First, the weekly print edition of Sports Illustrated was cut, bringing distribution down to twice a month. Now, the famed sports publication will print just once per month.
The news of the print cuts, first reported by Yahoo, comes just six weeks after Sports Illustrated’s new publisher laid off more than 40 employees with plans to replace them with contractors. In May, Meredith Corp. sold the intellectual property around Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands for $110 million. From there, Authentic Brands licensed the media operations to TheMaven, a digital publisher.
Representatives for Sports Illustrated and Authentic Brands did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment, but co-editor Stephen Cannella told the New York Post that the magazine “will be essentially a monthly with four season-preview issues and the SI Swimsuit for a total of 17 issues.”
He declared that “the age of the weekly is over,” but maintained to the Post that Sports Illustrated is “still committed to premium storytelling.”
He also told that newspaper that there will be no further cuts and, in fact, Sports Illustrated will “be building staff.”
Sports Illustrated isn’t the only sports publication in flux after corporate reshuffling. As of the first of this month, no writers or editors remain on staff at Deadspin, the sports and culture website that saw a mass exodus of staffers six months after a private equity firm Great Hill Partners acquired the site as part of G/O Media and pressed major editorial changes.