Rivals.com Set for National Letter of Intent Day; Rivals.com Showcases Top Recruiting Experts in the Nation, Offers Free Trial to Its Premium Content Program.

Business/Sports Editors

SEATTLE--(BW SportsWire)--Jan. 31, 2001

With National Letter of Intent Day just around the corner on Feb. 7, Rivals.com is once again leading the pack in tracking the commitments of top high school football players from coast-to-coast. Rivals also continues to provide expert analysis for fans to evaluate the future of their favorite college football teams. Rivals.com (www.rivals.com), the online presence of Rival Networks Inc. and the leading network of sports team and affinity channels, boasts 18 of the top recruiting experts in the nation including Bobby Burton, Jeremy Crabtree and Jamie Newberg.

National Letter of Intent Day, now a standing American sports tradition, began after World War II when soldiers returning home from duty were actively recruited by universities to play football. The independent and voluntary program was established to enable prospective student athletes to sign a letter of intent to commit to one school on a specific date.

Rivals.com is the top online destination for up-to-the minute information on National Letter of Intent Day decisions, expert analysis and player profile information. Rivals.com provides current rankings at www.Rivals100.com, and offers fans exclusive recruiting information. Rivals.com recruiting/college sites and player information databases generate approximately 15 million page views a day, and Rivals.com anticipates record traffic during this year's National Letter of Intent Day on Feb. 7. In conjunction with National Letter of Intent Day and in an effort to show appreciation to its loyal visitors, Rivals.com is offering a free week trial subscription to its Premium Plus program, an in-depth sports and recruiting content subscription program.

Rivals.com has assembled a panel of 18 national and regional recruiting analysts to track National Letter of Intent Day decisions. Players are evaluated based on film review, camps, game performance and coaches' recommendations. They then are ranked on quantitative and qualitative criteria. The quantitative rankings are determined by analyzing 10 different positions -- quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, offensive lineman, defensive tackle, defensive ends, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties -- and then ranking the player from one to 100 at his position. Players are also graded qualitatively by a star system.

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    Five star       All-America candidate
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    Four star       Honorable mention All-America selection
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    Three star      All-region selection
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     Two star       Honorable mention all-region selection
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     One star       Unranked
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In addition, Rivals.com is sponsoring the Rivals.com National College Football Signing Day Show. The show airs nationally on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. local time on Fox Sports Net's twenty-one regions across the country. Kevin Frazier hosts the show with analysis from Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow and former coach Artie Gigantino. Rivals.com recruiting experts Bobby Burton and Jeremy Crabtree will provide their rankings and insight throughout the special.

About Rival Networks

Seattle-based Rival Networks is a leading infrastructure services company that aggregates online communities into easy-to-navigate networks. The Rivals.com network consists of hundreds of sport related team and affinity channels, with more than 700 writers and experts who deliver leading in-depth team and player coverage. The European-based Rivals.net (www.rivals.net) network consists of more than 300 team and sport-specific Web sites, covering the most popular European sports. Rivals Japan (www.rivals.co.jp) is a joint venture between Softbank Media and Marketing (SBMM) and Rival Networks Inc., and provides in-depth sports coverage and sports communities in Japan. Rival Networks' proprietary technology enables publishers to input their expert commentary and news information without having to program or design the site. Investors include Hummer Winblad Venture Partners www.humwin.com), Intel Corporation (www.intel.com), News Corp.'s News Digital Media (NYSE:NWS), producer of FOXSPORTS.com (www.foxsports.com), The Phoenix Partners (www.phoenixvc.com) and SOFTBANK Capital Partners (www.sbcp.com).

Editors Note: Journalists interested in contacting Rivals.com recruiting experts should contact Linda Mills at MWW/Savitt or Roosevelt Flanagan at Rivals.com using the contact information listed below.

Bobby Burton, Rivals.com VP and GM of College and High School Sports and Publisher of Rivals.com

Ranked the 88th most powerful person in sports by Sporting News, Burton is nationally known as the top college football-recruiting expert in the nation. He provided recruiting commentary to ESPN.com and was the network's source for college football recruiting information online the last two years prior to moving to Rivals.com. Burton also provides tips, inside information and unique commentary to Inside Southwest Recruiting, broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest.

Jeremy Crabtree, Director of College Football Recruiting for Rivals.com and editor of Rivals100.com

Covered recruiting for the past five years and has spent three years working for Rivals.com. He is a graduate of Kansas State University and spent three years at the Kansas City Star before joining Rivals.com

Jamie Newberg, Rivals.com Southeastern Regional Recruiting Editor, publisher of BorderWars.com (www.borderwars.com)

Newberg works on the Atlanta-based Countdown to Signing Day aired by FOX Sports South. He carefully tracks and analyzes the top commitments in the Southeast.