All Sports Illustrated Staffers to be Fired

Townhall ^ | 01/19/2024 | Matt Vespa

[SeekAndFind]

I have no beef with Sports Illustrated, but they made their bed when they went ‘woke’ with the transgender swimsuit edition. It was the most straightforward edition of that publication, and they ruined it. Many ‘Bud Light’ comparisons are being made because the magazine announced that virtually all staff will be fired. The revenue isn’t there to sustain the brand, so this Friday was like the Red Wedding for a lot of people (via Washington Post): 

Devastating news. I grew up reading SI cover to cover. It was a huge influence on me wanting to pursue a career in sports journalism and dive deeper on the stories I wanted to tell.

Another harsh reminder of how fragile this industry is — and how badly we need reader support.


https://t.co/Atyv2aNni2— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) January 19, 2024

Sports Illustrated’s entire staff told they are getting laid off.


https://t.co/ibU9r5Rtvo pic.twitter.com/jT2J40Tnl7— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) January 19, 2024

Very sad news..

The entire staff of Sports Illustrated was notified on Friday that their jobs were being eliminated.

The future of the media business is quite bleak.


https://t.co/qzB4vfb2dV pic.twitter.com/74PnZYQktu— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 19, 2024

Sports Illustrated Bud Lite’d themselves. Nobody wants to see trans dudes and fat chicks in the swimsuit edition.


https://t.co/Go2Qrq36VW— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) January 19, 2024

Much of the staff of Sports Illustrated, and possibly all remaining writers and editors, received layoff notices Friday, which could spell the end of a publication that for decades was the gold standard of sports journalism. 

The union of the staff tweeted Friday that it would continue to fight for the publication of the magazine but that its future is now in the hands of the magazine’s owner, Authentic Brands Group. 

“This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship,” the union said in a statement. “We are calling on ABG to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.” 

The layoffs come amid an ongoing dispute between Authentic Brands Group and the Arena Group, the two companies atop an unusual ownership structure for Sports Illustrated. ABG, which owns the brand, is a licensing company that owns the brands of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Arena Group pays ABG $15 million a year for the rights to publish Sports Illustrated in print and online. 

Earlier this month, the Arena Group missed a $3.75 million payment to ABG, which ABG said violated the terms of its licensing deal. An SEC filing Thursday said Arena’s publishing license was terminated. 

It's a tough break, though Sports Illustrated isn’t the only media company facing tough times. The Washington Post ironically wrote about the layoffs and is also a dumpster fire. Sports journalism should have adhered to the Jordan rule—a nuanced approach or an outright aversion to weighing in on specific political issues. Fans don’t pack stadiums over a player’s position on abortion. It’s annoying but tolerable for the leagues I watch. Soccer is more left-wing, as we saw with the antics of the U.S. women’s national team, but that's not why I avoid the sport. I've never liked soccer.

While it’s maddening to see yet another disappointing New York Giants season, we were warned about the intense friction inside the coach and coordinator’s room throughout the season. Jay Glazer, who covered the Giants for 30 years, dropped that nugget mid-season, and he turned out to be right. Giants Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale left acrimoniously, cussing out head coach Brian Daboll and absconding to Florida. There was finally a clean break with his contract, but not before the details about how the pair could not work together. Who is telling the truth? There are leakers feeding the New York sports media from all sides. It’s up to you, the fans, to decide based on who they find credible. There was no ‘woke’ nonsense—just a saga of how things devolved as the season concluded. 

Ninety minutes down the Jersey Turnpike in Philadelphia, they’re reeling from a disastrous end to their season, becoming the first NFL team to start 10-1 and finish with fewer than 12 wins. They lost five of their last six games despite having the easiest schedule in the entire league to close the season. That city’s sports writing corps is apoplectic, with calls to fire head coach Nick Sirianni, who took this team to the Super Bowl last year, along with discussions about whether franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts was worth the $250+ million bag he was given at the end of the 2022 season. Locker room issues, coaching dysfunction, and a complete breakdown in the offensive and defensive schemes have dominated the discussion in the City of Brotherly Love. Again, there are no politics or ‘woke’ stuff to be threaded here, but I’m sure someone at Deadspin will try, though I don’t know where the hook is.

