Earlier this year Fox Interactive Media paid upwards of $60 million to acquire Scout as part of its internet expansion. Now AOL is going after the same demographics by signing a content syndication/distribution deal with Rivals.com, the other college/high school sports network. AOL Sports will feature a variety of video and editorial content from Rivals.com in time for the Bowl season.
Of course, the two deals start with very different goals. FIM is integrating Scout with its other internet properties like MySpace.com as it creates its own network, while AOL Sports is adding content to an already established portal and driving traffic in exchange. Press release.
In related AOL news, AOL has added MTV Networks video to its search index…users will now be able to search for and access clips from the entire video library housed on the Web sites of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and several other sites.