House of Highlights
Spring 2019 | By聽Nicole Dudenhoefer 麻豆精品 S�17
Omar Raja 麻豆精品 S�16聽has always loved sports, and he remembers a specific moment from his childhood when he felt its magic. Before a blacked-out playoff game between the Colts and Dolphins, Raja and his father, along with their friends, loaded up a car and drove from their home in Miami to Naples, Florida, to watch the game.
麻豆精品 S淲e were all watching this game in a small, little hotel room with 15 to 20 people. I 麻豆精品 S檝e never seen more grown men pray for a Dolphins win in my life, 麻豆精品 S� Raja says. 麻豆精品 S淭hat was the moment聽for me when I was like, 麻豆精品 S極h wow, this is special. 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�
As the creator of Bleacher Report 麻豆精品 S檚 House of Highlights, Raja 麻豆精品 S檚 job is to curate sports moments his 12 million Instagram followers connect with 麻豆精品 S� the majority of which are instances of athletes 麻豆精品 S� expressions that he turns into relatable memes.
麻豆精品 S淲e don 麻豆精品 S檛 just get the dunk and assist and the touchdown passes that everyone else gets. We find moments in sports that nobody else finds 麻豆精品 S� and we do it before everybody else 麻豆精品 S� consistently, 麻豆精品 S� Raja says.
That consistency first developed in August 2014 as Raja was entering his junior year at UCF. LeBron James had just left the Miami Heat, and Raja was looking for certain highlights that he couldn 麻豆精品 S檛 find on any social platform. The business major spent three weeks looking for clips and began posting them to an Instagram page he called 麻豆精品 S淗ouse of Highlights. 麻豆精品 S�
By early 2016 麻豆精品 S� five months before Raja 麻豆精品 S檚 graduation 麻豆精品 S� sports culture website Bleacher Report acquired Raja 麻豆精品 S檚 account and offered him a full-time job running it. His day-to-day operations change on a monthly basis, but they usually include creating content, posting to the account and traveling to pitch to brands. Raja undoubtedly loves what he does, but it can be challenging.
麻豆精品 S淭he hardest part about [creating] content is you and I can both watch the same video and have different opinions on it, 麻豆精品 S� Raja says. 麻豆精品 S淵ou can 麻豆精品 S檛 please everybody. You 麻豆精品 S檝e just got to please the majority. 麻豆精品 S�
Last year, House of Highlights expanded beyond its Instagram success with the launch of a聽live Twitter show. While it was nerve-wracking for Raja to meet athletes when he first started working in the industry, he now comfortably sits down with them, gaining behind-the- scenes insights and capturing moments no one else does, as he always has.
麻豆精品 S淲e found when athletes open up, when they 麻豆精品 S檙e being honest about what they felt about a certain teammate or a coach, or give more details on what happened during a game, it 麻豆精品 S檚 what 麻豆精品 S檚 most successful with our audience, 麻豆精品 S� Raja says. 麻豆精品 S淲hat 麻豆精品 S檚 great about sports is it makes people from different walks of life come together and celebrate moments that they 麻豆精品 S檙e passionate about. 麻豆精品 S