To say that Friday’s reports of Sports Illustrated meeting a swift demise sent shockwaves through the sports world would be an understatement. After just one email sent to the staff of SI, the once lauded institution became a fraction of what it used to be.
In a statement released Friday, the Sports Illustrated Union and the NewsGuild of New York said, "Earlier today the workers of Sports Illustrated were notified that The Arena Group is planning to lay off a significant number, possibly all, of the Guild-represented workers at SI, a result of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) revoking Arena's license to publish SI.”
Lousy ownership and management. SI was owned by Time, Inc. until 2018 when it was sold to The Arena Group, who allowed ABG to license SI and operate editorial operations. The marriage worked (from an outsider’s perspective, those involved may disagree) until ABG announced The Arena Group’s license had been terminated due to a missed payment. It’s always about money, isn’t it?
Just after 11 a.m., the news broke that SI would change as we knew it. While it was assumed that the giant was shutting down for good, ABG revealed later that afternoon that the former titan would continue operations. After mass layoffs, of course.
Many may breathe a sigh of relief knowing that SI isn’t dead, but it’s only delaying the inevitable. The damage had been done in 2019, according to former SI writer and current On3 reporter Andy Staples via social media, but the fat lady began clearing her throat after SI’s AI controversy two months ago. Deserved public backlash ensued after reports that SI had been using artificial intelligence to write some articles. The articles weren’t anything hard-hitting, but it was still enough of a crime against journalism to warrant criticism and then some. The Arena Group fired its CEO a month later.
The controversy left many upset towards SI. Now, many are just sad.
Now that we’re all caught up, think for a moment about all the iconic sports images from yesteryear. Think of those awesome magazine covers. If you can’t visualize any, just do a quick Google search. Your memory will be quickly jogged if you grew up a sports fan.
We would be here for quite a long time if I decided to name every athlete to don the cover of SI, but a few include LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Joe Namath, Bo Jackson, Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Tom Brady. Perhaps Columbia High’s greatest export, Walter Payton, was SI’s cover star multiple times. In fact, I believe a copy or two of some of those issues are displayed inside the high school. If you were on the cover of the Sports Illustrated magazine, you were a made man or woman.
While I personally did not have a long-lived subscription to SI, I always admired their work. I still have a cutout of Bryce Harper’s feature hung in my bedroom at my mom’s house. I never rooted for the Washington Nationals, but there was just something about the artwork and cool factor that stood out. I had to have it on my wall. As I’m sure was the case with many youths who have picked up one of their magazines.
While it is sad to think about an institution crumbling away, an eagle losing its wings, it also brings a feeling of gloom and doom. In the sports world, if it wasn’t the king, it was certainly on Mount Rushmore. SI was a destination, a dream job for many who strove to get started in this field. If that can collapse, what does it mean for the little guy?
In the face of an industry facing challenges never seen before, all I know is that we in the business will keep going. I just can’t help but feel for those out there either unemployed or may soon be. It’s an unfortunate truth, but that’s just the way it is. We’ll always have the good times, and we’ll always have the “Sweetness” covers.
