SEATTLE: Digital publisher theMaven, Inc, new “managers” of the the revered 65-year-old Sports Illustrated and SI.com, Thursday announced a three-month transition process aimed at “revitalizing and strengthening” the magazine and website.
While the announcement made no mention of the staff culling that was in the works, according to US media reports, half the newsroom would be laid off as a consequence of the “refocus” of the world-renowned publication.
Maven, an expansive media destination and coalition of hundreds of professional journalists and creators, stated it would “add more journalistic firepower and boost investments in technology. Fueled by the world-class journalism and photography synonymous with Sports Illustrated, these vital improvements will enhance real-time news cycle coverage, strengthen mobile platform delivery, and increase the development of complementary video content”.
A petition signed by approximately three-quarters of Sports Illustrated’s journalists offered a completely different take on the developments. “TheMaven wants to replace top journalists in the industry with a network of Maven freelancers and bloggers, while reducing or eliminating departments that have ensured that the stories we publish and produce meet the highest standards,” the petition reads. “These plans significantly undermine our journalistic integrity, damage the reputation of this long-standing brand and negatively [affect] the economic stability of the publication.”
Maven Media Brands (“MMB”) is a subsidiary of Maven, the publicly held corporation, and will manage, produce and operate Maven’s owned media destinations and licensed brands. This division is home to TheStreet.com, which Maven acquired earlier in 2019, and will also oversee Sports Illustrated.
Putting out its own positive spin on the firestorm of negative reportage coming through in the US media, MMB announced that “approximately 300 distinct voices, the majority of which are journalists, will be producing stories for SI by January 2020, which will help drive an increase in SI content production”.
Maven announced the following initial hires:
Ross Levinsohn (the controversial former Los Angeles Times CEO) will serve as president of MMB and CEO of Sports Illustrated
Andrew Kraft, CRO & Chief Strategy Officer of Maven, will also serve as Chief Operating Officer of MMB
Steve Cannella and Ryan Hunt, longtime leaders at Sports Illustrated, will join MMB as co-editors in chief of Sports Illustrated
Margaret De Luna, previously President of TheStreet, has been named President, Membership and Marketing Services of MMB
Mark Ellis, a sales leader who previously led teams at Yahoo and Sports Illustrated, will join as Chief Revenue Officer of Sports Illustrated
Danny Lee will reprise his role at Sports Illustrated and serve as Publisher
Suzanne Bursich, also a Sports Illustrated veteran executive, will lead Advertiser Solutions and Marketing at Sports Illustrated
The Sports Illustrated brand was acquired earlier this year by Authentic Brands Group (“ABG”), a global brand development, marketing, and entertainment company. In June, Maven signed a definitive agreement with ABG to publish the magazine, website, and digital applications. In that same month, Maven purchased The Street.com, a financial information and news business created by Jim Cramer. As part of the deal, Maven also created an agreement with Cramer Digital to develop content across all Maven properties and partners.
Regarding the restructuring at SI, Maven declared: “The commitment to quality journalism, long-form storytelling, and print and digital experiences will expand. Under the leadership of Cannella and Hunt, the new SI magazine and website will launch in January 2020 and build upon the unrivalled standards, traditions, and reach of the storied brand. In addition to Sports Illustrated, MMB will continue to publish Sports Illustrated Kids, SI Presents, and the legendary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.”
Maven has already signed agreements with more than 80 new publishers of local sports content across the country to reimagine local sports team coverage. “Sports Illustrated Mavens” are seasoned and recognized journalists such as Mike Fisher (Dallas Cowboys Maven), John Bohnenkamp (Iowa Hawkeyes Maven), and Patricia Traina (New York Giants Maven), who will produce content for the Sports Illustrated and Maven digital platform reaching an audience of more than 100 million every month. Scott Kennedy and Mark Pattison will join MMB and work within the editorial team at Sports Illustrated to expand local coverage to more than 200 teams and markets.
Maven (maven.io) is a coalition of Mavens, from individual thought-leaders to world-leading independent publishers, operating on a shared digital publishing, monetization and distribution platform, unified under a single media brand. Based in Seattle, Maven is publicly traded under the ticker symbol MVEN.
