Rivals is a service provided by On3.com that focuses on college football, basketball, and softball recruiting in the United States. It releases individual high school athlete rankings each year.
History
The service was founded in 1996 and launched as Rivals.com in November 1998 in Seattle by Jim Heckman, Shannon Terry, William Sornsin, and other investors.[2]
In February 2000, the company raised $35 million from SoftBank Group.[3] In total, the company raised $90 million in venture capital from investors including SoftBank Group, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Intel, and Fox Digital Entertainment.[2]
In December 2000, Rivals.com switched to a subscription business model. By March 2001, it had 20,000 paying subscribers.[4]
In January 2000, Rivals acquired AllianceSports, a regional network that primarily covered college sports in the Southeastern United States, founded by Shannon Terry, for $3 million.[5][6]
At its peak in 2000, Rivals.com employed close to 200 people, operated a network of 700 independent websites, filed for an initial public offering worth $100 million led by Goldman Sachs, and sponsored the Hula Bowl in Hawaii.[7]
In April 2001, the bursting of the dot-com bubble caused the operator of the website, Rival Networks, to cease operations, though it never sought bankruptcy protection.[8][7] Shannon Terry then bought back the assets for $500,000.[6]
In June 2007, Yahoo acquired Rivals.com for approximately $100 million.[9][10]
In April 2025, On3.com, led by Shannon Terry, acquired Rivals and Yahoo Sports acquired an ownership stake in On3.[11][12][13]
Rivals Football
#1 Ranked Football Players
| Year | Player name | Position | High School |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Vince Young | Quarterback | Madison HS (TX) |
| 2003 | Ernie Sims | Linebacker | North Florida Christian HS (FL) |
| 2004 | Adrian Peterson | Running Back | Palestine HS (TX) |
| 2005 | Derrick Williams | Wide Receiver | Eleanor Roosevelt HS (MD) |
| 2006 | Percy Harvin | Wide Receiver | Landstown HS (VA) |
| 2007 | Jimmy Clausen | Quarterback | Oaks Christian HS (CA) |
| 2008 | Terrelle Pryor | Quarterback | Jeannette HS (PA) |
| 2009 | Bryce Brown | Running Back | Wichita East HS (KS) |
| 2010 | Ronald Powell | Defensive End | Rancho Verde HS (CA) |
| 2011 | Jadeveon Clowney | Defensive End | South Pointe HS (SC) |
| 2012 | Dorial Green-Beckham | Wide Receiver | Hillcrest HS (MO) |
| 2013 | Robert Nkemdiche | Defensive End | Grayson HS (GA) |
| 2014 | Da’Shawn Hand | Defensive End | Woodbridge HS (VA) |
| 2015 | Byron Cowart | Defensive End | Armwood HS (FL) |
| 2016 | Rashan Gary | Defensive Tackle | Paramus Catholic HS (NJ) |
| 2017 | Najee Harris | Running Back | Antioch HS (CA) |
| 2018 | Trevor Lawrence | Quarterback | Cartersville HS (GA) |
| 2019 | Nolan Smith | Defensive End | IMG Academy (FL) |
| 2020 | Bryan Bresee | Defensive Tackle | Damascus HS (MD) |
| 2021 | Korey Foreman | Defensive End | Centennial HS (CA) |
| 2022 | Travis Hunter | Cornerback | Collins Hill HS (GA) |
| 2023 | Arch Manning | Quarterback | Isidore Newman HS (LA) |
| 2024 | Dylan Raiola | Quarterback | Buford HS (GA) |
| 2025 | Keelon Russell | Dual-threat QB | Duncanville HS (TX) |
| 2026 | Luke Wafle | Defensive End | Hun School (NJ) |
Rivals Football Camp Series
Beginning in 2012, Rivals hosted “Rivals Camp Series”, which features assessment camps and athletic combines for skilled high school athletes in the United States. Notable players to have attended the camp include Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Saquon Barkley, Patrick Mahomes, Puka Nacua, Sauce Gardner and Jayden Daniels.[14]
Rivals Basketball
#1 Ranked Basketball Players
| Year | Player | High School |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | LeBron James | St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, OH |
| 2004 | Dwight Howard | Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, GA |
| 2005 | Tasmin Mitchell | Denham Springs High School, LA |
| 2006 | Greg Oden | Lawrence North High School, IN |
| 2007 | Michael Beasley | Oak Hill Academy |
| 2008 | Brandon Jennings | Oak Hill Academy, VA |
| 2009 | Lance Stephenson | Lincoln High School, NY |
| 2010 | Josh Selby | Lake Clifton High School, MD |
| 2011 | Austin Rivers | Winter Park High School, FL |
| 2012 | Shabazz Muhammad | Bishop Gorman High School, NV |
| 2013 | Andrew Wiggins | Huntington Prep, WV |
| 2014 | Jahlil Okafor | Whitney Young High School, IL |
| 2015 | Ben Simmons | Montverde Academy, FL |
| 2016 | Josh Jackson | Prolific Prep, CA |
| 2017 | Michael Porter Jr. | Nathan Hale High School, WA |
| 2018 | R.J. Barrett | Montverde Academy, FL |
| 2019 | James Wiseman | Memphis East High School, TN |
| 2020 | Cade Cunningham | Montverde Academy, FL |
| 2021 | Chet Holmgren | Minnehaha Academy, MN |
| 2022 | Dereck Lively II | Westtown School, PA |
| 2023 | Isaiah Collier | Wheeler High School, GA |
| 2024 | Tre Johnson | Link Year, MO |
| 2025 | AJ Dybantsa | Utah Prep Academy, UT |
| 2026 | Tyran Stokes | Rainier Beach High School, WA |
References
- ^ “Rivals.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools”. WHOIS.
- ^ a b Eckoff, David (September 6, 2006). “Seattle PI: Jim Heckman wheels, deals”.
- ^ “Short Take: Rivals.com gets $35 million investment”. CNET. February 16, 2000.
- ^ rumo (March 16, 2001). “Rivals Banks on Subscription Plan”. Clickz.
- ^ “Rivals.com boosts Southern college sports coverage”. CNET. January 24, 2000.
- ^ a b Petcash, Andrew (February 9, 2022). “The Million Dollar Man Behind College Recruiting Rankings”. Petcash Post.
- ^ a b Cook, John (April 26, 2001). “Venture Capital: Rivals.com is dead; long live Rivals.com”. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- ^ “Rival Networks calls it quits”. CNET. April 11, 2001.
- ^ Rovell, Darren (June 21, 2007). “Yahoo Buys Rivals.com: Is The Deal Worth It?”. CNBC.
- ^ Auchard, Eric (August 9, 2007). “Yahoo acquires U.S. sports media site Rivals.com”. Reuters.
- ^ “The ownership group behind On3 acquires Rivals and forges partnership with Yahoo Sports” (Press release). On3.com. April 30, 2025.
- ^ “The ownership group behind On3 acquires Rivals and forges partnership with Yahoo Sports”. AOL.com. April 30, 2025.
- ^ Glennon, John (May 1, 2025). “Nashville’s Shannon Terry and On3sports buy Rivals from Yahoo Sports”. NashvillePost.com.
- ^ “Rivals Camp Series Overview”. On3.com.