BeRecruited.com, which connects non-elite high school athletes with collegiate athletic programs, has struck a set of content, distribution and marketing deals with Gannett Co.’s USA Today High School Sports, Kaplan Test Prep, and the National Collegiate Scouting Association. The deals combine to boost the reach and prominence of the San Francisco-based outlet.
BeRecruited.com will provide exclusive content on how to be recruited to USA Today High School Sports, recently rebranded from HighSchoolSports.net, with links and promotion back to BeRecruited.com. For Kaplan, BeRecruited.com will provide discounts on Kaplan test preparation products to purchasers of its premium-level services, and the pair is exploring further joint marketing activities. Every BeRecruited.com member will receive a free personalized recruiting analysis from an NCSA scout, a value-added service the company thinks will help boost membership.
More than 1.5 million student athletes are registered with BeRecruited.com, up 50 percent since the company acquired sports social hub Fanvibe 14 months ago and appointed executives from that company to reshape the operation.
“We’re making a big focus on product right now, and what these deals do is help get the BeRecruited name into some critical new venues, ones adjacent to what we’re doing, and expose us to a broader audience,” said Vishwas Prabhakara, BeRecruited.com chief executive.
The company also recently rolled out a new premium-level offering, DeluxePlus. The $299 product provides a custom-made, professionally produced highlight reel, something typically costing far more on the open market but increasingly in demand for even non-heralded athletes in non-revenue sports.
USA Today High School Sports executives said the BeRecruited alignment is an important fixture in the reworking of their site.
“There’s a big need for this kind of content,” said Ben Sylvan, USA Today High School Sports executive producer. “A lot of athletes just don’t know where to start, how to work through the process about getting to the next level. We have faith in their expertise and credibility in the space and see this as additive to what we’re doing.”
