For Yahoo, it’s a substantial investment in media at a time when the company’s every move is under a microscope. Yahoo Sports is part of SVP Scott Moore’s portfolio. He explained the acquisition in an interview Wednesday:

-- “From a business standpoint, they have a robust subscription business around their communities. We think that is highly leverage-able. They’ve really become vertical social networks.” Rivals has about 185,000 subscribers who pay $99.95 annually or $9.95 a month; most are annual subs. The company turned profitable in the past 12-18 months.

-- Rivals.com relies on an extensive network of local publishers; due diligence on those contracts took considerable time but Moore said the distribution deals were assignable.