Sunnyvale, California - (The Hosting News) - June 21, 2007 - Search engine destination portal, Yahoo!, has entered into a definitive agreement, to acquire college online sports website, Rivals.com, a destination for college and high school sports and recruiting information. The acquisition is anticipated to significantly expand the community offerings and open publishing capabilities of Yahoo! Sports.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scott Moore, Senior Vice President and head of news and information at Yahoo! explained, ''Yahoo!'s acquisition of Rivals.com exemplifies Yahoo!'s mission to connect people with their passions, communities and the world's knowledge. Among the more than half billion people who touch the Yahoo! brand every month, we find that sports fans are among the most passionate. We're now best-positioned to serve this important audience in the U.S.''
Rivals.com is an online provider of college and high school sports and recruiting information, primarily focused on football and basketball. The acquisition is hoped to bring an important addition to Yahoo! giving the company a clear leadership position in some of the most important categories in sports publishing. The locally-driven open publishing network will complement the offerings of Yahoo! Sports, which are currently focused on coverage of national sports stories, as well as fantasy sports games and information. Rivals.com maintains a network of more than 150 individual websites, which attract approximately 2 million fans each month. Because the Rivals.com network also attracts an active community of users on each site, the acquisition will play an important role in building on Yahoo!'s mission to connect its users to their communities.
Shannon Terry, CEO of Rivals.com remarked, ''With the Yahoo! acquisition, Rivals.com is beginning the next stage in the evolution of our business. We will now have exposure to millions of additional sports fans, as well as marketing, sales and engineering support which were previously unavailable to our company. We are bringing together two of the leading brands in online sports and I look forward to further developing the most vibrant sports community online.''
Additionally, Rivals.com is expected to bring new revenue opportunities to Yahoo!'s advertising and subscription businesses, which are currently the key drivers of Rivals.com's business model. Yahoo! believes there are potential growth opportunities in both businesses, given that Rivals.com has established a profitable and growing business model in both of these areas, with little marketing and sales support. For Yahoo! advertisers, Rivals.com reaches a sought-after demographic: an engaged and highly educated consumer. Yahoo! also sees potential in expanding the core demographic of the site to reach a younger demographic through its high school sports offerings.
James Pitaro, Vice President and General Manager at Yahoo! Sports added, ''The Rivals.com team produces a broad network of college team sites, with communities of fanatical, like-minded enthusiasts around this local content. College sports engagement is primarily driven by community, and adding Rivals.com to Yahoo! Sports creates tremendous opportunities for us to connect our sports fans with the right sports content at the right time.''
Rivals is a high school and college sports web site on the Internet, with over two million readers. The web site features high school and college athletics, including editorial content, college message boards and recruitment news. Founded in 2001, the company is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
To learn more about Yahoo!, please visit: www.yahoo.com.
http://www.thehostingnews.com/news-yahoo-expands-sports-offerings-with-rivals-com-acquisition-3408.html
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scott Moore, Senior Vice President and head of news and information at Yahoo! explained, ''Yahoo!'s acquisition of Rivals.com exemplifies Yahoo!'s mission to connect people with their passions, communities and the world's knowledge. Among the more than half billion people who touch the Yahoo! brand every month, we find that sports fans are among the most passionate. We're now best-positioned to serve this important audience in the U.S.''
Rivals.com is an online provider of college and high school sports and recruiting information, primarily focused on football and basketball. The acquisition is hoped to bring an important addition to Yahoo! giving the company a clear leadership position in some of the most important categories in sports publishing. The locally-driven open publishing network will complement the offerings of Yahoo! Sports, which are currently focused on coverage of national sports stories, as well as fantasy sports games and information. Rivals.com maintains a network of more than 150 individual websites, which attract approximately 2 million fans each month. Because the Rivals.com network also attracts an active community of users on each site, the acquisition will play an important role in building on Yahoo!'s mission to connect its users to their communities.
Shannon Terry, CEO of Rivals.com remarked, ''With the Yahoo! acquisition, Rivals.com is beginning the next stage in the evolution of our business. We will now have exposure to millions of additional sports fans, as well as marketing, sales and engineering support which were previously unavailable to our company. We are bringing together two of the leading brands in online sports and I look forward to further developing the most vibrant sports community online.''
Additionally, Rivals.com is expected to bring new revenue opportunities to Yahoo!'s advertising and subscription businesses, which are currently the key drivers of Rivals.com's business model. Yahoo! believes there are potential growth opportunities in both businesses, given that Rivals.com has established a profitable and growing business model in both of these areas, with little marketing and sales support. For Yahoo! advertisers, Rivals.com reaches a sought-after demographic: an engaged and highly educated consumer. Yahoo! also sees potential in expanding the core demographic of the site to reach a younger demographic through its high school sports offerings.
James Pitaro, Vice President and General Manager at Yahoo! Sports added, ''The Rivals.com team produces a broad network of college team sites, with communities of fanatical, like-minded enthusiasts around this local content. College sports engagement is primarily driven by community, and adding Rivals.com to Yahoo! Sports creates tremendous opportunities for us to connect our sports fans with the right sports content at the right time.''
Rivals is a high school and college sports web site on the Internet, with over two million readers. The web site features high school and college athletics, including editorial content, college message boards and recruitment news. Founded in 2001, the company is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
To learn more about Yahoo!, please visit: www.yahoo.com.
http://www.thehostingnews.com/news-yahoo-expands-sports-offerings-with-rivals-com-acquisition-3408.html
