Fat Farrell is leaving the sinking ship that is Rivals

[Johannes de Silentio]

Yet another huge domino (figuratively and literally) falling in the inevitable demise of Rivals. Not announced that he's going to On3, and it honestly seems like they've been bringing in better people than him, but it continues the run of departures and bad news for the network.

If Callahan has not figured out a way to get HOL to be the Nebraska fansite on On3, I'm genuinely concerned about his rise to power turning into a descent to mediocrity. I'm sure he'd be able to scrap by a living doing all the talks to the octogenarian crowds and pumping out some team news about the whitest of walk-ons, but having a reputable recruiting service connected to his site still has to be a big driver in terms of clicks and subscriptions.

 

[That SOB Van Owen]

If he moves it he has to reset all bans right?

I mean on3 has gotta be pissed if I want to give them my money but I cant because ole deano was incredibly sensitive about being called Baghdad Bob.

 

[Alcaus]

Do people still go to Rivals for the recruiting info?

I thought most people were over there for his shitty team info, storylines and ComMuNIty.

 

[dsbigred1]

I kind of wonder if a contract between the two has been difficult to hash out due to potential demands from Dean.
I have no doubt On3 could develop a very viable alternative that could take a decent chunk of subscribers and continue to get more over time.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

If he moves it he has to reset all bans right?

I mean on3 has gotta be pissed if I want to give them my money but I cant because ole deano was incredibly sensitive about being called Baghdad Bob.

I don't know about the technical feasibility, but if he did move to On3 and managed to migrate all the bans, I'd halfway respect him. Now, the chances of that happening...

 

[ThomOsborneMD]

Do people still go to Rivals for the recruiting info?

I thought most people were over there for his shitty team info, storylines and ComMuNIty.

I’m only there because I forgot to cancel my auto renew in time.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

Do people still go to Rivals for the recruiting info?

I thought most people were over there for his shitty team info, storylines and ComMuNIty.

He might be able to scratch it out a bit with folks who are already subscribed to RSS. I think it would be pretty tough to attract new accounts, and they'd probably bleed out accounts over the years as old fogeys start to die or people go through the 500 yards of shit and foulness to cancel.

I'm actually in the process of canceling my 247 subscription right now, because I just don't care enough to have multiple sites anymore. However, I would still want to have at least one place where I can have full access to recruiting rankings. If On3 got a decent Nebraska site, that might be the place that gets my money.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

I kind of wonder if a contract between the two has been difficult to hash out due to potential demands from Dean.
I have no doubt On3 could develop a very viable alternative that could take a decent chunk of subscribers and continue to get more over time.

If he could find a way to get to On3, it'd be a tremendously smart business decision. Rivals is a turd going down the drain, and whoever they brought in to run the Nebraska site there likely wouldn't have Callahan's recognizability, which definitely matters for a site like that.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

I’m only there because I forgot to cancel my auto renew in time.

I think that's what Callahan and co. would be counting on should they have to stick with Rivals. They're not going to grow at all, though.

 

[Alcaus]

He might be able to scratch it out a bit with folks who are already subscribed to RSS. I think it would be pretty tough to attract new accounts, and they'd probably bleed out accounts over the years as old fogeys start to die or people go through the 500 yards of shit and foulness to cancel.

I'm actually in the process of canceling my 247 subscription right now, because I just don't care enough to have multiple sites anymore. However, I would still want to have at least one place where I can have full access to recruiting rankings. If On3 got a decent Nebraska site, that might be the place that gets my money.

I get that, I still have a 247 account for the same reason.

There is the question as to why there are good posters (I'm assuming, haven't been on there in a year or more) over there who haven't switched to tPB. It must be the familiarity and the recruiting database? I can't imagine being over there still with this place up and running for almost 2 years.

 

[Alcaus]

If he could find a way to get to On3, it'd be a tremendously smart business decision. Rivals is a turd going down the drain, and whoever they brought in to run the Nebraska site there likely wouldn't have Callahan's recognizability, which definitely matters for a site like that.

