Bleacher Report has taken notice of soaring U.S. soccer demand and is expanding its storytelling to take advantage of the dominant women’s national soccer team at the France 2019 FIFA World Cup. (The USWNT has so far scored 16 goals in just two games at the tournament.)
In a mix of social media campaigns, real-world events, and videos that promote female athletes and the U.S. women’s national team, Bleacher Report is aiming to become a dominant voice in American soccer.
Audience trends for soccer have been ticking upward over the past few years. Television viewership of the Canada 2015 World Cup in Canada soared 33 percent above that of Germany 2011, totaling 750 million people, according to FIFA. The USWNT’s dominance on the international stage (the team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals) has helped grow women’s soccer in the U.S. The USWNT’s defeat of Japan in the World Cup Final in 2015 remains the most-watched soccer game in the U.S. across both men’s and women’s soccer, with 25.4 million viewers. Meanwhile, the @brfootball Instagram following has rocketed 194 percent over the past year to three million users.
“We’re finally seeing brands catch up and marketers taking an increased interest than they have in years past,” said Bleacher Report Chief Brand Officer Ed Romaine. “I think it’s just a testament to how, behaviorally and culturally, we’re shifting as a country to being more interested in soccer as a sport.”
Bleacher Report kicked off its World Cup coverage with a watch party in New York City for the U.S. game against Thailand, which Romaine said was a “physical manifestation” of the media brand’s strategy to be a “defining voice for the World Cup” and to “meet fans where they are”—on social, mobile or in person.
Furthering those efforts, Bleacher Report’s social team plans to attend USWNT watch parties both at home and in France to deliver colorful social videos about fandom. Bleacher Report will host that content on B/R Football and across non-soccer-related channels such as House of Highlights. These will complement content that populates the B/R App and coverage on sister brand TNT.
B/R Football will focus on tournament coverage from an American lens and plans to run personality profiles of female athletes on the women’s national team, including Megan Rapinoe and Morgan Brian, and retired stars like Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly. Two B/R Mag features will profile Mallory Pugh and Carli Lloyd.
Retired U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo will host Hope’s Hot Take to break down USWNT matches. Melissa Ortiz, an American-born soccer player who left the Colombian national team in 2018 due to pay inequality, will host World Cup-themed Instagram stories on the B/R site. Vivianne Miedema, a 22-year-old Arsenal forward who recently broke the Dutch national team’s scoring record with 60 career goals, will co-host a podcast alongside Juventus defender Petronella Ekroth.
Meanwhile, popular YouTube channel Soccer Girl Problems, which has 145,000 subscribers, will partner with B/R on content creation throughout the tournament. Bleacher Report is also simultaneously launching an e-commerce initiative, tapping eight influential female artists, musicians, and designers to create and promote their own customized World Cup unisex jerseys that will be available for purchase at BleacherReport.com later this month.
The media company is hoping to fuel fandom through personalities, and to leverage the USWNT’s run at France 2015 to significantly boost its status as a platform for soccer coverage.
“The Women’s National Team is our generation’s version of the Dream Team because they’re just so good and I think everyone’s super excited to see what they can do,” Romaine said. “They are three-time World Cup champs, and we’re seeing record-breaking numbers from a linear and an app perspective.”