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I actually don't go to Instagram when I wake up. The first thing I do, usually around 10 or 11, is check Twitter and drink water. I use Twitter as my newspaper, then after that I’ll check my DMs on Instagram. I get like 500 of those every day.
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In 2015 when Bleacher Report acquired HoH, Raja moved to NYC from his hometown of Miami and laid down roots in Midtown, near Bleacher Report’s offices. Most of Raja’s time is spent working, but he makes time to exercise with celebrity trainers and professional athletes on the regular. And next month, he’s launching a live Twitter show that will combine conversation, stunts, scripted comedy, and live highlights as a new take on sports commentary. While the Zone 6 videos on the HoH YouTube channel have yet to crack more than 100,000 views — well below the consistent near-million views that HoH's Creator League videos gain — Muller said building Zone 6 will take time and that the members are "eager" and "hungry to try things."
Careers in Sports
I go through all of that, and, once I'm done drinking the water, that's my cue to get out of bed. Helping meet those demands meant spending a week in London with the B/R Football team to get a better understanding of how they could work together. Why does relatability matter so much to Raja? The content that people can relate to is the content they will share with their friends. Why then is House of Highlights still not littered with videos of people trying to show off their muscular abilities? According to Raja, it was as simple as it getting old.
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So I love asking people why they behave in certain ways on social media, because it helps my job, right? Because if you only follow 400 people for whatever reason, my account has to be so good that you're like, "Yeah, I'm gonna break this rule and follow House of Highlights." So, I walk around the office a lot. Like, I probably know 90 to 95 percent of the names in the office just because I love talking to people. I walk around the office three of four times talking to people before I get a cup of water and get started.
How Zone 6 is transitioning from TikTok to YouTube
It was during those park takeovers last year that Wilder met the other five members of the group and formed Zone 6. As the founder of House of Highlights, which crossed the 10 million followers mark on Instagram this past weekend, Raja saw the potential in the handle early on, but never expected it to get to this point. That's pretty much it; I'm not the best cook in the world. One of the highest viewed videos is actually Lebron not even shooting basketballs but working on his core.
As the tastes of the audience have evolved, so too has the content. Instead of a 300-pound man pulling a plane, followers now find House of Highlights populated with content that is either focused on influencers or is funny. Make sure the content is something that the audience can relate too.
Recently, Raja told us about his daily routine, what it’s like to hang out with NBA legends on the regular, and why HoH is the grilled chicken sandwich of the sports media world. I have a pretty basic diet; I stick to grilled chicken for lunch with broccoli or sweet potatoes. I love the spot Dig Inn over here. I get the chicken with broccoli there. We have a Twitter show coming, so I'm trying get a little more lean. I'm on 2,000 calories; I try to stop before then.
House of Highlights’ Creator League Expands with 1v1 Football Season - Warner Bros. Discovery
House of Highlights’ Creator League Expands with 1v1 Football Season.
Posted: Wed, 03 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
But both parties hope it will lead to a longer deal, like HoH's did with Kenny Beecham's "Through The Wire" podcast. "Our relationship with Cam individually as well as Ryan [Craig] and some of the other guys in Zone 6 presented an opportunity to be in the early stages of another build opportunity," Muller said. "That's where we typically look to play. We're looking to find mutually beneficial relationships with people that are in their nascency that have that 'it' factor." Because, similar to Cowell’s eye for talent, Raja has an eye for content. Outside of original content, House of Highlights is collaborating on a show with Twitter, as well as looking for more ways to work more closely with other accounts such as B/R Football. While reaching 10 million followers is quite the accomplishment, Raja will be the first one to admit that getting the first million was the hardest part.
Bleacher Report's House of Highlights Builds Gen Z Empire - Bloomberg
Bleacher Report's House of Highlights Builds Gen Z Empire.
Posted: Wed, 04 Sep 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
I don't drink or eat until like 12 or 1, and then I have that eight-hour window where I try to fit in everything I need calorie-wise. And I'm working, I don't get tempted to order GrubHub or go downstairs to get dollar pizza. Every now and then I’m going to cheat. There’s one spot called Stickies where I'm gonna go at least once a week, but for the most part I stick to grilled chicken. People have their own social media rules, right? Some people will never follow more than 400 people on Instagram; some people never like anyone's photo on Instagram; some people like everything on Instagram; some people will never follow back; some people follow back all the time.
Some of the talent who have competed in the HoH Showdown include, Mark Phillips (@SupremeDreams_1), Kenny Beecham (@kot4q), Duke Dennis, MMG, Agent00, Jenna Bandy and Jack Settleman. The group will host weekly livestreams on House of Highlights' YouTube channel, as part of the deal. Zone 6 will also do a park takeover once a month, as well as create general entertainment videos and 5-on-5 pick-up games with popular creators like Chris Whyte (known as CHSWHT). Because he follows games on both coasts, Raja doesn’t sleep or stray far from screens until 3 a.m.
Long Haul also manages another basketball creator group, 2Hype, whose members like Jessie Riedel (known as Jesser) and Kristopher Obaseki (known as Kristopher London) built their YouTube foundation in the mid-2010s before the rise of short-form content. Levitt said 2Hype, whose members live together in a house in Southern California, serves as an "inspiration" for Zone 6. "In terms of the actual content that needs to be produced, it is an exponential leap [from TikTok]," Levitt said.
The members of Zone 6 plan to move into a house together to make it easier to create content as a group. As of now, five of the six creators live near each other in Houston, Texas, where the group plans to settle. Jordan Lewis (known as DriftyJay), the youngest of the group, has yet to relocate to Houston, but wants to move there by next year. A park-takeover scene mirrors that of AND1 streetball lore, but the Zone 6 members use their TikTok followers — which range from 750,000 to 4.4 million for each creator — to attract an audience to pack the sidelines.
"You're going to YouTube where the videos are 15 minutes long and ideally you're doing a couple of them a week." For the members of Zone 6, some of whom were still creating content part-time, the opportunity to work with HoH was the turning point in their lives. Wilder and the newly formed Zone 6 were the kind of up-and-coming creators that HoH likes to partner with, and the brand signed a deal with them in July. House of Highlights is doubling down on the growing wave of creator-led street basketball through a deal with a young TikTok group called Zone 6.
Omar Raja hasn’t taken a vacation for four years—that’s how long ago the 24-year-old started his Instagram account, House of Highlights, as a way to catch (mostly) Lebron James’ offbeat highlights. HoH and Long Haul are both trying to tap into the appetite for sports beyond the professional leagues. AND1 showcased this in the past and creators are the social media era's adaptation. The videos' comment sections would also fill up with fans who cared about the success and failures of the creators, the HoH team found. "What's pretty clear is the next generation of basketball fans are watching these sports creators," Levitt said. By partnering with Zone 6, HoH is now expanding its creator-led initiatives to include a group known for "park takeovers," in which they challenge players at basketball courts around the country.
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