Rivals Will Charge High School Athletes for Paid Recruit Evaluations

Overview

• Rivals announced Thursday that it is launching “Rivals Recruits,” a paid evaluation service priced at about $499 with a temporary discount reported at $399 that offers a scouting report, an evaluation grade and consideration for its rankings.
• Rivals and parent company On3 say payment only buys access to the review process and does not guarantee any specific rating, ranking, star designation or outcome.
• On3 founder Shannon Terry framed the change as a response to limited scout bandwidth, saying the program will let the site’s scouts watch film on players who typically fall outside national coverage, including FCS, Division II, NAIA and Division III prospects.
• The move follows broader shifts in how recruiting sites operate, including On3’s 2025 acquisition of Rivals and 247Sports’ decision earlier this year to rely on its own internal player rankings rather than composite ratings.
• Critics and reporters warn the fee could favor families who can pay and may not solve scout workload problems if staff numbers do not increase, raising questions about equity and how coverage will change for non-paying prospects.