Sports Illustrated’s future in flux after layoffs [Updated]

The future of Sports Illustrated is up in the air as The Arena Group laid off a portion of its workers on Friday, with the remaining anticipated to be let go in three months’ time, in response to Front Office Sports.

Authentic, the licensing group that initially bought SI for $110 million 5 years in the past, is terminating its licensing settlement with The Arena Group. According to Front Office Sports, Arena Group missed a $3.75 million cost to Authentic three weeks in the past, breaching the 10-year Sports Illustrated licensing deal. That discover of termination additionally triggered a further $45 million payment for Arena to pay instantly to Authentic, in response to an SEC submitting from Thursday.

Arena Group notified all workers members of their termination by way of electronic mail.

“… We were notified by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) that the license under which the Arena Group operates the Sports Illustrated (SI) brand and SI-related properties has been officially revoked by ABG,” Arena wrote in an electronic mail to Sports Illustrated workers. “As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”

According to SI union sources who spoke to Front Office Sports, some staffers have been instantly let go whereas others got a 90-day discover. Despite a three-month window to resolve the licensing difficulty between Authentic and Arena, staffers have been informed in a name Friday afternoon that anybody remaining after the 90 days could be laid off.

“Some employees will be terminated immediately, and paid in lieu of the applicable notice period under the [the union contract],” Arena’s electronic mail learn, per Front Office Sports. “Employees with a last working day of today will be contacted by the People team soon. Other employees will be expected to work through the end of the notice period, and will receive additional information shortly.”

“This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship,” SI Union Chair and SI NFL editor Mitch Goldich wrote in a statement following the information. “We are calling on ABG [Authentic Brands Group] to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.”

“We expect The Arena Group to honor all terms of our union contract and will fight for every one of our colleagues to be treated fairly.”

Authentic released a statement to FOS, stating that it might “ensure that the brand of Sports Illustrated, which includes its editorial arm, continues to thrive as it has for the past nearly 70 years.”

An Arena spokesperson didn’t reply to Front Office Sports when contacted concerning the particulars of the layoff plans.

“We are in active discussions with Authentic Brands Group – but we understand we aren’t the only ones,” The Arena Group stated in a press release. “Even though the publishing license has been revoked we will continue to produce Sports Illustrated until this is resolved.

“We hope to be the company to take SI forward but if not, we are confident that someone will. If it is another business, we will support with the transition so the legacy of Sports Illustrated doesn’t suffer.”

The day earlier than, Arena Group laid off 100 workers In addition to Sports Illustrated, the Arena Group owns and operates greater than 20 completely different publications, together with Men’s Journal, Parade, and TheRoad.

SI was offered to Meredith Corporation as a part of an acquisition of Time Inc. in 2018. The firm offered off Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brand Groups for $110 million the next 12 months. Licensing out the rights out to theMaven (later known as The Arena Group), Sports Illustrated’s digital identification grew to become a hub for different smaller websites like Athlon Sports, The Spun, Morning Read, and The Hockey News.

Back in November, Sports Illustrated was caught publishing AI-generated content material underneath writers’ names that didn’t exist on its web site. The firm denied that the work was written by AI whereas acknowledging {that a} third celebration, AdVon Commerce, created content material for his or her web site underneath pseudonyms. That relationship was terminated instantly.

A month later, new chief and 5-Hour Energy founder Manoj Bhargava led a weird city corridor assembly in December. In the 90-minute assembly, Bhargava informed the SI workers “No one is important. I am not important. … The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.” Bhargava was CEO of Arena Group from Dec. 11 to Jan. 5, stepping down after his Bridge Media Networks was negotiating “a substantial investment” in Arena.

Ed. be aware: We’ve up to date the story as extra particulars have emerged concerning the layoff state of affairs.