What the Hell is Up at Scout, Sign of Things to Come for Paysites?

Submitted by State Street on

So...Scout writers have been sending out blasts on Twitter that they are giving away 9 months of subscription for the price of one.  9!

Obviously business can't be booming over there.  Does this mean the pay-for-content business model with regards to recruiting is on its way out?

 

Mad flurry at end of flash sale has prompted an extension! 9 Months for Price of 1 Deal EXTENDED until midnight - http://t.co/Drv7Z0F3aa

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) January 31, 2015
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January 31st, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^

I hated twitter until I realized that the 140 character limit kept me from having to click on some horrendously written article to realize that the reporter is both unintelligent and just throwing up click-bait.

Really wish Brandon Brown had been on twitter before he wrote here.  Could have avoided a lot of bad articles.

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pearlw

January 31st, 2015 at 9:33 PM ^

If the news is a coach visited a recruit, a recruit scheduled a visit, a recruit committed, etc....then its pretty easy to fit that info in 140 characters. A well written article expanding one piece of info into 4 paragraphs could be considered a complete waste of time to read the extra fluff.

I think people here laugh at other people who gets news from "slow" newspapers publishing an article a day after something happened or hours afterward. Nowadays, almost all info on stuff like this gets communicated on twitter first so those who are waiting for the info to hit somewhere else because they dont use twitter are now the slow ones.



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Mmmm Hmmm

January 31st, 2015 at 8:32 PM ^

I am not a Scout subscriber, but I had read I think on this message board that GBW lost some subscribers in the wake of the coaching search and the Webb vs Beaver pissing match. Maybe they didn't really lose many and the timing is coincidental.



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Mr Miggle

January 31st, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^

I haven't followed their promotions in the past, but I imagine it's really hard to attract subscribers this time of year. Their main base of customers wouldn't sign up just for the last few days before LOI day. Once it's over, there's not much reason new subscribers to join for months. If they get them in now, they'll keep some of them past the introductory period.

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bacon

January 31st, 2015 at 8:36 PM ^

It's the end of January. People are probably more willing to sign up for the pay sites covering football recruiting so they can get updates for this week, but after this week there's no real action for a while. So why not leverage people's interest in the last week into a few more subscriptions and hope people decide to hang on in October for the premium content. I doubt it means anything more than that.

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unWavering

January 31st, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^

I can't speak for subscribers, since I never have been one, but it seems to me a waste of money to pay for recruiting information when it gets copy and pasted to free sites literally within minutes of being posted on the pay sites, whether it be by users or official blog posts.  Also, I don't really see the value in knowing recruiting information which has little to no effect on my enjoyment in football, but I suppose others feel differently about it.  

You are paying for something that you don't need to pay for to get, basically, and recruiting information often times has very few implications on the immediate success of football teams.  That said, if you really think you get $120/yr worth of enjoyment out of it, more power to you.

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Ferris Loves Red

January 31st, 2015 at 8:54 PM ^

I agree with you there if you are just in it for recruiting but rivals does offer other things for their sports coverage. I can get hockey info as well as
Some nice weekly stories from football and basketball season. I guess I still subscribe out of habit, that any my entire family uses my account to read about their teams as well.

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justingoblue

January 31st, 2015 at 9:00 PM ^

That's the key right there. There is a huge segment of society that thinks the amount of time and money most of us spend on sports is ridiculous, and obviously a lot of us would feel the same about other hobbies. Having different or identical priorities to someone else doesn't reflect on intelligence.

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Blue_Sox

January 31st, 2015 at 9:13 PM ^

Classic economics principle at play here...

It really isn't dumb for people to pay. If no one paid at all, these sites wouldn't exist and there would be no information to copy and paste. 

The fact that you don't pay simply means that others value the information more than you and subsidize it for the rest. 

So, as someone who does pay for a couple sites...you're welcome.

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Reader71

January 31st, 2015 at 11:03 PM ^

In theory, you are right. But if every single subscriber stopped paying tomorrow, I think the sites would still run but shift to other revenue-generating avenues. Focus on ads, for example, like most sites. There are sunk costs, so they aren't just going to fold up and go home, especially when there are other ways to make money besides subscriptions.

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Magnus

February 1st, 2015 at 7:22 AM ^

a) I won't pretend that my $10/month keeps The Wolverine afloat, but that's a pretty hefty chunk of change to remove from the equation when you consider all of the members of The Wolverine who subscribe. I think it would be pretty tough to make that up if everyone quit.

b) Rivals has a pretty big thing going with all of their sites, analysts, camps, etc. I have no idea what their revenue stream is like, but The Wolverine, for example, is presumably paying several guys full-time to run Michigan's site only (Borton, Balas, Sullivan, Spath). Perhaps cautiously assuming those guys get paid $30,000 a year, it might be difficult to make a go of a business that's handing out $120,000 in salaries, more in benefits, plus all the infrastructure of the sites themselves.

