# Sports Illustrated on the verge of oblivion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 19, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343 "2024-01-19T17:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/1 "2024-01-19T17:53:29Z")
> ABG has owned the magazine since 2019 and sold the publishing rights to a company called the Arena Group. The Arena Group missed a recent payment for those publishing rights, prompting ABG to pull the publishing license and putting the future of Sports Illustrated in jeopardy. > **[Sports Illustrated lays off most of its staff, threatening iconic brand’s future](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/01/19/sports-illustrated-layoffs/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzA1NjQwNDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzA3MDIyNzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MDU2NDA0MDAsImp0aSI6ImE2NGUzMzFjLWUwYmMtNGRjYi1iYTdhLTM0MzU3ZTNhZWM4MyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvMjAyNC8wMS8xOS9zcG9ydHMtaWxsdXN0cmF0ZWQtbGF5b2Zmcy8ifQ.GlGDYFUouPOuhOD_gcPkc5x0CJsJZJ11xLQYjso3ogs&itid=gfta)** > > Much of the staff of Sports Illustrated, and possibly all remaining writers and editors, received layoff notices Friday, which essentially could spell the end of a publication that for decades was the gold standard of sports journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/2 "2024-01-19T18:48:33Z")
Maybe they could turn it into just a swimsuit magazine? It might be profitable then. (I wish that was fully a joke but there’s probably truth to it.) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/3 "2024-01-19T18:50:57Z")
Probably wouldn’t be profitable – does Playboy even publish anything anymore? There’s an infinite number of bikini pics available for free. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/4 "2024-01-19T19:15:19Z")
That’s what they get for putting an image of Sports Illustrated on the cover. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/5 "2024-01-19T19:20:37Z")
Ha! Very meta. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/6 "2024-01-19T19:39:41Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > There’s an infinite number of bikini pics available for free. Sure, if you just want to ogle women in bikinis most people can do so from a number of devices for free. But I remember this was a prestigious thing, getting on the cover was a big deal and if you even made it in then it was an accomplishment. These weren’t just women in bikinis, they were “special” women in bikinis. They even used to have TV shows where they interviewed the models and showed them preparing for the photoshoots and being photographed. Maybe it’s not a big thing anymore. I wouldn’t really know, it was never a big deal to me and I never paid a lot of attention to it. I only knew about it when it was discussed or profiled in other media. As far as the sports side of things, we’re so oversaturated with sports media that it’s hard for anyone to stand out. I get info from SI’s online articles but that’s a tiny percentage of the media I consume. I get more from radio, podcasts, and apps created for the teams I follow, as well as countless other sites. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/7 "2024-01-19T19:58:42Z")
I can see it becoming an online-only brand. I remember when, if you were interested in women’s basketball, it pretty much was an online-only brand, as when the NCAA women’s championship game was played on Tuesday nights, it was too late to be covered in that week’s issue, so there was a box telling the readers to go online for SI’s coverage. (I used to joke that the person who got the most women’s basketball coverage in print issues was Don Imus.) What is happening with _Sports Illustrated_ in terms of publishing happened a few years ago with _Entertainment Weekly_, which went from weekly to biweekly to monthly to online-only and “go read _People_ instead.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/8 "2024-01-19T20:06:27Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Maybe they could turn it into just a swimsuit magazine? It might be profitable then. There were attempts at that. Back around twenty years ago, a few magazines were launched which were essentially a monthly version of SI’s annual swimsuit issue. None of them have survived. Magazines are a dying format. The minor magazines have already died and now the big names are falling. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/9 "2024-01-19T20:17:11Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > does Playboy even publish anything anymore? Playboy’s last issue was published in 2020. The magazine had ceased to be profitable years before then but the company that owns the name is making money from selling licensing rights. The main reason the magazine was kept in print was that part of the deal when the new owners bought the company in 2011 was they had to keep publishing the magazine as long as Hefner was alive. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/10 "2024-01-19T20:21:54Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > But I remember this was a prestigious thing, getting on the cover was a big deal and if you even made it in then it was an accomplishment. Right, but if it was monthly, instead of annual, it would only be 1/12 as big of a deal. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/11 "2024-01-19T20:22:40Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Right, but if it was monthly, instead of annual, it would only be 1/12 as big of a deal. Yeah, true, and if it was just an annual magazine that’s not a lot of revenue. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/12 "2024-01-19T20:31:20Z")
No sign on the [si.com](http://si.com) website that Sports Illustrated is circling the drain. I can’t remember when in the distant past I subscribed to the magazine, and mostly stopped visiting the website when it began hiding a sizable percentage of its best stories behind a paywall. It also got into the habit of spending a lot of time snarking at ESPN (whose own website has paywalled a lot of articles). It’s too bad SI seems close to shutting down altogether (not easy to maintain a website without reporters and editors, unless they think AI will fill the gap). > [@](#): > > ABG has sought to monetize the SI brand with planned [resorts](https://siresorts.com/), casinos and [brain energy pills](https://pureprescriptions.com/product/brain-formula-sports-illustrated-nutrition/) Yeah, that worked great. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/13 "2024-01-19T20:39:41Z")
I forgot that I once had a year’s subscription to SI as a gift (about a decade ago). It wasn’t bad and as a football fan they had some great stories. But it wasn’t better than anything I could get online and I didn’t even consider renewing. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/14 "2024-01-19T20:40:52Z")
Did it come with a Sports Illustrated football phone? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/15 "2024-01-19T20:44:49Z")
Damn I wish! I’d still have that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/16 "2024-01-19T21:06:12Z")
Lump it in there with Popular Science and National Geographic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/17 "2024-01-19T21:34:06Z")
There was a bit of a schism between SI and its staff when they apparently published SI AI which used GPT, annoying the SIWU^ and resulting in an alleged TIATP.^ ^Sports Illustrated Writers Union, or whatevs Tempest in a Tea Pot ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/18 "2024-01-19T22:25:57Z")
The Sporting News was for the serious baseball fans. I wonder if it’s still around? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/19 "2024-01-19T22:31:48Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > I wonder if it’s still around? It exists [as a web site](https://www.sportingnews.com/us). > **[The Sporting News](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sporting_News)** > > The Sporting News is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a print magazine. It became the dominant American publication covering baseball, acquiring the nickname "The Bible of Baseball". > From 2002 to February 2022, it was known simply as Sporting News. In December 2012, The Sporting News ended print publication and shi... The print magazine ended publication back in 2012. I know its articles pop up now and then when I’m looking up sports info. It’s decent. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343/20 "2024-01-20T00:57:41Z")
I was an avid SI reader, from high school on. I had a print subscription for years, and the SI website was my go-to online source for sports info for a long time, as well. Peter King and Paul Zimmerman were must-reads for an NFL fan, and Tom Verducci was similar for baseball fans. But, that was years ago. I haven’t read a print edition of the magazine in a long while, and I gave up on the website probably about the same time that ABG and Arena took over; there grew to be little that you could read on it without a subscription, and what was there was to read was often poorly-written. The good writers and columnists were long gone by that point. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-illustrated-on-the-verge-of-oblivion/996343.md?page=2)