Sports Illustrated and other publications could have survived if they just stuck to writing about sports. And yes, with the equal pay issue, there was a way to thread this needle. HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel did this well. You jump the shark when you start to tolerate science fiction, like biological men thinking they're women. 

[Ciexyz]

You gotta know your customer base!

[Iron Munro]

The workers have been “Bud-Lighted” by the WOKE idiots in the executive suite !!!

[Iron Munro]

You gotta know your customer base!

They made the same mistake that the mainstream media has made.

They abandoned their mission of informing and entertaining their customer base.

Instead they decided to use their market position to mold minds and force their views on their customers.

They tried ro pull their customers into WOKE Libtard-Land and it backfired on them.

[rxh4n1]

“Go fat, go broke. What guy wants to see pictures of fat women? :)”

Muslims?

[Allegra]

Another thing I enjoyed in the past destroyed by the left.

I was a sports fan growing up and my parents gave me a subscription to SI when I was a teenager. I had it for several years. I always gave the swimsuit edition to my boyfriend.

[jonrick46]

Sports Illustrated with their drag swimsuit issue, pave the way for Mooche.

[verum ago]

Another harsh reminder of how fragile this industry is — and how badly we need reader support.

You're not entitled to "reader support," @ssholes. You have to earn it. You're in an industry: "reader support" is of a transactional nature– you provide the reader something of value and in return they 'support' you– you don't get 'support' because it feels right to you.

Once upon a time you had it, then you actively lost it. You spat on your readers and their values, and drove them away.

You can take your victimhood narrative and shove it, because the people victimizing you are...
...you guys.

Burn in hell, S.I. Just as a man can be good right up until he commits a murder... You deserve your fate.

[verum ago]

The author just doesn't *quite* get it:

I have no beef with Sports Illustrated, but they made their bed when they went ‘woke’ with the transgender swimsuit edition
...
It's a tough break...

All of us 'normies' absolutely 'have a beef' with S.I. because of that sh*t. We'd be crazy not to.

It's not a "tough break." It's FA, FO.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

'I Just Don't Know Where We Went Wrong,' Contemplates Sports Illustrated Executive In Front Of Framed Covers Of Obese, Trans Swimsuit Models

[muir_redwoods]

Okay class, pay attention. Go woke, go broke. Any questions?

[Brooklyn Attitude]

From “Sports Illustrated” to Sports Eliminated.

[Robert357]

Hey, Popular Science also folded its print edition. Most “print” magazines are no longer profitable.

The Hearst Media company had a strange Black Friday offer for the Men’s Health Magazine. If you bought the print magazine only, it was $35/year. If you purchased the print and the electronic versions of Men’s Health, it was $5/year. If you purchases the electronic version only it was about the same as the print version only. You see if they have a certain print media subscription base, they can charge more for the magazine advertising and they were desperate to keep the print media subscription numbers up to keep advertising revenues up.

You look at newspapers, magazines, etc. they are all in financial trouble.

[cherry]

younger people just aren't as much "fanboys" as our older populations....

sports are all rigged anyway so a slow death is to be expected...

[Does so]

Legalizing gambling on sports hasn’t helped.

[WinMod70]

“You gotta know your customer base!”

“They made the same mistake that the mainstream media has made.

They abandoned their mission of informing and entertaining their customer base.

Instead they decided to use their market position to mold minds and force their views on their customers.

They tried ro pull their customers into WOKE Libtard-Land and it backfired on them.”

IMO NASCAR is charging in the same direction. It’s only a matter of time.

[FreedomPoster]

ESG points.

[Adder]

I’ve never liked soccer.

Good for you. Bunch of folks running around aimlessly with little purpose.

That said, SI can fade away into oblivion. Like proverbial fruit, it was once fresh and vibrant but not so much as it lays rotting on the ground.

[Rummyfan]

Another harsh reminder of how fragile this industry is — and how badly we need reader support.

If you need reader support, publish items that readers want to read! What a dipsh*t.

[Locomotive Breath]

Except it will “touch” everything until it’s ALL destroyed. A wasteland is their goal.

[SisterK]

you nailed it