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Reader71

February 1st, 2015 at 8:42 AM ^

No doubt it would be difficult to survive, and no doubt some guys would have to be let go. But there is money to be made through a non-subscriber model, and I think those sites would stay up or at less try to make the transition. I dont think they would just give up, leaving other revenue streams untested.

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Magnus

February 1st, 2015 at 7:15 AM ^

I pay for it, and not to toot my own horn, but I think I can pretty confidently say I'm not a moron.

There are lots of things that "normal" people spend money on that are also wastes of cash. Fancy clothes, expensive cars, too much booze, etc. And I would say that a hobby which costs $10 a month is probably one of the cheaper hobbies out there. 

I'm guessing you, too, have something that you spend time on that you pay for. And not everyone here would "waste" their money on that thing, but that doesn't necessarily make you a fool or a moron.

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Doc Brown

February 1st, 2015 at 8:03 AM ^

except my hobby doesn't show up on twitter or on mgoblog 30 seconds later... My hobbies are running and homebrewing. Running keeps me in great health and homebrewing actually saves me money. So yes, paying for a recruiting site is pointless and a waste of cash. As they say, a fool and their money are so easily departed.



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Magnus

February 1st, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^

"Running keeps me in great health and homebrewing actually saves me money."

There are some who would say that running is bad for your knees, and drinking alcohol is bad for your health.

So. You have rationale for your hobbies, and you think they're positive. Other people have rationale for their hobbies, and they think they're positive.

Different strokes for different folks. It doesn't mean any of us are fools.

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Quail2theVict0r

January 31st, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^

I did it just for this recruiting year because it was like $9 for 9 months. Works for me. Not sure what's up with them though, given this should be the prime time for people to want to buy their service with signing day just days away. 

But it's not going to convince me into paying full price. It's getting cancled far before that. I can't imagine paying $80/year for it. 

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pearlw

January 31st, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^

I guess the question to you is do you get anything new out of the recruiting roundups here? If your anser is yes which I assume it is for many, then that means that all off that info was for subscribers 2-4 days prior to that usually since Ace does 2 a week and that is the source for his info.



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alum96

January 31st, 2015 at 8:54 PM ^

That's the catch22 of it.  While you can get some info on twitter a lot of the info that finds its way on this boards is from subcription sites.  Often just minutes after it is posted there.  So what would happen if those services all failed.  A lot less info would make it over here. 

It's not dissimilar to the porn industry model.  People say "you are a sucker if you pay for porn."  But if not for the people who pay for the porn there would not be porn to be made other than on a volunteer basis.

Someone has to pay for all of these things.  Unless you go to an army of "self made recruiting guys" (I think Brandon Brown was such a guy at one time) who are independent entities and calling these recruits individually.

 

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Happy Gilmore

January 31st, 2015 at 10:33 PM ^

Interesting question...personally, I only come here and generally no other sites because this became my go-to during the RR search, I've come to enjoy the board and posters here, and because I "waste" enough time reading this as it is. I just don't have the time or desire to incessantly check multiple boards on the same general topic.

I'll never forget the two lessons of SI 110, taught by Robert Frost at UM (grandson of the Robert Frost): information wants to be free, and be mindful of your "data double"



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Magnus

February 1st, 2015 at 7:25 AM ^

Yes...but I think the point is that the discussion could take place on those other sites (Rivals, 247, etc.). Many people who participate in the discussion here probably don't pay for it over there. So if you break down that wall of having to pay for the info, then some of those people who discuss things here might disappear and go straight to the original source.

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pearlw

February 1st, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^

I think the issue is distinguishing between news that "player X committed to school" vs "interviews/detailed info and analysis". If all you care about is the news that a player commits, well then that of course comes here immediately and is on twitter immediately. If you like following the story/saga and all the camp reviews, then that info definitely does not come here immediately and may just have snippets show up a few days later in a roundup. Some people only care about the first thing so the pay subscription would be a complete waste of money. Some others actually enjoy the analysis and story surrounding recruiting so then it may be worth it to pay for it if your enjoyment for it is worth $100/yr. For me, it is so I do pay it but if I only cared about news that someone committed then it would definitely not be worth it.



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Magnus

February 1st, 2015 at 9:05 AM ^

I can tell you what movies are coming out and their basic plot lines by watching Youtube or a free website devoted to reviewing films. But the only way I can (legally) watch most movies is by paying for movie tickets, subscribing to Netflix, etc.

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Blue_Sox

February 1st, 2015 at 9:13 AM ^

I'm only a very recent subscriber to the other sites and people would be surprised at the length of delay in information. And most of it doesn't make it over here at all. 

Which is good, because it's not fair to just rip premium content and disseminate everywhere (looking at you, Teddy Blanks).

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