Scout Media files for bankruptcy

Submitted by I Like Burgers on

Just came across this online, looks like Scout Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday and is planning on selling what remains of the business.  Since September, they've contacted 154 potential buyers, 20 of which were interested, but none of them put forward a bid.  According to the article: 

In papers filed in bankruptcy court, lawyers for the company have proposed a court-supervised process in which bids for Scout Media’s assets would be due Jan. 17. An auction would be held in Wilmington, Del., Jan. 19, with a hearing to approve the winner scheduled for the following week. 

After the auction, the company is planning on winding down.

 

MGoBoard

bossmania

December 11th, 2016 at 12:29 PM ^

I stopped going to Scout after they added auto-play videos on every single page, often videos that were completely irrelevant to the content on that page.

Sam is great at his job though, I'm sure he'll land somewhere nice. He's pretty generous with information on WTKA every morning too.

 

Joined: 10/14/2010

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MGOTokyo

December 12th, 2016 at 12:24 AM ^

Where he lands depends on who has the need for his U-M centric services. I'm not sure whether he gets most of his income from WTKA (probably, in which case, he continues mostly as is) or Scout.  I listen to the WTKA podcasts from abroad, and frankly, have cut back because of the increasing amounts of advertising I have to endure to open each one and then more during the podcast itself.  Then, he gives partial info as a teaser to get you to go to Scout.  He's become 1 long comercial, for information I can get in a short time on our blog.

But I also realize he's gotta make a living.

 

Joined: 11/20/2014

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asquared

December 11th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^

I'm not clear on the business relationship between Sam and Scout. I believe he is the publisher of the site and has a contract with Scout, and that Scout doesn't technically own the site. I think guys like Allen Trieu are employees of Scout. Makes for a tangled Webb.

Joined: 06/30/2008

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I Like Burgers

December 11th, 2016 at 12:47 PM ^

I've heard that too, and if that's the case, this is probably bad for Sam since he is likely a creditor to Scout and relies on their infrastructure to run the site.  When Scout goes under, he'll likely get a fraction of what he's owed and will have to find a way to port his content to a new site, plus pony up all the hosting fees for it.

And given that none of this is likely to be fully settled until after signing day (auction winner is announced the week before NSD), that's going to make any sort of going solo transition extra hard since he'll be looking for subscribers and revenue at a time when interest is low.

Legit wonder if Brian doesn't try and hire him.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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snarling wolverine

December 11th, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^

I like Sam Webb, but I feel like it would change the vibe of this blog if he were here.   MGoBlog would be a little less of an indie site and more mainstream.  We've always poked fun a bit at the "OMG Shirtless!" aspect of recruiting, but the crowd that is into that kind of thing would be moving in here if he were part of the staff.

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

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snarling wolverine

December 11th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

I don't mean "indie" in the sense of being small, but in the sense of having an independent editorial focus and not just being a mouthpiece for the program.  Rivals, Scout and 247 would never have gone after Dave Brandon the way MGoBlog did, for example.  

On recruiting, I feel that MGoBlog strikes the right balance between giving us information and prying into the kids' lives, and it is pretty cool-headed about evaluating the recruiting classes, not being a total cheerleader.  I don't know that that balance could be maintained if they bring in someone who is explicitly a recruiting guy and who has to hold his tongue to protect his recruiting contacts.    

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

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I Like Burgers

December 11th, 2016 at 2:35 PM ^

Yeah in the sense of MGoBlog being an independent site, that would likely change with Sam on board.  Recruiting coverage by guys like Sam is a horsetrading business.  He gets access and tips in exchange for being a mouthpiece for the program.  MGoBlog doesn't have to do any of that at the moment.  Like you said, they can shit all over the athletic director and not have to worry about getting their recruiting info pipeline slashed.  All they have to worry about is getting credentials pulled, which isn't incredibly important to what they do anyways.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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stephenrjking

December 11th, 2016 at 3:12 PM ^

This is an interesting meta discussion. I believe MGoblog is among the top team-specific sources anywhere in media both in numbers in quality. It certainly gets national respect, and if I recall correctly the site's raw numbers just kill places like Mlive. It obviously makes money, because it supports Brian plus employees making at least a meager living. Sam obviously has a different approach from Brian. Would they undermine each other? That's difficult to say. Brian's ability to say "this position group stinks" makes it more meaningful and rewarding when he says "this defense is an all-timer" and makes his (sadly inaccurate) 12-0 preseason prediction much more powerful. Can they coexist under the same masthead without losing what either of them do well? I don't know. But if Sam sort of runs his own site and needs a partner to host? Maybe a partnership is possible. SAMgoblog.com tag at the top, maybe.

Joined: 03/15/2012

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I Like Burgers

December 11th, 2016 at 2:54 PM ^

Depending on what you think Sam is worth, they'd have to think they could add and retain probably 700 or so new monthly subscribers to make it a financially positive move.  Frankly, I have no idea if that's doable or not. Subscribers are hard to come by.  And how many Scout subscribers already have a 247 membership?

And just to put that 700 in perspective, in 2014 the CEO of 247 said they had 70,000 total subscribers compared to 80k for Scout, and 200k for Rivals.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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mgoblueben

December 11th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^

I'd guess since 2014 there's been a major shift from rivals to 247. Rivals has been tanking while 247 has taken recruiting to a new level. I'd renew with 247 if Sam webb went there. Also I'd guess the top 10 fan bases make up 95% of subscribers for all those sites. Michigan fans are damn powerful and Sam webb is probably the biggest michigan insider.

Joined: 06/23/2011

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I Like Burgers

December 11th, 2016 at 3:25 PM ^

Yeah, gotta think those numbers are much closer now if not completely reversed.  According to the Alexa web traffic site, 247 is tops amongst the three in US traffic now (#516 in the US), Rivals is second (#766), and Scout a distant third (#1,137).

And FWIW, the 700 subscriber number I came up with is based off budgeting $100k for Sam.  Which once you factor in health insurance, and expenses for doing the job (phone, travel, etc.) might be on the low side.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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LSAClassOf2000

December 11th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^

I remember that their CEO was canned in July and that prompted some mass resignations and upheaval, and more recently, the creditors were in court trying to force the bankruptcy issue - and they seem to have succeeded. It seems like it had been on watch since the summer really, to be honest, once the CEO story broke. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

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3xWlvrn

December 12th, 2016 at 1:10 AM ^

This literally is a joke. Unless it's not, in which case Trump is likely watching MGoBlog users' every move (thanks a lot, Putin). This many intelligent individuals in one forum cannot be good for a 1984 government.

In other news, Buckeyes and Spartans are free to gather on their forums uninhibited and unsupervised.

This is a joke. Unless it's not.

Joined: 10/25/2016

MGoPoints: 65

jmblue

December 11th, 2016 at 12:53 PM ^

There's just too many of these networks - Rivals, Scout, 247, plus some smaller ones.  You can only ask a fan to pay $9.95 a month so many times.

 

Joined: 11/07/2008

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Steve in PA

December 11th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^

Just like free internet porn killed Playboy the message boards are slowly killing off the recruiting sites.  I don't pay for recruiting news but I do get almost all the same information within hours of when it's released on paysites.

 

Joined: 08/10/2009

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I Like Burgers

December 11th, 2016 at 5:56 PM ^

Its not message boards, its Twitter and sites like MGoBlog.  Message boards are what makes a lot of sites profitable -- especially sites like MGoBlog.  People keep coming back multiple times a day and refresh pages multiple times a day for message board content.  And every time that happens, it counts as a new ad view which results in money for the site.

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