Interesting Discussion Today with Rivals

[SamsRams]

Today I spoke with the head of their team sites. He told me Rivals has never added a page for a team not in FBS but is very interested in what NDSU has to offer. Nothing is set in stone as I told him I was not ready to move my stuff to a pay site yet and he agreed that the timing is not right for them to add a new site but wants to talk more come late November. He had some concerns that NDSU fans might not support a pay site and that my site does not have a message board. I told him about bisonville and that when I started my site I was not trying to take away from this site or start any sort of war between two competing boards. But my thought with being under the Rivals umbrella would be different as I believe together we can bring NDSU to any even larger national stage.
The contacts Rivals has when it comes to recruiting is second to none and never again would we wonder if an offer or interest was real or whether there was a school mixup.
I can tell you I signed up for Rivals in August when they had a promotion. Sign up for a year for $99 and get $90 worth of Rivals team gear which I used to get some new Bison stuff.
I know for a fact that this will never work if I dont have the support of Bisonville. Would you be willing to continue to support my work if I went to pay content? Would a Rivals message board take away from Bisonville or could we work together? Any thoughts, concerns or suggestions?

[HerdBot]

Today I spoke with the head of their team sites. He told me Rivals has never added a page for a team not in FBS but is very interested in what NDSU has to offer. Nothing is set in stone as I told him I was not ready to move my stuff to a pay site yet and he agreed that the timing is not right for them to add a new site but wants to talk more come late November. He had some concerns that NDSU fans might not support a pay site and that my site does not have a message board. I told him about bisonville and that when I started my site I was not trying to take away from this site or start any sort of war between two competing boards. But my thought with being under the Rivals umbrella would be different as I believe together we can bring NDSU to any even larger national stage.
The contacts Rivals has when it comes to recruiting is second to none and never again would we wonder if an offer or interest was real or whether there was a school mixup.
I can tell you I signed up for Rivals in August when they had a promotion. Sign up for a year for $99 and get $90 worth of Rivals team gear which I used to get some new Bison stuff.
I know for a fact that this will never work if I dont have the support of Bisonville. Would you be willing to continue to support my work if I went to pay content? Would a Rivals message board take away from Bisonville or could we work together? Any thoughts, concerns or suggestions?

I would pay and support all sites

[gumby013]

Count me in. I'll gladly pay for quality content.

[A1pigskin]

I don't like paying for anything but sounds interesting.

[Kermit]

Today I spoke with the head of their team sites. He told me Rivals has never added a page for a team not in FBS but is very interested in what NDSU has to offer. Nothing is set in stone as I told him I was not ready to move my stuff to a pay site yet and he agreed that the timing is not right for them to add a new site but wants to talk more come late November. He had some concerns that NDSU fans might not support a pay site and that my site does not have a message board. I told him about bisonville and that when I started my site I was not trying to take away from this site or start any sort of war between two competing boards. But my thought with being under the Rivals umbrella would be different as I believe together we can bring NDSU to any even larger national stage.
The contacts Rivals has when it comes to recruiting is second to none and never again would we wonder if an offer or interest was real or whether there was a school mixup.
I can tell you I signed up for Rivals in August when they had a promotion. Sign up for a year for $99 and get $90 worth of Rivals team gear which I used to get some new Bison stuff.
I know for a fact that this will never work if I dont have the support of Bisonville. Would you be willing to continue to support my work if I went to pay content? Would a Rivals message board take away from Bisonville or could we work together? Any thoughts, concerns or suggestions?

Yes, I would be in.

[Walter.H.White]

If I am alive, I am in for 2-3 accounts.

[SamsRams]

I don't like paying for anything but sounds interesting.

I usually agree and not a big pay site fan, but this would be something no other FCS teams would have. Plus I would work with you guys. If you have an account and want some information I will be able to get it much easier. This would give us all more information and we would work together to cover the things and info we want to know about.

[loudsilverado]

I'm in, I don't mind paying.

[SamsRams]

I do appreciate the support so far guys and I understand there are those out there that do not want to pay for any content. I just think this is something that would be hard to turn down. I was approached by 247 6 weeks ago and it didnt really interest me. They do good stuff, but are not on Rivals level IMO.

Again it will be a few months before either Rivals or myself makes a decision so anytime you have suggestions on what you want to see, hear or read about let me know.

[gumby013]

Upper midwest recruits, in general, do not get rated. That would be a good plus.

[westnodak93bison]

I'd do it. Tell us more about the Rivals Team gear promotion.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[AKBison]

A couple thoughts, I have a relative that attends Texas State so I kind of follow them. The guys at Bobcatreport.com were doing an excellent job covering Texas State. They decided to join rivals for the exposure and offered all sorts of discounts. It started great then after a year it petered off and now they have about 60 paid members online in the pay forum and no discussion in the free area. A large majority of their fans went back to the other Texas State forum, Bobcatfans, and they have now divided their forces. It sucks, and I no longer really follow their forums anymore.

