• Loading stock data...
Friday, June 6, 2025

Recruiting Sites Rivals.com, 247Sports Remain Popular Despite Pandemic

  • Rivals.com and 247Sports has seen increase in traffic in recent weeks in spite of pandemic shutdowns.
  • Message boards remain highly popular even for college sites that won’t have fall football.
E.L. Hubbard/Imagn Content Services

The lack of high school and college football this fall as a result of the pandemic hasn’t limited the fervor for recruiting information — at least not yet.

Rivals.com and 247Sports — two of the most popular college sports and recruiting networks — have seen a bump in engagement and traffic over the summer months compared to 2019, reps told Front Office Sports.

“Maybe it’s because people have been stuck at home for months and months,” said Mike Farrell, national recruiting director at Rivals.com. “There’s usually an uptick in August ahead of the college football season, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”

Barton Simmons, 247Sports’ director of scouting, noted one unexpected trend: sites dedicated to schools in conferences that have postponed fall football have seen traffic increases.

“Particular sites, especially in the Big Ten and Pac-12, have exceeded what we’ve seen in years’ past,” Simmons said. “There are certain schools and regions that were shocking [because] there’s no football. But there are tons and tons of either message boards or just interest.”

Neither CBS Interactive’s 247Sports or Verizon Media’s Rivals.com releases subscriber data, a closely guarded metric. Rivals.com charges $99.95 for an annual subscription and 247Sports is currently offering annual VIP memberships for 50% off, which comes out to $53.70 annually, although there are monthly options for both sites. 

While not going into specifics, a CBS Interactive spokesperson said that 247Sports had “record subscriber levels over the summer.”

Oklahoma State professor and longtime recruiting follower Edward Kian said that the current price for 247Sports is something the site has “rarely offered” and he said the message boards he’s followed appear to have fewer posts than prior years. 

“Based on my usage, I would be shocked if they have received more traffic on those message boards than they do in a normal football and recruiting season based on what I have seen,”  Kian said. “There are no games to talk about, nor are there on- or off-campus prospect visits to discuss due to the NCAA’s moratorium on recruiting due to the pandemic.” 

“Many posts are political in nature, but those are supposed to be removed from the message boards dedicated to college sports and recruiting on both networks,” he added.

A Cornhuskers Fan watches a Nebraska football game while wearing a hat shaped like corn on the cob.

College Football Economic Impacts Vary, True Figures Hard to Determine

College football can be an economic driver for the communities that surround…
August 12, 2020

Football and basketball recruiting websites grew out of those message boards in the early days of the web.

Scout.com had its run in the early 2000s before it was acquired by Fox Sports, sold off to the site’s founder James Heckman with the backing of venture capital before bankruptcy. CBS Interactive acquired Scout.com in 2017 and integrated it into 247Sports. Heckman, a former Yahoo executive, went on to found Maven — the publisher of Sports Illustrated — and served as CEO of the much-maligned company until his resignation on Aug. 27.

Rivals.com and 247Sports have dedicated sites for colleges with writers who produce content on top of the ever-popular rankings of high school prospects. CBS Interactive also owns MaxPreps.

The rankings and scouting reports typically rely on game tape from prospects’ high school games and their performances and measurables like height, weight, bench press, and 40-yard-dash time at camps.

Some of those camps are directed by Rivals.com and 247Sports recruiting analysts. Nearly all offseason camps and showcases for top football and basketball prospects were canceled this summer due to COVID-19, leaving many recruiting analysts and possibly some college football coaches scrambling for information. 

“Obviously, there are players who are not playing in a big chunk of the United States,” Simmons said. “There’s going to be sort of a void of information. … It has created an environment in which the discovery process is a lot more challenging.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

August 31, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; The Goodyear blimp flies over Ohio Stadium during the first half of Saturday’s NCAA Division I football game between the Akron Zips and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Why the Goodyear Blimp Is at Every Major Sports Event

The airship wasn’t built to cover sports. Now it’s a regular presence.
Tony Clark

Everything You Need to Know About the MLBPA-OneTeam FBI Investigation

Money from lucrative group licensing deals is under federal scrutiny.
Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers Finally Agrees to Deal With Steelers

The one-year deal is reportedly set to be signed Friday.

Chiefs, Royals Have Massive Stadium Decision: Kansas or Missouri?

The Missouri Senate approves the stadium funding in an overnight session.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

As TNT Sports Shifts, WBD Investors Reject $52M Zaslav Pay

Company shareholders reject the executive’s pay in a non-binding vote.
May 30, 2025

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.
hanson_smiling
May 30, 2025

Scott Hanson Agrees to Long-Term Deal for NFL RedZone

His contract expired after the 2024 season.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 30, 2025

Panthers-Oilers Rematch Could Be Big in Canada. Will U.S. Ratings Dip?

Likely viewership declines in the U.S. are countered by robust Canadian audiences.
May 28, 2025

NBA East Finals Delivers Strong TV Ratings, but West Is Struggling

The Pacers and Thunder are both up 3–1 in their conference finals series.
Around the Horn
May 23, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Around the Horn’s Final Days

FOS followed Tony Reali at the penultimate taping of the ESPN icon.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”