Written By Emily Koh | June 21, 2007 | Share This |

Today Yahoo announced that it will acquire Rivals.com, the leading college and high school sports online network. Rivals.com maintains more than 100 college-specific sites, and provides coverage on games and news in more than 35 states.

Jimmy Pitaro, General Manager of Yahoo Sports, explained on Yodel Anecdotal,

Its editorial team tracks recruitment news, rankings, team and athlete updates — in short, everything you need to know about what’s happening on the most popular campuses. Rivals.com will perfectly complement Yahoo! Sports editorial coverage — the work of its 200 on-the-ground local writers, reporters, and publishers meshes well with what we’re doing at the national leve.

Rivals.com’s revenue comes from its pool of more than 180,000 subscribers who pay $99.95 annually or $9.95 a month, as well as from advertising and merchandise sales. It will remain an independent brand within Yahoo Sports - which, according to ComScore, already attracts more visitors per month than ESPN.com.

Naturally, Rivals.com will benefit from the visibility of Yahoo’s wider audience. Yahoo in return will benefit from Rivals’ profitable business model and active online community. It’s easy to see how Rivals.com will help further Yahoo’s mission statement, “To connect people to their passions, communities, and the world’s knowledge.”

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, but analysts estimate that it cost Yahoo a cool $100 million.

Ashkan Karbasfrooshan of WatchMojo.com predicts Yahoo’s next move:

“If history repeats itself, and it always does, and things come in three’s, then maybe this means that Yahoo! will next buy:

- a social network: Bebo or Facebook anyone?

- a gaming/tech site: CNET anyone?

Technically, News Corp. first bought social network MySpace (then Scout.com) and closed the trifecta with the gaming site IGN.

But you get the idea.”

Interestingly, the Rivals.com acquisition creates a new rivalry between Yahoo and News Corp, which owns Scout.com, another popular sports community site. Could this deter any potential deals with News Corp, like the much rumored MySpace trade-off? Or does it confirm that Yahoo is actively seeking social media buys, and is possibly preparing itself for the Myspace cross-over?

Topics: Investment, M&A, Social Media, Yahoo! |