The work you do on recruiting definitely has some monetary value to it. I would rather see Bisonville follow the Texags formula and stay independent. We could have a Team Makers pay section where your info and other inside info could be posted. I love Bisonville and would hate to see Tony's hard work circle the drain. I know in the past he has turned down offers to help pay for Bisonville. However, I think he described it as a labor of love. Might want to get with him on this, maybe he is ready to hang it up, who knows?

[SamsRams]

Upper midwest recruits, in general, do not get rated. That would be a good plus.
Yes he talked about their rating system and how teams who dont regularly get 3 star recruits and up dont have much interest in recruiting sites. I tended to agree but top FCS programs are different than low level FBS programs. I talked a bit about the page views our recruiting summaries have had and some about my analytics for my site and he was somewhat surprised and asked that I forward him on some of my stats so he could verify.
I do think there is a market for the upper tier FCS programs when it comes to recruiting, but it appears they want to start with one school and if the demand is there maybe grow it.

[SamsRams]

A couple thoughts, I have a relative that attends Texas State so I kind of follow them. The guys at Bobcatreport.com were doing an excellent job covering Texas State. They decided to join rivals for the exposure and offered all sorts of discounts. It started great then after a year it petered off and now they have about 60 paid members online in the pay forum and no discussion in the free area. A large majority of their fans went back to the other Texas State forum, Bobcatfans, and they have now divided their forces. It sucks, and I no longer really follow their forums anymore.

The work you do on recruiting definitely has some monetary value to it. I would rather see Bisonville follow the Texags formula and stay independent. We could have a pay Team Makers pay section where your info and other inside info could be posted. I love Bisonville and would hate to see Tony's hard work circle the drain. I know in the past he has turned down offers to help pay for Bisonville. However, I think he described it as a labor of love. Might want to get with him on this, maybe he is ready to hang it up, who knows?

I am pretty much in the same boat as Tony. I am not as concerned about making money as I am promoting all that is awesome with this school and getting the correct information into the eyes of those that want it. I would have ultimate control over the board, what topics are brought up and would focus on the recruiting talk and other things not really covered by the Fargo Media. I know half of you will be upset at this, but I dont see any need for a bikini or smack talk forum.

[tjbison]

I already ave a rivals account so I'm in

I wouldn't use the message board there anyways


edit I guess I would if the riff raff is controlled so I would use both forums

[NWNDBison]

I am pretty much in the same boat as Tony. I am not as concerned about making money as I am promoting all that is awesome with this school and getting the correct information into the eyes of those that want it. I would have ultimate control over the board, what topics are brought up and would focus on the recruiting talk and other things not really covered by the Fargo Media. I know half of you will be upset at this, but I dont see any need for a bikini or smack talk forum.

^^^^^This!!!!!^^^^^

[SamsRams]

I'd do it. Tell us more about the Rivals Team gear promotion.


I guess it was early July, but here was the promotion. I couldnt pass it up and it appears that do this every year. Its a small window of opportunity and most likely after the launch date we have discussed, but if you can wait or just buy a couple month subscriptions to hold you over to this promo it is well worth it

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=880&CID=1516581

[SamsRams]

I already ave a rivals account so I'm in

I wouldn't use the message board there anyways


edit I guess I would if the riff raff is controlled so I would use both forums

Who did you select as your team when you signed up? I chose Nebraska as those guys have helped me out a bunch.

I totally agree about riff raff, it has its place and can be fun but not for what I would like to do. It's the reason me and .com didnt work. He had his vision for his site and my was very different.

[tjbison]

Who did you select as your team when you signed up? I chose Nebraska as those guys have helped me out a bunch.

I totally agree about riff raff, it has its place and can be fun but not for what I would like to do. It's the reason me and .com didnt work. He had his vision for his site and my was very different.


lol..no clue who I picked. I signed up to read the articles and fully admit I don't use it much

in fact I've had it for awhile and not sure i had to pick a team but again I can't remember. is there a way to look on my account?

I just signed in and all it says is Gold 59 months on the top right

[SamsRams]

For mine I just go to Rivals front page and at top it says my fan page. once I click that there is Nebraska stuff all over the page

[SamsRams]

New email from John Talman today!

We're just about to enter All-America game coverage following the holidays and then pressing forward into National Signing Day. I would love to take a deeper look into this with you after Signing Day has come and gone. That is usually when we determine new spots for us to launch sites. Let's connect after that has come and gone and see where we're at. Really excited about a possible opportunity to work together on this.

Thanks,

john
talman

[Bison 4 Life]

New email from John Talman today!

We're just about to enter All-America game coverage following the holidays and then pressing forward into National Signing Day. I would love to take a deeper look into this with you after Signing Day has come and gone. That is usually when we determine new spots for us to launch sites. Let's connect after that has come and gone and see where we're at. Really excited about a possible opportunity to work together on this.

