News

More Layoffs at Sports Illustrated

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 31st, 2020 · 9:21 AM EDT

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Bad time to work for Sports Illustrated.

Back in October, there was a massive round of layoffs after previous owner Meredith decided to sell to a new company, which licensed the publishing rights to a group called TheMaven. Nearly half of the staff was let go.

Fast forward five months, and more cuts are taking place, via Sara Fischer at Axios:

https://twitter.com/sarafischer/status/1244738657212301313?s=20

Chris Ballard was the name I recognized the most. He wrote NBA stories and specialized in long form pieces:

After almost 20 years, today is my last at Sports Illustrated. Hell of a ride. I got to work alongside childhood idols, collaborate with some of the best editors in the business, and live out a dream. Best job in the world, I always said, and it was. A few thoughts: pic.twitter.com/oOpWvWEJVl

— Chris Ballard (@Chris_Ballard33) March 31, 2020

Other people let go:

• Tom Mantzouranis (senior video producer)
• Jack Dickey (editor and writer)
• Kalyn Kahler (writer)
• Sarah Kwak (editor)
• other editorial staff

Seems like this is just the beginning. We’re gonna hear about more furloughs and layoffs and cuts as sports media outlets try to navigate a world in which there are no sports.

Locally, there hasn’t been much movement thus far, with the Inquirer reassigning a few sports writers to news beats as a short-term solution. NFL free agency and and the upcoming draft have been critical in keeping the gears grinding here in Philly, but I do wonder what happens when that well dries up in May or June if the arenas remain empty.

Something to keep an eye on.