Rivals vs. 247 Sports vs. Scout
I'm planning on getting a subscription to one of the recruiting web sites leading up to National Signing Day. Last year I had a one month subscription to Rivals that was extended when I called to cancel for an additional 3 months.
Which sites are the best for info on recruits and why? 247 seems newer and I really like their Targets chart. Rivals seemed to have a bit broader coverage, and maybe more national, while Scout seems dominated by Sam Webb.
What makes these sites most valuable to you? Which seems to have the most unique and insightful writers and/or ratings?
December 18th, 2011 at 11:09 AM ^
The first month of 247 is free right now, if memory serves. They do a great job covering the midwest and Michigan
December 18th, 2011 at 6:03 PM ^
December 18th, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^
I think your money would be better spent in the MGoStore, fergodsakes.
I have access to Scout, and only very rarely are there juicy nuggets. Most of those tidbits are rarely exclusive, as they either get tweeted by the poster moments later, or show up here. I spend a lot more time here that I do on Scout.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
December 18th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
I think Ace himself has a 247 subscription. At the very least, he reads that site for a bunch of his info.
December 19th, 2011 at 8:43 AM ^
If true, I doubt that would be kosher.
December 19th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
Oh it's true.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
I love the info Tom provides, but wolverine nation is terrible. It isn't Tom's fault, but the site is pretty much useless.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:45 AM ^
I feel like I probably agree with you on most of what you like/dislike about it but come to a different conclusion. For how cheap it is getting the Mag and TomVH is more than worth the subscription price. I renewed for three years at $4/year even though I still had 8 months on my subscription. $12 is nothing for 2 1/2 years of magazine plus TomVH + I really like the Scouts Inc. content for NFL games. So, yes I agree that the Wolverine Nation stuff isn't great but I would never call it terrible, just a value option. I will voraciously read any Michigan content, and I just look at the Rothstein/Jennings content as a free bonus even if I don't think it's top quality.
December 19th, 2011 at 8:45 AM ^
ESPN requires a credit card on file even if you get the magazine. They never stated that when I subscribed to get Insider content....... And it's why I'm not renewing.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^
I personally like ESPN Wolverine Nation. IMO, Tom VH is always on top of it, has good articles and I think is the cheapest out of the subscriptions.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
awesome at espn. Rivals is totally out if touch with the midwest.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^
Rivals is still hands down the best. Their weekly recruiting wrap ups, ITF extra articles, and good recruit info are the best. I also personally trust their information and rankings more than anyone as well.
December 18th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
Rivals is the worst choice. Thet are by far the weakest service in the midwest.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
I would save your money and spend it in the mgostore. I had a rival subcription. It was basically a waste of money. Any information that is posted on rivals was posted on mgoblog within minutes or in some instances before it was posted on rivals. Rivals definitely lost me during the last Rich Rod year when it was painfully obvious their mods were pushing an anti-Rich Rod bias and even flaming the boards (Adison and Helmholdt). Rivals also tends to cater to an older Michigan fan crowd (aka Wine and cheese/down in front).
If you are going to go for one of them either go Scout or ESPN insider with TomVH. Both TomVH and Sam Webb are the man. I have met Sam before and he is a great guy.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
I have an ESPN account and while the info is great when it comes out, it only seems to come out about twice to three times per week. I do love Tom VH's recruiting mailbag though and his live chat's are usually really informative
December 18th, 2011 at 11:46 AM ^
Rivals stopped being worth the money when Helmholdt become the midwest coordinator.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
I lol'ed about ESPN not even being a choice but then they went and hired TomVH so now i can't scoff at them as much anymore. 247 seems to have the bigger Michigan blog for maximum up-to-date recruiting buzz.
December 18th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Just join that Michigan Recruiting Facebook group. Those guys don't mind sharing premium information like it's their job.
24/7 is run by the guys who originaly started Rivals.
Scout has good information if you can stand looking at the site deisgn that was put together by a second grader in 1993.
Rivals has the best stuff and is currently improving their midwest scouting and information.
They are all good. But specifically for Michigan, the best info is found here. And all highlight vidoes can be found on youtube. I cancelled all of my subscriptions.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:19 PM ^
The dudes on Facebook are annoying.
December 18th, 2011 at 3:01 PM ^
So annoying. I left that group awhile ago. I assume things haven't changed. Most of those guys also think adding recruits on facebook and messaging them is beneficial too.
