Sports Illustrated (SI), the venerable bible of sports journalism, has been in decline for years as the Internet decimated print magazines and cost-cutting turned the weekly into a monthly and reduced its staff.
But on January 19, the magazine received perhaps its hardest blow yet.
The company that publishes SI said in an e-mail to employees that it was laying off many of them.
The move came after the publication's license was revoked by the Arena Group, which publishes the magazine and website under a complex management structure.
SI reporters and editors on Jan. 19 were asked to attend a Zoom call at 2 p.m. ET (3 a.m. Jan. 20, Singapore time). It lasted only seven minutes.
In the call, Mr. Jay Frankl, Arena's newly hired director of business transformation, said, “We will continue to produce the Sports Illustrated brand and online content until the situation is fully resolved.”
This was according to a recording of the meeting heard by the New York Times. No questions asked.
Some SI staff received e-mails with immediate layoff notices, while others were told in further Zoom meetings that they would keep their jobs for at least 90 days. About 100 journalists work for SI.
Arena executives told SI staff they plan to continue publishing the magazine and website despite the publication's license being revoked. But it wasn't immediately clear how that would work.
It was also unclear whether the magazine's owner, Authentic Brands Group, would sign a new deal with Arena or find a new company to operate it.
But it seems certain that even if SI survives in some form, it will be greatly diminished.
The mood among staff members in the wake of the layoff announcement was a mixture of anger, frustration and confusion.
Journalists at SI texted and messaged each other on Slack, unsure in some cases who had been fired and what the journal's ultimate fate would be.
For decades, SI was a must-have weekly for sports fans and a financial engine for the Time Inc. empire. At one time, it had more than three million subscribers and its writing, reporting and photography were considered the pinnacle of sports journalism. .
Landing on the cover was the most coveted endorsement an athlete could receive, even in the age of television and the Internet.
And his annual swimsuit issue was a pop culture phenomenon.
“I think it's one of the best magazines ever, with some of the best photographers, writers and editors ever in one building,” said Rick Reilly, who for years wrote the magazine's popular backpage column. .
He added: “If it's really dead, it's dead.”
