Bleacher Report Promotes Stefanie Rapp to Chief Revenue Officer

Bleacher Report is elevating Stefanie Rapp to Chief Revenue Officer, a primary senior leadership position driving the rapid expansion of the brand. In this new role, Rapp will continue to focus on building incremental revenue streams while overseeing the ongoing integration of B/R across Turner Sports, WarnerMedia and AT&T.

Her appointment comes on the heels of rapid growth for the division sparked by the addition of several portfolio brands, a more mature experiential events and e-commerce business, and massive audience engagement for the B/R app and social channels. Rapp will report directly to Howard Mittman, B/R CEO.

“Stef is an invaluable member of our team and a primary reason that we’ve been able to grow and thrive in what is otherwise a volatile industry. She brings a deep understanding of content-based experiences and knows which levers to pull in order to create frictionless efficiencies between our sales, technology, and content teams, while directing us to incremental opportunities for growth,” Mittman said. “As we look at the B/R business in 2020 and beyond, there is no better person to help drive and intensify our success.”

Bleacher Report solidified its position as the No. 1 sports media brand for young sports fans in 2019 boasting 1 billion engagements on the B/R App and 11 billion video views across its social platforms including 52 of the top 100 most engaged branded content posts on Instagram. This growth was helped by the launch of the B/R Betting and B/R Gridiron brands, which were quickly established as the leading names in sports gaming and football content, respectively. Rapp will look to build upon these brands while expanding the footprint for B/R Kicks, B/R Gaming, and House of Highlights, which is now the number one sports media brand on Instagram with more than 15 million followers. This will include increasing B/R’s stake in broader product categories – fashion, retail, and auto – efforts already led by Rapp during her tenure.

Rapp will also focus on the B/R app, which is a critical direct connection to highly-engaged fans who open it an average of four times a day, fueling a 145% growth in engagement over the past year. New features including direct messaging and comment threads, along with the rollout of athlete-led “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions with superstars from across the sports world have created a valuable platform for audiences. Rapp has overseen the rollout of various ad products within the app and will continue to lead innovation in this space.

“I can think of no better place to be in the media landscape today than B/R,” says Rapp. “There is so much opportunity ahead and we have a smart, driven executive team who are going to execute upon a vision focused on making it as easy as possible to be a sports fan.”

Rapp previously served as Bleacher Report’s Senior Vice President Revenue & Strategy, overseeing all aspects of the strategy, coordination and forecasting for the sales and strategy departments. Her efforts, alongside content and sales leadership, have enhanced how the division is able to communicate and drive revenue goals, as well as service clients more efficiently.

As part of her elevated role, she will facilitate sales, marketing, and promotional activities, with an emphasis on serving as the primary liaison to all sport teams, leagues, brands and platforms as the brand develops and executes bigger breakthrough programs.

With more than 15 years of industry experience, Rapp is a well-respected leader within the organization and is committed to paving the way forward for women at Bleacher Report and the industry at-large. Rapp serves on the advisory board of Bleacher Report’s Women’s Network that seeks to empower women to take on more leadership roles, regardless of their seniority.

Prior to joining Bleacher Report in 2017, she spent a number of years in key revenue-focused executive roles at Conde Nast, Hearst and Fairchild Media, as well as focusing on events strategy for SAP Global Marketing and DoubleClick.