Bleacher Report and the evolution of the content farm

The purchase of the sports-blogging site Bleacher Report by Turner Broadcasting unit fills a content hole for the Time Warner unit, but it is also a validation of the user-generated-content model behind the sports-blogging network, and a sign of the disruptive effects that model can have.

Turner Broadcasting is acquiring the sports-blogging network Bleacher Report for what some estimate to be about $175 million — a deal that was first reported by All Things Digital — to help the Time Warner unit bulk up its sports coverage. Although it is sometimes seen as a second cousin to its competitor SB Nation (now known as Vox Media), the acquisition of Bleacher Report is still a fairly significant milestone in the evolution of user-generated content, and a sign that even sites that have been criticized in the past for being “content farms” can evolve to the point where they attract the interest of mainstream media entities.