Ad Disclosure
Sports Illustrated Overhaul Will See More Than 40 Positions Eliminated
Published:
Feels like we write one of these stories every week.
Sports Illustrated is the latest media outlet/publication to be stripped down and re-worked, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that owners are planning to axe more than three-dozen full time jobs and hire a bunch of freelancers instead.
WSJ:
TheMaven Inc., which earlier this year licensed the rights to Sports Illustrated’s print and digital publications, is planning to eliminate more than 40 positions at the sports media bible as part of a broader overhaul, according to people familiar with the matter.
The employees are expected to receive notice this week that their jobs are being cut, according to the people. Some of the notifications will be delivered as soon as Thursday, they said.
The total number of employees at Sports Illustrated couldn’t be learned.
TheMaven is planning to hire as many as 200 contract workers in coming months to cover sports, one of the people said.
Former owner Meredith sold Sports Illustrated to a licensing company called Authentic Brands Group for ~$110 million this summer. ABG then licensed publishing rights to TheMaven for $45 million and royalty payments, according to the article.
I haven’t seen anything floating around out there yet RE: specific people losing their jobs, but you’ll probably see those announcements, unfortunately, trickle down on social media shortly.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com