Can you imagine being On3 and looking at the past 3-4 years of HOL portfolio and thinking "Yes, this is who we need to build our Husker brand". Outside of the built-in subs that'd make the move and access, the talent is laughable.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Imagine starting a brand new state of the art recruiting platform and then hiring Fat Fuck Farrell

 

[HCFord1]

Honestly, I think the recruiting rankings are an afterthought. People will go where the inside info (at the team level) and community engagement is best, but you have to nail both of those.

We all know 247 has better recruiting information than Rivals, but the message board sucks so most people have stuck with Rivals. After all, as soon as Fong would put in a crystal ball someone would immediately put it on Twitter or bring it to our board. Information spreads so quickly these days that it barely matters which subscription you have, you'll still get the same info quickly.

I also feel like most schools have pretty well snuffed out any actual credentialed journalists who would actually publish inside information that they don't want getting out. These days you have to rely on actual insiders posting anonymously, which can be fickle, but on3 will have a tough sell to get those types of people to switch over since they aren't the type who rely on the recruiting rankings, etc.

I guess all of this is to say that I think this dude might be overplaying his hand with on3. Building Scout (at the time) made total sense and was brilliant on his part, but with an aging, stagnant customer base there probably isn't room for three successful recruiting sites (which I feel like you've said yourself, in the past). I wouldn't bet that on3 becomes one of the two largest Nebraska sites just because they're hiring some heavy hitters on a national level. People just generally don't give a fuck what a national recruiting analyst has to say. I don't think that on3 will be able to get the people who really matter, which are the customers with program access, to leave their homes.

Maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but I also remember a lot of people being very confident that The Athletic would change the game for sports journalism; they just ended up hemorrhaging cash and became an overvalued acquisition target for the New York Times. I'd honestly guess that if on3 can raise enough money they will try to buy Rivals rather than compete with them and 247 in the long run.


TL;DR - "who knows"

 

[alt f4]

I don't believe Dean owns the subscribers, those subscriptions are owned by Rivals. So if he were to transfer over to On3, he'd have to build the subscriber base back up.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

I get that, I still have a 247 account for the same reason.

There is the question as to why there are good posters (I'm assuming, haven't been on there in a year or more) over there who haven't switched to tPB. It must be the familiarity and the recruiting database? I can't imagine being over there still with this place up and running for almost 2 years.

Some dudes came over here at the start and didn't stick around. For instance, haven't seen Butch Cassidy here in forever. He's still a big presence on RSS. I think you nailed it: familiarity and recruiting database. Plus, there is some decent information there every once in a while. When Nebraska actually is making moves, it's great to have as many sources as possible, too.

Can you imagine being On3 and looking at the past 3-4 years of HOL portfolio and thinking "Yes, this is who we need to build our Husker brand". Outside of the built-in subs that'd make the move and access, the talent is laughable.

The built-in subs is more than enough, I'd say. There are guys who cover the team that I really enjoy, e.g., McKewon, but it's not like they bring so much more credibility and analytical insight that it makes up for those built-in subs. And, like it or not, Callahan is always hustling on this gig. He's one of the most recognized guys among the local journalists.

 

[Alcaus]

Some dudes came over here at the start and didn't stick around. For instance, haven't seen Butch Cassidy here in forever. He's still a big presence on RSS. I think you nailed it: familiarity and recruiting database. Plus, there is some decent information there every once in a while. When Nebraska actually is making moves, it's great to have as many sources as possible, too.



The built-in subs is more than enough, I'd say. There are guys who cover the team that I really enjoy, e.g., McKewon, but it's not like they bring so much more credibility and analytical insight that it makes up for those built-in subs. And, like it or not, Callahan is always hustling on this gig. He's one of the most recognized guys among the local journalists.

You think he'd bring over his staff or try to bring in some more talent? I just can't imagine the Nebraska product being anything more than Rivals with a fresh coat of paint.

On3 would have to offer a really unique value proposition for me to sign-up with Deab and Co. again.

 

[Irv]

Guys, I think the guy whose sales acumen has made the Nebraska game in Ireland something that still is not officially cancelled is not going to have trouble rounding up some new subscriptions.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

I don't believe Dean owns the subscribers, those subscriptions are owned by Rivals. So if he were to transfer over to On3, he'd have to build the subscriber base back up.

He's better off hanging out until someone buys rivals.

