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Yahoo to acquire sports network Rivals.com

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Yahoo is buying Rivals.com, an online network catering to fans of college and high school sports, a move that aims to place Yahoo at the helm of US sports market.

Since it was founded in 2001, Tennessee-based Rivals.com has built up an avid fan base of hardcore sports enthusiasts, operating on 105 college team sites and about 48 regional high school sites. To date, Rivals have more than 180,000 subscribers who regularly track local sports through the site.

“We are very serious about leading in the media space,” said Scott Moore, senior vice president for news and information at Yahoo. “This deal will help us connect with the college and high school sports fan.”

Besides bringing Yahoo a base of 2 million to 2.5 million fans of high school and college football and basketball, the deal is also one of the series of developments that analysts are expecting from Yahoo, following the management changes that happened this week.

The financial aspects of the deal was not disclosed but sources say that Yahoo brought it up to around $100M.

Originally posted on June 21, 2007 @ 7:30 am

Sports Illustrated selects Gotuit for 2007 NBA Draft video site

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gotuit.jpgSports Illustrated has expanded its relationship with Gotuit by choosing it to power their broadband video experience for the NBA Draft 2007. The 2007 NBA Draft website will provide viewers with a searchable database of video highlights from the top draft prospects organized by player, position and prospective NBA team.

“Sports fans come to SI.com for unmatched coverage of their favorite sports. Our NBA Draft 2007 site gives basketball fans the deepest possible insight into the top prospects from this year’s draft. Gotuit’s powerful video technology lets fans find and share the exact highlights they want,” said Stacey Vollman, VP/General Manager, SI.com. “The positive response to the 2007 NFL Draft video site powered by Gotuit was fantastic and we have no doubt the 2007 NBA Draft video site will bring enjoyment to NBA fans everywhere.”

Originally posted on June 20, 2007 @ 12:32 pm

NBA.com draws majority traffic from overseas fans in April 2007

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comScore released the results of a study of global visitation to NBA.com, revealing that 12.4 million people age 15 or older from around the world visited the Web site in April 2007. The study also revealed that international visitors represented the majority of the traffic, with 54 percent coming from outside of North America. The Asia Pacific region accounted for 36.6 percent of visitors, followed by 11.7 percent from Europe, 3.5 percent from Latin America and 2.1 percent from Middle East-Africa.

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Originally posted on June 1, 2007 @ 10:53 am

Red Sox star pitcher offers $1M on his blog

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curt.jpgRed Sox star pitcher Curt Schilling lashed out at the media in a scathing 1,300-word post on his personal blog and offered $1 million to anyone who would prove that it was not blood that blotted his sock in the 2004 playoffs.

Schilling’s sock was put into question when Baltimore Orioles broadcaster Gary Thorne said Red Sox catcher Doug Mirabelli had told him it was paint, not blood, done for a publicity stunt. Thorne later said that he had misreported what he overheard. Despite this, Schilling still ripped Thorne and the media through his blog.

Anyone interested in Schilling’s offer? Go look for the sock first as Schilling said he put it in the laundry. Now he suspects a Yankees clubhouse employee still has it.

Originally posted on April 28, 2007 @ 3:49 pm