Is rivals going out of business?

by **George S. Patton** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:09 pm

Made you look!!

by **Stallion** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:22 pm

No but it is being bought by Yahoo for BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars according to reports out today.

Popular recruiting site expected to boost Yahoo sports
Posted: Wednesday June 20, 2007 8:59PM; Updated: Wednesday June 20, 2007 11:45PM

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

It's not the blockbuster that some industry analysts envisioned, but Yahoo Inc. has sealed its first deal under new Chief Executive Jerry Yang.

Hoping to deepen its appeal to hard-core sports fans, Yahoo is buying Rivals.com, a Web site that provides extensive coverage of collegiate athletics.

Financial terms of the acquisition to be announced Thursday aren't being disclosed -- an indication that the sales price is too small to dent Yahoo's finances. News Corp. paid $60 million for a similar Web site called Scout.com in 2005.

Analysts believe Yahoo may be considering more dramatic moves after changing its leadership earlier this week in its latest attempt to revive its sagging stock. Yahoo appointed Yang, its co-founder, to replace Terry Semel, its CEO of the past six years.

The wide-ranging suggestions about what Yahoo should do next have included bidding for Facebook Inc.'s popular online social networking site or combining with Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. or Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com.

News Corp., a media empire controlled by Rupert Murdoch, reportedly has even offered to swap MySpace.com -- the most trafficked social networking site -- in exchange for a 25 percent stake in Yahoo. If it were consummated, the transaction would be valued at more than $10 billion, based on Yahoo's current market value.

For now, the Rivals.com deal will intensify Yahoo's competition with News Corp. since it already owns Scout.com.

Although Yahoo began negotiating with Rivals.com while Semel was still in command, the acquisition papers weren't signed until Yang's second day as CEO, said Scott Moore, a Yahoo senior vice president who oversees its news division. "Jerry is very excited about it," Moore said.

Both Rivals.com and Scout.com cater to obsessive sports fans who want to know every detail about their favorite college sports teams. The users of these sites typically are alumni of the colleges, major financial contributors to the athletic programs, or both.

Yahoo thinks Rivals.com will help fill some gaps in its sports section, Moore said. Besides following more than 100 colleges and universities, Rivals.com also follows high school sports to help identify the top prospects for athletic scholarships.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Rivals.com generates most of its revenue from subscriptions that cost anywhere from just under $10 per month to just under $100 annually.

The site currently has about 185,000 subscribers, said Rivals.com CEO Shannon Terry, who will be retained by Yahoo. Rivals.com's 85 employees also are expected to be absorbed by Yahoo.

Rivals.com has been steadily growing since its 2001 inception, with its monthly traffic peaking at 2.57 million visitors last September with the kickoff of college football season, according to comScore Media Metrix. Scout.com attracted 2.29 million visitors during the same month, Media Metrix said.

Moore predicted Yahoo's broader reach will add "rocket fuel" to Rivals.com's growth. Yahoo's sports section drew 15.1 million visitors last month to rank second in the category behind ESPN's 17.6 million, according to Media Metrix.

by **George S. Patton** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:32 pm

Actually, I thought I read that somewhere. Bobby Burton should be walking away with a truckload. Or is he even still inolved?

by **MustangKurt20** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:39 pm

If Rivals went out of business Stallion would actually have to go see recruits in person instead of sounding like the pretentious blowhard [deleted] that he is.

by **stobor** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:55 pm

If by BILLIONS you mean 1/10 of 1 billion....you'd be just about right.

by **Cadillac** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:59 pm

I think this is great news. Putting more cashflow behind scouts and rivals can only be a benefit to us.

-CoS

by **mathman** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:39 pm

Am I overlooking it. I can't see where it is being sold for billions.

by **Pony_Fan** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:22 pm

The site currently has about 185,000 subscribers, said Rivals.com CEO Shannon Terry, who will be retained by Yahoo

That is not very many actually if you think about it.

by **MustangIcon** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:26 am

Pony_Fan wrote:The site currently has about 185,000 subscribers, said Rivals.com CEO Shannon Terry, who will be retained by Yahoo

That is not very many actually if you think about it.

$18.5 MILLION in annual subscription revenue is pretty good and 2.6 million hits every month must lead to some pretty impressive advertising revenue. Now combine them as part of Yahoo sports and both those figures will take off even more I would have to think.

by **expony18** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:44 am

well if it's bought by yahoo, it won't take long for it to tank.... anybody else see that coca-cola bought Vitamin water for $4 billion?!

by **OC Mustang** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:20 pm

expony18 wrote:well if it's bought by yahoo, it won't take long for it to tank.... anybody else see that coca-cola bought Vitamin water for $4 billion?!

At least V-water probably has book value. And Coke won't shelve V-water for doing well. Yahoo will most assuredly do that if they perceive it to be more valuable. Case in point: Broadcast.com The technology under Cuban & Wagner was ready for primetime. The market was ready too. But Yahoo wasn't, and it paid out pretty handsomely in order to make itself ready. Expensive foreplay.

But frankly, if I am a guy sitting on an internet play that has a solid revenue stream by membership and stable recurring ad revenue, and somebody like Yahoo comes along and offers to buy me out, I'm doing it. If they show me even half-way decent earnout provisions, meaning I can sell my stock sooner than later, I'd sign so fast their heads would spin.

In this kind of deal, $10 million and my [deleted] is out. Stash it into a nice income-producing instrument like a CD or a some treasury hybrid pumping out a cool 5-8%.

A nice place on some acreage w/ a pool and outdoor fireplace, season tickets to all my favorite sports venues, a steak or sushi dinner at an expensive place twice a month, and the occasional charter flight back to the beach. The market can kiss my [deleted]. I'm going fishing with my boys while their mother gets her nails done.

by **Eddie P** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:46 pm

Simply...brilliant.

by **BUS** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:15 am

OC, that is almost perfect. I would love to have that one deal and maybe relax and fix up homes a re-sell them as a hobby.

SWEET

by **expony18** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:51 pm

OC Mustang wrote:
expony18 wrote:

and the occasional charter flight back to the beach. The market can kiss my [deleted]. I'm going fishing with my boys while their mother gets her nails done.

what kind of charter are we talking? what kind of fishing? and do you have an extra seat?

by **OC Mustang** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:30 pm

expony18 wrote:
OC Mustang wrote:
expony18 wrote:

and the occasional charter flight back to the beach. The market can kiss my [deleted]. I'm going fishing with my boys while their mother gets her nails done.
what kind of charter are we talking? what kind of fishing? and do you have an extra seat?

Would love to have a fishing trip in Cabo and perhaps a duck hunting trip up to Peace River in Canada. Supply of Belvedere, tonic, and lime all the up and all the way back, but I'm a tee-totaler once I hit the water or come anywhere near a gun. :wink:

Is rivals going out of business?

Is rivals going out of business?

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