A copy of Sports Illustrated in New York in 2021 (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Cindy Ord)
Sports Illustrated magazine, an institution of American journalism, has received a lifeline thanks to a “long-term partnership” concluded with a new publisher by the owner of its rights, the parties concerned announced on Monday.
“Minute Media, specialist in global sports and technology content, and Authentic Brands Group, global platform and owner of Sports Illustrated, today announce a long-term partnership to support the future of the SI brand”, specify the three parties in a joint press release.
According to an ABG spokesperson, the partnership is for a period of ten years, with an option for two extensions of an additional ten years each.
The American press union announced on January 19 that the majority of the magazine’s editorial staff would be laid off by The Arena Group, its publisher, then in the process of restructuring.
“Sports Illustrated employees were informed today by The Arena Group that it plans to lay off a significant number, possibly all, of SI’s unionized employees,” the New York branch of the press union wrote, the NewsGuild.
This decision was the consequence of the revocation of a licensing agreement between Arena Group and Authentic Brands Group, after the former missed a payment deadline at the end of December.
In a press release, The Arena Group confirmed a “significant reduction” in its workforce, which amounted to just over 100 people, without specifying how many worked for Sports Illustrated. The company also manages the sites TheStreet and Parade.
According to a source close to the matter, Sports Illustrated’s staff then numbered around seventy employees.
Sports Illustrated has passed from hand to hand in recent years as its commercial trajectory followed that of the moribund print media.
Sports Illustrated and its parent company, Time Inc, were separated from the Time Warner empire in 2014, before being bought by the Meredith Corporation press group in 2018. The latter sold SI to Authentic Brands in 2019, for 110 millions of dollars.
Launched in 1954, “SI”, its nickname, was the first American magazine to reach the threshold of one million copies sold per week, a circulation that would rise to around 3.5 million at its peak, at the beginning from the 1990s.
According to a second source close to the matter, circulation currently reaches around one million copies per week.
The magazine is famous beyond the sports world for its famous annual “Swimsuit Issue”, which features models and professional athletes in swimsuits.
© 2024 AFP
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