Rivals, the recruiting site On3 bought last year, sells a scout evaluation to high school athletes through its Rivals Recruits platform. For $499, or $399 with the current discount, a Rivals scout watches the athlete's film and writes up a scouting report, a grade, and "ranking consideration." Rivals says paying buys the evaluation and not the result: "Ratings, rankings and stars are earned, never bought." The product had been on sale for weeks, but the public criticism started Thursday morning, once sports media wrote it up and On3's founder defended it on X. Within a day, former NFL players, college football general managers, and recruiting reporters were telling parents not to pay, and the founder had posted a second defense.

1. Rivals Says It's Finally Scouting the Other 99 Percent

Rivals says it always had the scouts, just not enough of them. It also says you still can't buy a star.

Almost nobody gets scouted, and Rivals says that's the problem it's fixing. By Rivals' own count, roughly 0.6 percent of high school football players hold a Rivals star rating. On3 founder and CEO Shannon Terry, whose company owns Rivals, posted on X Thursday morning, as the story took off: "That's not a talent gap. It's a capacity gap."

The same scouts grade the paid film. Rivals says the people doing the paid evaluations are the same team that ranks the blue-chip prospects, held to the same standard. Terry says they're human scouts spending hours on each report, not AI. To the critics, he said: "You can pay for an evaluation. You can't pay for the result."

They built this for the kids below the top level. In a second post, quoted by MassLive, Terry said the product mainly targets FCS players and below, meaning programs under college football's top tier, and that it's been in development for a couple of years. "For decades, we have focused most of our efforts on elite/blue-chip prospects while underserving the vast majority of high school athletes."

The company says it has already produced an offer. Jack Terry, On3's executive vice president of marketing, pointed to a class-of-2029 quarterback from Virginia. A Rivals scout spent hours on his film and then sent the evaluation to college staffs, and Tulane offered him a few days later.

2. But Ex-Players Say the Real Customer Is a Hopeful Parent

Three former NFL players say Rivals is selling to families who'll pay anything for a scholarship.

Parents are the customers here. Danny Kanell, a former NFL quarterback and CBS analyst, said the best customers "are parents who think lil Johnny or lil Janie are going to get a full ride and they will spend any amount of money to (ensure) that happens."

Two former NFL stars say it's predatory. Former NFL quarterback and FOX Sports analyst Robert Griffin III posted that it's "a MASSIVE MONEY GRAB taking advantage of parents and kids" and that Rivals "should be ashamed of themselves." Chris Long, a former NFL first-round pick, said the service "feels predatory."

Former players are telling parents not to pay. Brandon Spikes, a former Florida star and NFL linebacker, posted: "Parents, this is not necessary smh." FOX Sports radio host Aaron Torres asked, "What are we even doing here."

3. And Coaches Say a Rivals Grade Gets You Nothing Anyway

The people who hand out scholarships say they don't recruit off Rivals. They also say exposure is already free and paid grades make the rankings harder to trust.

Schools don't offer off a Rivals grade. Georgia State quarterbacks coach Ryan Williams called it a "waste of money" and said, "We don't recruit based on rivals rankings." FootballScoop asked coaches if they'd ever offered a player purely off a Rivals or 247 evaluation. One Power Four head coach said "No." An SEC assistant said "Never!"

Getting seen is already free. A Power Four general manager told recruiting analyst Matt Freeman that exposure "has never been easier," listing summer camps, combines, unofficial visits and online film. The GM went further and said most kids who aren't getting recruited have a talent issue, and being seen more wouldn't change that.

A new ranking doesn't come with a new scholarship. Another Power Four GM told Freeman the site will "just rank more players who paid for it, but the opportunities don't expand."

Paid grades make every grade worth less. That same GM added that they're "excited for the meltdown." On3 drives the market for players' name, image and likeness deals, the GM said, and now families can pay to rank higher. A Florida fan-site writer says the same thing: a star rating means less once people can pay to get one.

Where This Lands

Rivals is selling this as a scouting service for the kids nobody watches, and Terry says the grade can't be bought. Griffin, Long and Kanell say Rivals is really selling to hopeful parents. The coaches say a Rivals grade never got anyone an offer in the first place. Terry says the product has been a couple of years in the making and fills what he calls a huge need in the market. Rivals scouts are already writing paid evaluations and sending them to college staffs, and the company's own showcase case is now part of the argument: the Virginia quarterback it points to already held a UAB offer before his Rivals evaluation.

Sources