Sports Illustrated Done

[DSMCy]

Been coming for a while but still a sad day.
Most, if not all, of the Sports Illustrated staff is being let go.

Grew up getting SI Kids, then the full Sports Illustrated. That subscription was a Christmas gift I looked forward to every year.

 

[Gonzo]

RIP

 

[ISUChippewa]

I grew up with a subscription that I only dropped just a few years ago.

It was easy to see the drop off in quality, as well as the frequency (went from a week to biweekly, may have been down to just monthly?), and I can't say I missed it too much, especially since I subscribe to the Athletic.

But this is still sad to see. Another iconic American brand bites the dust...

 

[Halincandenza]

When I was younger I had a subscription and would read the whole thing every week. I saved all of them too. But I think my step dad threw them out. Probably had it for 10 years

 

[cyfan21]

Damn! I was waiting for one of my sports team to win a championship so I could frame the front cover.

I guess that means my Vikings will never win the Super Bowl now.

 

[cycloneML]

Plenty of gravitas or cache for that brand. Why couldn’t they continue online?

 

[CascadeClone]

I preferred the Sporting News. Less pictures, more stats.

Surely someone will buy the rights to the Swimsuit Issue and keep that going, right? Although with infinite pron available free, is there much point in a swimsuit issue?

 

[DSMCy]

Plenty of gravitas or cache for that brand. Why couldn’t they continue online?

They’ve tried but clearly hasn’t worked.
IMO it was the physical magazine that had the value. Places like Grantland and the Athletic have shown you can hire good writers and make it work.

SI changed from a weekly magazine to monthly in January 2020.

 

[houjix]

Damn! I was waiting for one of my sports team to win a championship so I could frame the front cover.

I guess that means my Vikings will never win the Super Bowl now.

Got mine when KC won SB LIV. Although I think it was the special publication and not the weekly magazine.

 

[4cy16]

I had a subscription for about 50 years before giving it up a couple of years ago when they went to once a month. I would read it each week from cover to cover. At first I missed it but now I make up for it by reading cyclonefanatic from cover to cover.

 

[mywayorcyway]

A shame to see it go...like others, I had a subscription for many years growing up.

When I had occasionally ran into one of their articles online recently, it felt a bit TMZish. Certainly not what I remember.

 

[Drew0311]

Dang where am I gonna get my Martha Stewart in a swimsuit fix now. Screw those hotties they used to put on that mag. I wanted old and big girls. Ok Maybe I didn't.

 

[Bret44]

Man, the days in Middle School I had to make sure I beat my parents home from school so I could grab the Swimsuit Edition from the mail before she could.

Those were the days.

 

[VeloClone]

Still have my Marcus Fizer cover picture issue around here somewhere. Should probably frame it and put it in our ISU shrine.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I honestly don't have strong feelings one way or the other. There used to be so few resources for sports information and news that you'd subscribe to a magazine just to get the odd mention of your favorite teams. Now you have multiple options to absolutely wallow in that information daily.

 

[CyCrazy]

I didnt know they were still around.

 

[Cloneon]

I hate to say it, but ineptitude of management. It happens everywhere. Even Google's recent layoffs are indicative of management not 'branching' into profitable arenas and re-mobilizing their staff. 80% of the companies I've worked with over my lifetime are out-of-business. 80% of the companies I invested in, but were acquired are now-defunct along with their product. When I attended ISU, the mantra was if you can't make it in a science or engineering discipline you went and got a business degree. And we wonder why companies fail.

 

[pourcyne]

So, SI will become AI?

Here's what ChatBing had to say about it:

According to a recent report by CNN Business, the future of Sports Illustrated is uncertain after the owner of the magazine and website laid off most or “probably all” of its guild-represented staff . The magazine’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, has owned the magazine and website since 2019. It sold the publishing rights to Arena Group, but the company missed a recent payment for those publishing rights and revoked them, the publisher said in its memo .

This is not the first time that Sports Illustrated has faced difficulties. In December 2023, the Arena Group fired Sports Illustrated’s CEO Ross Levinsohn after an embarrassing debacle in which Sports Illustrated was caught publishing stories with fake author names and profile photos generated by artificial intelligence .

Don't worry, though, there will be a swimsuit issue...

​

 

[Cyclonepride]

So, SI will become AI?

Here's what ChatBing had to say about it:

According to a recent report by CNN Business, the future of Sports Illustrated is uncertain after the owner of the magazine and website laid off most or “probably all” of its guild-represented staff . The magazine’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, has owned the magazine and website since 2019. It sold the publishing rights to Arena Group, but the company missed a recent payment for those publishing rights and revoked them, the publisher said in its memo .

This is not the first time that Sports Illustrated has faced difficulties. In December 2023, the Arena Group fired Sports Illustrated’s CEO Ross Levinsohn after an embarrassing debacle in which Sports Illustrated was caught publishing stories with fake author names and profile photos generated by artificial intelligence .

Don't worry, though, there will be a swimsuit issue...

View attachment 122463​

Maybe it will improve, but articles written by AI are so stilted, repetitive and have a weird roundabout way of describing things that it just leaps off the page.

 

[GMackey32]

My first introduction to SI was SI for Kids when I was about 8 years old, pre-internet being a big thing. That's where I learned about of different athletes who weren't on my favorite teams. Eventually grew into the traditional SI. Sucks seeing your childhood go away.