Arena Group Holdings Inc (AREN)

[TallTrader]

Fox bought Scout.com for reported $60mil

Jim Heckman is back at the helm of Scout.com, the sports network that sold to Fox in 2005

Jim Heckman must really have a burning desire to run a sports site. The digital media entrepreneur has emerged at the helm of Scout.com, the team-specific sports network that he founded in 2001 and sold to Fox Media for a reported $60 million in 2005.

Business Insider reports that Heckman, a former Yahoo executive who was pushed aside by Marissa Mayer, has partnered with MTV founder and private equity investor Bob Pittman to create a new media conglomerate operating under the name NAMG. One of their most recent deals happens to be Scout.com, with Business Insider suggesting that it is one of the puzzle pieces in building a new media empire outside of Yahoo.

Heckman started his sports publishing career in 1987 after dropping out of the University of Washington (He later earned his degree in communications from the UW). The Port Angeles native — then the son-in-law of the late UW football coach Don James — was at the center of one of the biggest recruiting scandals at UW in the early 90s.

He later founded Rivals.com, a Seattle-based sports network that raised $80 million in venture capital in the late 90s and filed for an initial public offering before cratering in the dot-com bust. The assets were later sold off to a group out of Tennessee, sparking Heckman to create Scout.com as a competitor to his former company.

After Scout.com sold to Fox, Heckman moved up the ladder at the media company, working alongside then Fox Interactive President Ross Levinsohn as a top dealmaker. At the time, Levinsohn described Heckman as “tenacious” and “hard-charging” —attributes he’s used throughout the years to create and (re-create) himself in the media business.

Most recently at Yahoo, Heckman served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Emerging Businesses for the Americas region, a position he picked up after selling his online advertising startup, 5to1.com, to the company.

Scout.com continues to operate a network of team-specific Web sites and magazines, reporting on the inside details of college, high school and professional sports. It operates more than 200 Web sites, specializing in recruiting information for players.

Heckman’s arrival back at the helm comes amid a changing media landscape, especially as it relates to sports information. Vox Media recently raised $40 million in venture funding to help build out its SB Nation sports site, as well as its tech news site The Verge. (Vox also just today acquired Curbed Network, the online real estate media company, for $20 million to $30 million).

We’ve reached out to Heckman for comment, and we’ll update this post as we hear more about his plans.

Love tech and sports? Sign up for our GeekWire Sports email newsletter for ongoing coverage of the innovations transforming the world of sports.

http://www.geekwire.com/2013/jim-heckman-helm-scoutcom-sports-network-sold-fox-2005/