It used to not be this way years ago. Rivals can blame it's inability to address the rampant banning that goes on for the death of most open forums.
Many fans don't even bother to go to other sites because if you have a different opinion you often get banned. The thousands of fans on the Rivals Main Board are proof of the numbers of fans who take the time to leave their home board.
Hell, I got banned from the Florida board without ever posting there. I went to make my first post and I was banned. I had lurked their but never posted. The lifetime ban of posters killed the open forums.