ADVERTISEMENT
Rivals.com Home  

October 26, 2001


In July 2007, Rivals.com was acquired by Yahoo! and has been integrated into Yahoo! Sports. Rivals.com is currently the college sports, high school sports and recruiting brand for Yahoo! Sports. Prior to the acquisition, the Rivals.com executive team combined for more than 60 years of digital media experience.


SHANNON TERRY served as CEO and President of Rivals.com prior to being acquired by Yahoo!. Terry's responsibilities included corporate strategy, new product development and day-to-day management of the leading internet site in college sports, high school sports and college recruiting. Through his influence and vision, Terry led the rapid growth of Rivals.com to more than 180,000 active subscribers and 2.5 million unique visitors per month via a national network of 300 college, high school and recruiting reporters generating in excess of 500 content items per day. Rivals.com achieved more than 50% annual growth revenue since the company's inception in 2001. Terry was named to the SportsBusiness Journal's Forty Under 40 in 2006 and 2007 and was named to the trade publication's 20 Most Influential People in Online Sports (ranked No. 11) list in February 2007. Terry spearheaded Rivals.com expansion and delivery via other outlets syndicating a variety of its content to major media outlets such as Yahoo! Sports, AOL Sports and Sirius Satellite Radio. In 1996, Terry co-founded AllianceSports, the first premium subscription network of college team and recruiting sites � which was subsequently acquired by then Seattle-based Rivals Networks. In May 2001, after Rivals Networks ceased operations, Terry led the effort to purchase and license most of the remaining assets of that company and relaunched the network under the market-leading Rivals.com brand. A 1992 graduate of Lipscomb University, Terry also was co-Captain of the University's basketball team where his senior class posted more total wins during its 4 years than any class in the history of college basketball (145).

GREG GOUGH oversaw all technological aspects of Rivals.com, including all datacenter operations, website design and development, other application development, community development, and technology support operations. Prior to helping to found the new Rivals.com, Gough was instrumental in the planning, funding, design, development, and implementation of several high profile, successful, and profitable Internet properties, including AllianceSports. In addition, Gough's previous experience includes owning/managing Alliance Software, an Internet software development company, and a 5-year tour of duty at Accenture. At Accenture, Gough was primarily responsible for technical architecture development and project management on several large projects for clients including Federal Express, Harrah's Casinos and The Disney Institute.

BOBBY BURTON managed the Rivals.com network, the nation's largest college- and high school-specific online media property and the Rivals.com National Media Group. Burton came to Rivals.com in 2001 after a two-year stint as the VP, General Manager for College and High School Sports for Rival Networks. Prior to Rival Networks, Burton published The National Recruiting Advisor (1993-1999), which was purchased by Rival Networks. Burton was ranked the 88th most powerful person in sports for 2000 by The Sporting News and has written on the topic of recruiting for ESPN.com, The Sporting News, FoxSports.com and The Dallas Morning News. He is a seasoned speaker on panels covering everything from ethics in sports journalism to online subscription sales strategies and tactics. In January of 2007, Burton appeared before the Knight Commission discussion the topic of the effect media has on college athletes.

MIKE COMEGNA oversaw the financial aspects of the company and was involved in operational and business development activities. His primary responsibilities included strategic planning, budgeting, financial management, and capital oversight. Comegna most recently joined Rivals.com from Gen Cap America, a private equity firm located in Nashville with over $100 million in capital under management. Comegna brings to Rivals.com more than 8 years of financial analysis, investment, acquisition and business development experience.

DEIDRE GANUN led national advertising sales and sales strategy for the company's branded media assets including its national media channels and the Rivals Network as well as its print and radio assets. She was charged with increasing advertising and sponsorship revenue as well as managing all ad sales, sales operations and sales development personnel. GaNun joined Rivals.com most recently from ESPN / ABC Sports where her responsibilities included representation of all digital and emerging media and cross media integration with television and print entities. She brings 9 years of experience in online advertising sales and has also held senior sales positions at technology category leader, CNET Networks. In this time, Deirdre has played a key role in initiating and cultivating strategic online marketing partnerships with such blue chip companies as Dell Computer Corp., UPS, Sprint/Nextel, Capital One, Anheuser-Busch and Mercedes-Benz to name some. She is based in New York City where Rivals has recently established an advertising sales office.

Rivals.com News
Rivals.com is your source for: College Football | Football Recruiting | College Basketball | Basketball Recruiting | College Baseball | High School | College Merchandise
Site-specific editorial/photos © Rivals.com. All rights reserved. This website is an unofficial and independently operated source of news and information not affiliated with any school or team.
About | Advertise with Us | Contact | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Copyright/IP policy