presence" - Nomination[16]
Cynopsis Sports Media Awards
Clios Sports Award
- Silver for Social Media - Multi-Platform Campaign[18]
FOOTNOTES[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Duncan, Byard (2018-10-22). "Who Is Omar? How the 24-Year-Old Founder of @HouseOfHighlights Flipped Sports Media on Its Head". Esquire. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "House of Highlights Moving On Without Founder Omar Raja". Front Office Sports. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "Bleacher Report is on track to grow 50% this year, hit $200m in revenue". Digiday. 2019-06-10. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "Omar Raja, @HouseofHighlights Founder, on Starting Instagram's Most Fire Account". SLAM. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Weissman, Cale Guthrie (2018-02-02). "Bleacher Report's Secret Weapon Is A 23-Year-Old Instagram Savant". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sarconi, Paul (2017-03-16). "Why Instagram Is Suddenly the Place for Sports Highlights". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "15 Most Popular #RunningManChallenge Videos". Billboard. 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ Gartland, Dan. "What is the drive-by dunk challenge?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "Twitter Deepens Sports Content With ESPN". www.sporttechie.com. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "House of Highlights scores first brand deal for its YouTube channel". Digiday. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ Feldman, Jacob. "House of Highlights talk show is coming to Twitter". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Second Season of Twitter's House of Highlights Show Will Focus on Tentpole Events Including NBA Finals". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ Raja, Omar (2019-11-26). "Went from 0 followers to 15,000,000 and officially became the most followed US Sports Media account on Instagram! 5 years have flown by!pic.twitter.com/yISPZ3gGzK". @OmarESPN. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "Instagram Star Omar Raja Joins ESPN". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2020-01-09. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "House of Highlights - 2019 Sports Media Awards". Cynopsis Media. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "House of Highlights: the No. 1 Sports Brand on Instagram - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "House of Highlights - 2019 Sports Media Awards". Cynopsis Media. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Under Armour - House of Highlights & Under Armour #CurryChallenge". Clios. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- ↑ "Cynopsis Sports Media Awards / Event: August 12, 2020 in NYC". Cynopsis Media. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
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