Thanks,

john
talman

not bad for a copycat site

[MAKBison]

Honestly John, at this point, I would not do it. I think someone will just come in and feel the free void and then you are competing. The Funny thing is I was just talking with an investment team about several possibilities and your site came up.

[SamsRams]

Honestly John, at this point, I would not do it. I think someone will just come in and feel the free void and then you are competing. The Funny thing is I was just talking with an investment team about several possibilities and your site came up.

Appreciate your thoughts and it's the same thought I have regularly. I do think being the only FCS team to have a Rivals page is an advantage to NDSU and gives the fans better coverage and access to athletes that I currently dont have.

As per the investment team, that is interesting. At this point I make nothing from all the work I put in, the current ad's that are up there are for my web guy to make a little something for all the hard work he did to set up the page and continues to do to maintain and host the page. We would both love to get local businesses up there more than the current adds, but living in Vegas is makes it tough to get things done on that front.

[MAKBison]

Are you going to be at the game this week or are you staying in Vegas? If you will be at the game I fill you in on the conversation...not all that exciting really, just a few observations and general chitchat Not something I want to get into on a board.

[SamsRams]

Are you going to be at the game this week or are you staying in Vegas? If you will be at the game I fill you in on the conversation...not all that exciting really, just a few observations and general chitchat Not something I want to get into on a board.


actually yes, I am flying back for game. Will also go to Towson game saturday.

[MAKBison]

Will you be TGating? PM me and ill drop by if you are and fill you on how your site came up.

[SamsRams]

Will you be TGating? PM me and ill drop by if you are and fill you on how your site came up.
that will be hit and miss. My mom is gonna have a holiday party and would like me to be there from 5-6.

[BISONBRI53]

that will be hit and miss. My mom is have a holiday party and would like me to be there from 5-6.

I will pick you up at 1:30... Gotta find a ride back though I guess! :biggrin:

[MAKBison]

Ill shoot you my number... text me if you make it. Again, it was not that big a deal, we were talking about under developed markets verses potential opportunity and doing things you like to do. Anyway your site came up and we got to talking about sports boards.... a few ideas were spit-balled etc.


that will be hit and miss. My mom is have a holiday party and would like me to be there from 5-6.

[SamsRams]

I will pick you up at 1:30... Gotta find a ride back though I guess! :biggrin:

actually that is not a horrible idea. what time does tailgating start?

[MAKBison]

John, I think its a cool idea.....what are your thoughts and how it would enhance Bison football? I gotta think it would give the team a leg up in the FCS world.

[BISONBRI53]

actually that is not a horrible idea. what time does tailgating start?

Leaving work at noon. Running home to change and heading up... Lemme know if you want me to pick ya up.

[SamsRams]

Talks with Rivals stalled and 247 never seemed serious so thought this was a dead end until today. A rep from Scout reached out to me today and they seem very serious about adding NDSU. I never reached out to Scout so I'm surprised they found me

Question for you guys, do you consider Scout a viable option? I have never been impressed with their NDSU info so I am torn.

[mnriverbison]

My only concern is that when a team gets an active pay forum, the free forum becomes a total troll-S show, and that would hurt Bisonville.

But, you have to think that this is just another way to leverage NDSU's fanbase vs other FCS programs. Not many, if any at all will be able to support this kind of thing.

[El_Chapo]

talked to scout a few years back, they are known for nfl boards and most teams are starting own boards.

[SamsRams]

Leaving work at noon. Running home to change and heading up... Lemme know if you want me to pick ya up.


My only concern is that when a team gets an active pay forum, the free forum becomes a total troll-S show, and that would hurt Bisonville.

But, you have to think that this is just another way to leverage NDSU's fanbase vs other FCS programs. Not many, if any at all will be able to support this kind of thing.

that was actually the basis of my first series of questions with him. the operator of the NDSU free page and pay page will have total control. if you have any questions or concerns you would like me to address with them I would appreciate your help. I'm not just going to jump right in with the first site that offers.

[TXBison]

Just my .02 and I am new on here, I have been on Rivals site for more than 10 years, I would rather pay for this site and keep it as is than split it. My view is Rivals does little to enhance the experience. The particular team I pay for I do only because I like the moderator and owner of the site and the job he does if he left Rivals and went private I would follow him.

Rivals technology collapses on a somewhat regular basis especially during signing day.

I am all for you monitizing your work and insights just think there might be a better way.

[tolnabison]

247 is probably the way to go if you are paying for a website since you will have access to every team. But any FCS level school that can get on with Rivals, Scout, or 247 should probable take the chance to do so. I am guessing it would expand our fan bases recruiting knowledge greatly.

My side note: I follow the Miami Hurricanes (I know they are bad), but I pay for 247 and I also follow a free board similar to Bisonville. Every article that is on 247 or Rivals, ends up being summarized or copied and put onto the free message board.