The owner of Sports Illustrated said he has chosen a new company to publish the magazine, and the deal could resolve a number of the recent disputes surrounding the famed publication and continue publishing in print.
Authentic Brands Group, which owns the mental property rights to Sports Illustrated in addition to stars comparable to Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali, said it has entered into a long-term agreement to license the publishing rights to Sports Illustrated to Minute Media, a digital media company on sports.
Minute Media’s license for Sports Illustrated will be renewed for 10 years, with an option to increase to a total of 30 years, on the magazine’s a centesimal anniversary. The two corporations expect the deal, which also includes Sports Illustrated’s Swim brand, to last a full 30 years. The corporations declined to reveal financial terms, but said Authentic Brands Group would acquire a stake in Minute Media as a part of the deal.
The transaction is a significant expansion of Minute Media, a New York-based company founded in 2011, whose holdings include: sports portals Players’ Tribune AND on the fans side — generate over $400 million in revenue annually.
Sports Illustrated has been in turmoil for months, the results of a corporate tug of war between the corporate that owns the enduring magazine and the energy drink giant whose executives run it. The deal begins immediately and effectively wrests Sports Illustrated’s operations from Arena Group, the digital media company that has run the magazine since 2019 and threatens to finish its print edition.
An Arena Group spokesman said the corporate had been informed of the agreement with the new licensee and had no other details.
It’s a new chapter for Sports Illustrated, which published its first issue in 1954. Asaf Peled, chief executive of Minute Media, said in an interview that he plans to continue the print edition of Sports Illustrated.
“In the current digital era, building your own brand and making people know and admire it is still not a trivial matter and quite difficult,” Peled said. “So whenever the opportunity arises to collaborate and grow an iconic brand like Sports Illustrated, take it.”
Sports Illustrated has been in limbo for months. In January, Authentic Brands Group revoked Arena Group’s license to operate the warehouse after the corporate didn’t pay a $3.75 million licensing fee. That month, Arena Group – which continued to operate Sports Illustrated even though it was in violation of its licensing agreement – told Sports Illustrated employees that many could be laid off and notified others that they’d remain employed for 90 days. Last week, Arena Group executives told employees they’d stop printing the magazine after the May issue.
Minute Media plans to expand the magazine’s publishing operations globally, Peled said, and rehire a number of the staff laid off by Arena Group. He added that he won’t know the way many employees will return until Minute Media begins operations this week.
Peled said Minute Media focused on “creating short-form sports content,” producing video, audio and text to be used on mobile devices. It owns Fansided, which features articles and podcasts for sports fans and was owned for several years by former Sports Illustrated publisher Time Inc.; and the Players’ Tribune, which publishes videos and essays by athletes and was founded by Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. Peled said he also desires to continue Sports Illustrated’s tradition of in-depth journalism.
“This is an exception to our core strategy, but it’s not the first time we’ve done it,” Peled said.
