https://frontofficesports.com/...taff-future-unclear/

Staffers at Sports Illustrated were notified on Friday of massive layoffs—some immediately, others in short time.

Authentic, the licensing group that purchased Sports Illustrated for $110 million from Meredith five years ago, has terminated the agreement it holds with The Arena Group to publish SI in print and digital, according to an email obtained by Front Office Sports. That move comes three weeks after Arena missed a $3.75 million payment that breached the company’s SI licensing deal, which began in 2019. (Authentic’s notice of termination, meanwhile, triggered a $45 million fee due immediately to Authentic, according to an SEC filing on Friday.)

The fallout: On Friday Arena told SI employees in an email “… We were notified by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) that the license under which the Arena Group operates the Sports Illustrated (SI) brand and SI related properties has been officially revoked by ABG. As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.” According to SI union sources, severed guild members will be given 90 days’ notice (during which time there remains the chance that the licensing deal is resolved); and laid-off non-guild employees will be let go immediately. As of midday Friday, there remained massive confusion about the depth of the layoffs, but staffers who spoke to FOS said they would cut deep.

“Some employees will be terminated immediately, and paid in lieu of the applicable notice period under the [the union contract],” Arena’s email to staffers said. “Employees with a last working day of today will be contacted by the People team soon. Other employees will be expected to work through the end of the notice period, and will receive additional information shortly.” (An Arena spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOS when contacted about the layoff plans.)

Friday afternoon, the Sports Illustrated Guild wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue.”

Authentic’s move to terminate Arena’s license and Arena’s eliminating SI’s staff signals a shift in the company that operates SI, weeks after Manoj Bhargava, the founder of 5-Hour Energy, introduced himself to employees of Arena, including SI, as their new leader. Since then, Authentic has had exploratory conversations with and reached out to multiple parties about the possibility of taking over Arena’s role with SI, industry sources with knowledge of the situation tell FOS.

It’s unclear whether Authentic will indeed pursue the path of establishing a new operator or will now allow Arena to renegotiate its current deal. Sources tell FOS, though, that Authentic’s goal is to move the process along as quickly as possible. One way or another, says one insider, “Authentic will see Sports Illustrated through a necessary evolution.”

SI, meanwhile, has struggled to find its financial foothold in the digital age, culminating in a November report that suggested its website had published AI-generated reviews without disclosure. That fiasco was followed by a head-scratching town hall in December led by Bhargava with SI and other Arena employees that spanned more than 90 minutes and during which Bhargava said, “No one is important. I am not important. … The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.” Bhargava’s Simplify Inventions agreed to purchase roughly 65% of Arena in August, a $50 million deal.

Authentic acquired SI from Meredith in May 2019. The Arena Group—operating as Maven, before changing its name in 2021—then paid Authentic $45 million up front as part of a 10-year licensing agreement. Until a month ago, Ross Levinsohn led SI and Arena as Arena began to purchase other struggling media outlets, such as Men’s Journal.

Authentic, sources close to the situation tell FOS, has been irked by Arena in recent years as SI has instituted multiple rounds of layoffs, run off top talent such as Grant Wahl, and undergone constant leadership changes. Authentic’s contact with potential replacement operators predates Arena’s recent missed payment, sources with knowledge of the situation tell FOS.

In addition to Friday’s SI layoffs, Arena fired more than 100 employees on Thursday throughout its organization. But Bhargava, who was tapped as Arena’s interim CEO on Dec. 11, didn’t make those cost-cutting moves. That’s because Bhargava stepped down from that position on Jan. 5 “to avoid any conflicts of interest,” according to an SEC filing. That conflict: Bridge Media Networks, a company completely owned by Bhargava, is in negotiations to make “a substantial investment” in Arena, according to the Arena news release that announced the Thursday cuts. The layoffs were carried out instead by Arena execs, its board of directors, and Jason Frankl, of FTI Consulting, who was appointed as Arena’s chief business transformation officer the same day Bhargava resigned, according to SEC filings.

“My immediate focus is to collaboratively design a growth-oriented media company, ensuring the financial stability necessary to cultivate and grow the brands we cherish,” Frankl said in a statement. “While this week’s layoffs were regrettably necessary, I look forward to sharing detailed plans soon.”

Wow. Who could have seen this coming? Probably attributable to "changing consumer demand and reading habits."

SI - Totally irrelevant and deserves to die.

My dad was a subscriber when I was a kid, and I looked forward to its arrival every week. After I left home, I subscribed myself for some number of years. Then it changed. It’s been a long, long time since I got the magazine, like ESPN, AFAIK, it’s only gotten worse.

I still have a couple of the swimsuit editions from the '80s and early '90s. Real women, photographed with Kodachrome in exotic locations...ah, the memories.

quote:

Originally posted by rat2306:
I still have a couple of the swimsuit editions from the '80s and early '90s. Real women, photographed with Kodachrome in exotic locations...ah, the memories.

Since then... Kate Upton and Nina Agdal have been right up there.

The convoluted setup of owner, licenser, manager, etc. seems to be part of the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by rat2306:
I still have a couple of the swimsuit editions from the '80s and early '90s. Real women, photographed with Kodachrome in exotic locations...ah, the memories.

Since then... Kate Upton and Nina Agdal have been right up there.

I may have the first one of Kate on the cover stashed away also.

I don't think I've looked at a Sports Illustrated since the 80's.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:

quote:

Originally posted by rat2306:
ah, the mammaries.

My dad had a SI subscription for most, if not all of the 80's. I remember fondly Cheryl Tiegs in the early 80's

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:

quote:

Originally posted by rat2306:
ah, the mammaries.

That was the breast reply.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:

quote:

Originally posted by rat2306:
ah, the mammaries.

That was the breast reply.

Some guys are leg men, I like asbestos.

The trannys have worked out so well for so many companies.

No shit, got the calendar and thought "There's no way in hell, I can rub one out to that." Had to go dig out the vintage Sears catalog.

I really enjoyed reading Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column every Monday morning during football season. He retired in 2018 about the time SI got new owners.

The only other SI writer I followed was Grant Wahl on world cup soccer. Reading Grant was really the only reading I did on the subject. SI was in trouble 3 years ago and had layoffs. Grant accepted a 30% salary reduction during the pandemic but the owners wanted to make it permanent. Grant protested, and they fired him.

SI has had several rounds of layoffs in the last few years. I'm not surprised they went under. It was a once great brand, but they were firmly in the woke camp. Someone else will buy it up and try and make a go of it.

I will miss it if only from seeing Cheryl Tiegs and Paulina Porizkova in the swimsuit editions back in my middle school days.

Go woke, go broke. Needs to happen to a great deal more organizations.

“Everything woke turns to shit.” - PDJT

I kind of figured after the AI scandal a few months ago that they would be making some changes.

BBC article that also reviews the AI scandal

From the distance as a consumer, it seems like they sunk a ton of resources and capitol into their swimsuit edition at the expense of quality content. Trying to pump-up and hype a once-a-year periodical into something bigger than it really is, instead of putting out well written and interesting articles associated with sports. The Athletic seems to have become the gathering of core sport-scribes, where they can continue their long-form craft, and leave the click-bait and headlines to the big corporate platforms.