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The publisher of Sports Illustrated has announced to employees that it plans to lay off a significant portion (possibly all) of its staff after its license to use its iconic brand name in print and digital has been revoked. staff members were notified.
Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said in an email to employees Friday morning that Authentic Brands Group has revoked its marketing license.
“As a result of this license revocation, staff working on the SI brand will be laid off,” the email said.
The Sports Illustrated employee union said in a statement that the layoffs will affect a significant number of News Guild employees, possibly all of them.
“As a union, we have fought together to maintain the standards of this prestigious publication we love and to ensure that our employees are treated fairly and commensurate with the value they bring to this company. This is a fight we will continue to fight,” NFL editor and unit chair Mitch Goldich said in a statement.
The Guild’s statement also called on Authentic Brands Group to “ensure the continued publication of SI and enable us to serve our readers in the way we have for nearly 70 years.”
Arena Group acquired publishing rights from ABG in 2019 for at least 10 years. Since then, there have been many obstacles to the group’s management of SI. The magazine fired CEO Ross Levinson in December after the magazine faced public backlash over its alleged use of AI-generated articles.
The iconic sports brand has had a tough six years. It was acquired by Meredith Publishing in 2018 as part of the acquisition of Time Inc., which founded the magazine in 1954.
Less than a year later, Meredith sold the magazine’s intellectual property to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. ABG owns the intellectual property of many brands and stars including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Mohammed He Ali, and Reebok.
SI used to be a weekly magazine, but in 2018 it was reduced to a biweekly magazine, and in 2020 it became a monthly magazine.
Joe Reedy AP Sports Writer
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