The new boss of search engine giant Yahoo! has sealed his first deal buying US college sports website Rivals.com for an unknown sum.Jerry Yang, who has replaced Terry Semel as chief executive of the firm, has made the decision just a few days into his new job in a move described as highlighting Yahoo!'s "mission to connect people with their passions, communities and the world's knowledge".
The new site will sit independently within Yahoo! Sports, which last month attracted 15.1 million visitors thanks to its popular fantasy football league.
Yahoo!'s new head of news, Scott Moore, said: "Among the more than half billion people who touch the Yahoo! brand every month, we find that sports fans are among the most passionate.
"We're now best-positioned to serve this important audience in the US."
He added: "Jerry is very excited about it."
Rivals.com already has 185,000 subscribers who pay $10 (five pounds) a month for the privilege and visitors to the site use it to keep up with all the latest news and information on college sports - with the focus mainly on American football and basketball.
It follows the achievements of more than 100 US colleges, as well as highlighting the triumphs of high school players who may have potential for a sports scholarship.
Chief executive of Rivals.com, Shannon Terry, said that it was looking forward to merging the "two of the leading brands in online sports" and added that the site was keen to continue to develop the vibrant online sports community.