December 18th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
December 18th, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
I have an ESPN insider account. Since the hiring of Tom wolverine nation has become one of my most visited sites. The analysts that rate incoming freshmen are all over the board. I believe that ESPN is the most accurate. It pains me to say that because they have Michigan's 2012 class rated the lowest of the four premium sites. Example: BWC rated 5 star everywhere but only a three-star on ESPN.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^
ESPN is worth it alone just due to Tom being there now. He's got by far the best updates, if you're worried about star ratings, you can still get those on Rivals for free.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
I have a rivals account but it's not worth it. All the recruiting information on the pay sites ends up here for free.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:24 PM ^
I'm going to disagree with the people who have said that all the info at Rivals ends up on here for free. It doesn't. You can have regular interactions with the mods of The Wolverine, whereas it's kind of hit-and-miss here with Ace and Brian. There are also more frequent updates on various prospects that Michigan is recruiting, not just the few that dominate the headlines (Dunn, Kalis, etc.).
The info you get here is fine if you're just interested in recruiting as a casual fan, but if you really want access to in-depth information and frequent recruiting updates, then you should probably get a subscription, whether it's to Rivals or one of the other sites. I personally think Rivals is superior, partly because they have more accurate player ratings and partly because the site is much easier to navigate than Scout.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
As someone who has subscriptions to both Rivals and Scout, stuff definitely gets lost in translation on its way over to the Mgoboard. A subscription will also assuage any guilt you might have if you're a hippie liberal like me and feel uncomfortable pirating premium info.
Between the two, Scout is more tied into things, but has a much worse interface, a lower caliber of posters, and is a bit cultish. If you want every possible nugget of info and don't care about anything else, I'd go with Scout. If readability and coherence matter to you, I'd go with Rivals.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:43 PM ^
In my experience, M Go Board is superior to all three recruiting service sites. Any "news" that gets reported on those sites seems to make it's way here shortly thereafter, if not before. And almost all of the videos are on Youtube.
I also dislike how those site (particularly rivals) make it unnecessarily difficult for you to cancel your subscription (it's not something you can just do online. you have to call, and they don't make it easy to find the number). That makes it a borderline scam in my opinion. If you offer quality content, you wouldn't need to screw around your customers like that.
December 18th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^
247 and scout probably have the best recruiting coverage (head and shoulders above Rivals at this point) but Rivals is far and away the best actual team coverage in my opinion. Rivals is my favorite at this point. If I were to rate them in ranking service I would go Rivals, 247, Scout, ESPN, layout: Rivals, 247, ESPN, Scout and Recruting info: 247, Scout, ESPN (basically the same for those three) and then Rivals.
December 18th, 2011 at 1:59 PM ^
This may sound stupid but I'm going to ask anyway. Does your subscription give you access to every team's content or do you have to designate one team you're subscribing for and that's all you get?
December 18th, 2011 at 2:45 PM ^
When I had my Rivals subscription last year it was only for Michigan, no other teams.
December 18th, 2011 at 2:45 PM ^
only michigan.
Rivals is a scam. The fact you have to call a 1-800 number and be on hold for 15 minutes to cancel your subcription, should thrown on major alarms. Then you have the rivals board (the fort) which is just a step above mlive (sometimes below mlive, with TheWolverine mods flaming on the boards). Michael Spath and BobMiller are the only respectable mods on the site.
December 18th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
247 hands down. The Michigan team site is still really new so they don't have a full staff yet but it's growing and will only get better. The 247 site as a whole is awesome. The analysts are friendly and are great about answering questions. You can post on almost any team board, and there's also a national board that isn't full of the sort of garbage that infests the other sites. Most users are friendly, and the mods are really good about taking out the trash.
December 18th, 2011 at 7:21 PM ^
Rivals. Anyone who posts "you get everything here, this is the best site" is either a casual fan or lying to themselves. Perhaps when TomVH was here, this site was all you would need, but now? Premium for sure.
December 18th, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^
December 19th, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
the best recruiting info is found on the mlive UM football message board or the Facebook Recruiting HQ from Skyler
December 19th, 2011 at 4:34 AM ^
I won't be renewing 247 once my free sub is over. It has potential, it's just young and feels that way.
None of the sites have good interfaces. I wonder why people think Scout's is worse than Rivals. Rivals messages boards are TERRIBLE. Worse than Scout's. And that is where most of the information is conveyed. However, Scout seems to run things from its message board a bit more than Rivals.
I think Scout is significantly better than the Rivals in almost every measure. Sometimes Scout is a bit too guarded and protectionist with information, but not so much more than Rivals. If you were going to pick up, I think it's an easy choice.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:35 AM ^
All you need is Ace Williams (not Ace Anbender), and he's back to posting on here.
He's a credible reporter (<-- click the link) and has access to a bunch of insider sources. He's the best there is, bar none.
December 19th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
If you can wait the 30 seconds it takes for the "premium" information to get from rivals/scout/247 to the mgoboard, I would save your money. If you really have a need to spend 100/year on Michigan sports information, I would suggest you send the money to Brian. Mgoblog is better than any premium site.