Community Spotlight: Lance Becker, Director Design, Bleacher Report
Team Hashtag
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2 min read
Name: Lance Becker
Job: Director, Motion Design
Company: Bleacher Report
LinkedIn: Lance Becker
In 140 characters or less, tell us who you are and how you got to where you are today.
Design Director, Motion at Bleacher Report. My journey is a long and windy road, but I owe my career to Indiana making the Final Four in 2002 while I was a JR at IU. I met Scott Van Pelt in ATL (big Maryland guy), we became email pals and he helped get me an interview at ESPN.
What’s one trend in media or marketing that you’re buying or selling?
I don’t know if podcasts are considered a trend or not but I am completely immersed in them. I feel 3 percent smarter at the end of every day thanks to my podcast feed.
How do you define engagement?
My role is rooted in design, where the most important thing is making cool shit that maps to the BR brand. If I do my job of matchmaking people + projects and make it look good, the rest will work itself out.
What’s the project or campaign that you’re proudest of? Why?
We did a piece around Kevin Durant’s free agency decision. It was a perfect combination of taking an old meme + combining it with a huge content moment and visualizing it in a new way to excite our audience. People really freaked out over it, in a good way. But regardless of social performance, I was most proud of it because it was rooted in the spirit of innovation and departmental collaboration.
What are you working on right now? Any exciting future plans that you’re able to share?
We are working on a follow-up to the Durant video but with a new spin on it. Sequels are rarely better (Godfather II, Terminator 2, Dark Knight are the exceptions), but we are going to try our best here.
As a connected fan, what’s the best piece of sports content that you have recently consumed?
The Atlanta Falcons schedule release video was spectacular. Recreating the GOT open requires skill, but the execution/humor was flawless. The Rams/Saints joke in particular was perfect.
What’s been the biggest high and low of working in sports?
My biggest high was probably getting the call after I graduated college that ESPN wanted to offer me a job. I owe everything in my career to ESPN taking a chance on a kid who didn’t know TV but could tell you everything about sports.
My biggest low was when Cold Pizza was repackaged and sent back to Bristol, I was offered a chance to move back to Bristol from NYC and I declined. Because of that, I was out of the industry and had to sell ads for a magazine for a year before I got back in at YES Network. That was a tough year, knowing I may never get back into my field.
What’s one element of the sports industry that you’d like to see change?
This may come off like an easy answer, but it’s too important to ignore: I’d like to see more diversity across the board in our industry. From an entry level PA to NFL GM. Beyond that, I’d love Gary Thorne to get back the national NHL job. Most underrated play by play man of our time. 🙂
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