The future of the iconic sports magazine, Sports Illustrated, is in doubt after staff were told they would be losing their jobs in a bombshell letter that was leaked on Friday.
The Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, told staff on Friday morning that its licence was being revoked.
And because of that revocation “we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand”, the Arena Group said in an email.
Watch the latest sport on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>
Authentic Brands Group — which owns the Sports Illustrated brand and had been licensing it to Arena — later said it hoped to keep Sports Illustrated going.
But Sports Illustrated’s employee union said in a statement that the layoffs would be a “significant number” and “possibly all” of the NewsGuild workers represented.
Former employee Richard Deitsch shared the letter on social media.
“We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company,” NFL editor and unit chair Mitch Goldich said in a statement.
“It is a fight we will continue.”
The guild’s statement also called for Authentic to “ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years”.
Sports Illustrated has had a rough six years.
It was acquired by Meredith Publishing in 2018 as part of the purchase of Time Inc., which started the magazine in 1954.
Less than a year later, Meredith sold the magazine’s intellectual property to Authentic for $110 million. Authentic owns the intellectual property of many brands and stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali and Reebok.
Once a weekly publication, Sports Illustrated was reduced to biweekly publishing in 2018, and later became a monthly in 2020.
The magazine was in the news again at the end of last year when it removed all AI-generated content from its site.
The AI content that was deleted was written by fake reporters who had AI-generated headshots and made-up biographies.
Following that website scrub, the Arena Group then fired the magazine’s CEO Ross Levinsohn.
But the board later said the dismissal was about a need to “improve the operational efficiency and revenue of the company” and did not mention the AI content.
There is still hope that SI will continue in some form and the company is negotiating with Arena and other publishing entities to determine who will do that, according to an insider.
Until those negotiations are resolved, it’s unclear which journalists would actually do the work of making Sports Illustrated.
In a statement on Friday, the Arena Group said it was negotiating with Authentic about the licence, “with plans to sustain our commitment to delivering quality content throughout the ongoing discussions”.
Arena admitted that it had failed to make a quarterly payment of $3.75 million (US) and Authentic had put it on notice that it intended to end the licensing agreement. As a result, Arena announced on Thursday that it would make a “significant reduction” in its workforce of more than 100 people.
Writer and editor Mitch Goldich took to social media to announce that it was his last day at Sports Illustrated.
“It was a true dream job for me, and I am thankful to have had some amazing opportunities over the past 9+ years. I’m sure I will have a little more to say later.”
Industry types and fans of the magazine expressed their shock and sadness after hearing the magazine could go belly up.
Popular sports journalist and presenter Rachel Nichols said: “Very sad for my Sports Illustrated friends today, and for all of us who loved everything it used to be.“
And ESPN’s Kevin Clark said: “A Sports Illustrated cover was, for decades, the number one starmaking vehicle in sports.
“It was what Carson was for a comedian or SNL was for a band. *Sports* is worse off without those things. That things got this bad this quickly is unfathomable and totally avoidable.”
One fan wrote on social media: “This is actually so sad … grew up reading Sports Illustrated.”
Another said: “Wow!! This a sad day in the world of sports journalism. I used to race around my neighborhood every Monday after school to intercept my SI from our mailman before he got to my house. I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on the new issue and see who was on the cover and read every word!!”
But some fans did think the demise of the magazine was inevitable and it belonged to another era.
“Was a great publication before they started using AI to write articles and claiming it was a real person. This should be a warning to all sports media,” another fan said.
– With AP
 "Why men must be aware of breast cancer risks – Firstpost")