 

[Johannes de Silentio]

Honestly, I think the recruiting rankings are an afterthought. People will go where the inside info (at the team level) and community engagement is best, but you have to nail both of those.

We all know 247 has better recruiting information than Rivals, but the message board sucks so most people have stuck with Rivals. After all, as soon as Fong would put in a crystal ball someone would immediately put it on Twitter or bring it to our board. Information spreads so quickly these days that it barely matters which subscription you have, you'll still get the same info quickly.

I also feel like most schools have pretty well snuffed out any actual credentialed journalists who would actually publish inside information that they don't want getting out. These days you have to rely on actual insiders posting anonymously, which can be fickle, but on3 will have a tough sell to get those types of people to switch over since they aren't the type who rely on the recruiting rankings, etc.

I guess all of this is to say that I think this dude might be overplaying his hand with on3. Building Scout (at the time) made total sense and was brilliant on his part, but with an aging, stagnant customer base there probably isn't room for three successful recruiting sites (which I feel like you've said yourself, in the past). I wouldn't bet that on3 becomes one of the two largest Nebraska sites just because they're hiring some heavy hitters on a national level. People just generally don't give a fuck what a national recruiting analyst has to say. I don't think that on3 will be able to get the people who really matter, which are the customers with program access, to leave their homes.

Maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but I also remember a lot of people being very confident that The Athletic would change the game for sports journalism; they just ended up hemorrhaging cash and became an overvalued acquisition target for the New York Times. I'd honestly guess that if on3 can raise enough money they will try to buy Rivals rather than compete with them and 247 in the long run.


TL;DR - "who knows"

Some great points here. Let me try to respond to a few.

1) I think different people balance community, recruiting information, and team information in different ways. You're right that the Fong CBs would often make their way over to RSS pretty quickly. However, I still very much remember how much information was coming out prior to December NSD for the 2020 class that just wasn't on RSS at all. There was basically open revolt that Callahan and Clouse were barely even around as Minnesota and Wisconsin sites on 247 were breaking the details on Kaden Johnson over on Husker247. That kind of shit was and is enough for many fans to either carry dual subscriptions of just switch to Husker247. Their board sucks by our standards, but some folks seem to like and/or don't mind much. Until today, I was one of those people who had two subscriptions for this very reason.

2) Sites can also have different levels of contacts within a program. For instance, for a long time, it seemed pretty clear that Schaefer had an in with Mossbrucker and Dillon in a way that Clouse (RIP) may not have. So while Schaefer still had to make sure to stay in the good graces of those guys with what he shared, he definitely had substantively different assessments of where things stood than RSS. You can differentiate on that I think.

3) I agree that there won't be three recruiting services. I think your last sentence is pretty much what will happen. Rivals is leaking talent (if you can call some of these guys that) like a sieve. Who is replacing them? Their national network is a joke. 247 has been growing at their expense for years. I could easily see them folding up and into one of the two remaining players just like Scout did. On3 would make the most sense there.

 

[MtnHusker]

Dean & his Rivals site have seen the quality of the product go way down hill over the last few years. RSS is a shadow of what it use to be and his crew of writers is easily the weakest it has ever been on that site when it comes to writing talent plus connections inside the program. 247 has so many more insider ties plus national writers work with them for good content.

It doesn't help that trolls like national writers GornDog & Farrell bring no viable content for Nebraska Fans. They seem to enjoy getting us riled up or are just too stupid to realize their articles hurt Dean. GornDog and I got into it pretty good over his articles in some DM's. He was bitching that Nebraska Fans were so nasty to him. This was when Riley was heavily recruiting California so I spelled it out to him as to why they hated him. We loved the information he brought in the interviews with the Cali recruits as in the articles the recruits generally said they were very impressed and interested in Nebraska. Then he would end almost all of the articles with some negative line like "but USC will be tough to beat for this one".

So basically Nebraska Fans went from excitement to being bummed. Leave out the last line and just quote what the recruit told you without putting your negative personal opinion in there. Or if you are going to include that in the article then at least ask the recruit so you can quote them.

We need to get tPB on ON3 and give Dean a run for his money. Maybe get a weekly series where Dan Hoppen gives reviews on Lincoln Pizza places.