While it still appears that Rivals.com is on its way to being the latest dotcom to cease operations, there is speculation that Rivals Founder Jim Heckman (who was booted out as CEO last Summer) is planning on taking charge of an all new rivals.com.
In a phone conversation yesterday afternoon with seattle.internet.com, Heckman confirmed that he is indeed “exploring” the possibility of reviving the nation-wide network of fan sites. Heckman said that he is currently communicating with
various publishers and potential financial partners, but could not provide further details at this point.
It was in late August 1999 when Heckman and his team launched the more than 350 team sports and specialty channel websites, creating one of the world’s largest online sports networks. Heckman was able to raise at the onset $30 million in financing with Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Intel, News America Digital Publishing and The Phoenix Partners.
At the time, Heckman was quoted as saying that: “Rivals.com is committed to creating the highest quality network of sports team community channels for fans who want to go deep with their favorite teams 24 hours a day, seven days a week”.
However, after a failed IPO, Heckman was forced to give up his executive position and was replaced by Saul Gamoran who was executive vice president at the time.
Apparently, Heckman still isn’t willing to give up on his vision. Seattle.internet.com will be following this developing story and bring you the latest updates when they become available.
