Omar Raja will continue his dual role as a behind-the-scenes decision-maker as well as an on-screen voice for ESPN’s growing social media team under a recently signed, multiyear contract.
Financial details of the deal were not made public.
Raja previously founded House of Highlights as a college student in 2014, which was acquired by Bleacher Report in 2016. Raja joined ESPN in 2020 and has since helped the TV sports superpower extend its reach on new social media platforms.
ESPN’s official accounts now boast more than 125 million combined followers across X, Instagram and TikTok, where the company has the app’s largest brand page. On YouTube, Raja’s personal account now has more than 13 million followers, with another 4.5 million following him on TikTok.
“My job is trying to influence the broader team on how to make sure all of the cool things that are happening in our ecosystem … get maximized and seen by the largest amount of people,” Raja said. “I’ve always viewed myself as a content optimization person.”
That means tweaking the way game moment and show clips are presented online—How long are the videos? How do they start? What caption helps people watch until the end or share the post with friends?—and then studying their performance to inform the next round of experiments.
“It’s not just like, We have the highlight. It’s going to do great on its own,” Raja said. “The way you post it and position it kind of determines how many views it will get.”
The rules of social media success are constantly changing, as viewers and platforms shift from preferring user-generated fare to real-time updates to pieces of original content that spotlight athlete personalities.
Today the team often puts out 50+ videos daily on TikTok alone, carving up marquee games into recaps, highlights, meme-worthy images and more. Among their focuses going forward is generating shortform, original content such as viral mini-interviews. “I honestly want ESPN to kind of be the leader of that,” Raja said.
Raja also looks for opportunities to present first-person perspectives on his own accounts, posting close-up and behind-the-scenes clips of LeBron James, Jake Paul, Jason Kelce and other stars of the sporting world.
“Omar’s talent is unique in that he’s a gifted content creator who also relentlessly studies metrics and trends to stay connected with ESPN audiences wherever they’re spending time,” ESPN SVP, social media, content optimization & ESPN Next Kaitee Daley said in a statement.
Content creating personalities have traditionally operated independently from major media outlets, but Raja says that could change over time. He’s already seen the benefit of applying the analytics generated by ESPN’s massive online output to his own process.
“Before I joined, I spoke with [ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro],” Raja said. “I was unsure. He was like, ‘No, we want you to be you. We want you to be fun. I love the personal stuff you’ve done on social over the years.’ Looking back at that now, four years later, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, every word he said there was true.’”
According to Raja, research shows that fans who view ESPN social content are more likely to engage with the company’s owned app and TV offerings, which still generate most of the Disney arm’s profits. Developing those online relationships is crucial, given that members of Gen Z are roughly twice as likely to get their news from social media compared to cable, according to a recent Morning Consult survey.
Going forward, it’s possible that future sports fans equate ESPN as much with its digital presence as its linear legacy. One day, the network name might not even mean much at all compared to the individual voices consumers orient around. Names like Pat McAfee, and Stephen A. Smith—and emerging online personalities such as Raja, too.
