Dec 23, 2024

Courtesy Authentic At the beginning of 2024,  Sports Illustrated  seemed to be the subject of more headlines than it was writing. SI-owner Authentic Brands Group and SI’s licensed publisher The Arena Group engaged in a fight for control that was unprecedented in the magazine’s 70-year history, with Arena failing to make a $3.75 million quarterly payment and then threatening to kill SI’s print product after laying off employees. The battle eventually spilled into court. But now Authentic says it has turned the page. In March, Authentic announced that Minute Media had signed a 10-year license to publish SI, with an option to extend for up to 30 years total. Since then, Minute has committed to maintaining a monthly print schedule while evolving SI’s digital strategy with local sites and international expansions as well as sub-brands like Sportsperson of the Year and SI Swimsuit. Meanwhile, Authentic has continued to build out the Sports Illustrated brand’s connections in other industries including real estate and events. In a show of the brand’s new direction, licensee Sports Illustrated Tickets recently announced a 13-year naming rights agreement to rebrand the home of MLS’ New York Red Bulls. And now, entering 2025, Authentic says it is considering adding more media brands to its stable. “For us, the challenge is growing these pillars out … but also now, have we gotten enough mojo and confidence in our own talent around media that we can look at other media brands—sports or otherwise?” said Daniel Dienst, Authentic global head of tactical operations and chairman of SI. “Are there opportunities to take this model—of people staying in their lanes and doing what they do best, let us manage the IP and let the experts look at other media brands with us?” Minute says it has seen more than 100% traffic growth from April to November. In August, the company rebranded SI’s collection of hundreds of local and niche sport sites previously known as FanNation as “On SI.” “If you can do local or team specific coverage, but do it in a highly produced fashion on what we believe is one of the best URLs in sports, I think there’s a nice marriage there, but you can’t cut corners,” Minute Media president Rich Routman said, adding that there is more collaboration between those sites today, following the replacement of some publishing partners along the way. At the national level, the new leadership has kept Steve Cannella as editor-in-chief and is actively bargaining a contract with Sports Illustrated’s unionized employees, though Minute did not offer positions to every staffer when it took over, “Things have changed dramatically in an incredibly positive way,” SI senior writer Chris Mannix said last week. “We’re definitely grateful that Minute Media took on the license,” SI senior editor and union unit chair Mitch Goldich said in an interview. “SI was in real danger, and they kept it alive.” Over time, Minute plans to expand the benefits SI’s subscribers receive. In addition to SI, Minute manages The Players’ Tribune, 90min, Mental Floss and Fansided, as well as publishing tech offerings. “We really think that we’ve done right, not just by the brand, but by the people who power the brand,” Routman said. The ongoing bargaining process will further determine Minute’s relationship with SI employees, but for now, all sides appear to be pulling in the same direction. “It has been a rocky year, but we are still alive and are putting out great stuff every day, and so I do hope people check us out.” Goldich said, “Especially if they only follow the headlines and they haven’t seen anything since the summer, I hope they know that we still have a lot of talented people doing a lot of great work.” Authentic has also expanded SI’s reach internationally, creating SI China with publisher Advanced Regent and SI Mexico with Grupo Expansion. During the Arena fight, there was discussion about whether an SI publisher could run a profitable enterprise while seeing limited financial returns from Authentic’s monetization of the brand in other verticals such as sports betting and dietary supplements. “The short answer is that, Yes, it is a profitable media platform,” Routman said. “Some of the credit around that goes to the Authentic partnership and how we structure the relationship where it’s beneficial to both parties.” Internationally, for instance, Minute Media offers support and syndication to other SI publishing licensees. And elsewhere, the editorial brand sees the benefit of marketing spend, such as the SI Stadium deal. “The more places that people can consume the Sports Illustrated brand, and the more fans that we can build on the ground in those places, I think it actually increases the strength of the business as a whole,” Routman said. “Their success is our success.” In the case of the Red Bulls’ Harrison, N.J., venue, SI was already planning to expand its soccer coverage and now has a deeper tie to the sport. “Media, and Minute Media, is sort of the sun in the center of those constellations,” Dienst said of SI’s various licensing businesses. “Done right, all of those pillars will help not just Minute Media but help each other.” Before Authentic came aboard, close to 100% of revenue came from the media business. That vertical now generates less than 40% of Authentic’s SI revenue thanks to the growth of other pillars. Prior to the SI acquisition, Authentic became a global behemoth in the licensing industry with control of celebrity IP—including David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal and Elvis Presley—as well as apparel brands such as Brooks Brothers and Reebok. In 2023, Travel + Leisure Co. and Sports Illustrated’s hotel and resorts licensee introduced plans to open sports-themed complexes in bigtime college sports towns. SI already has its name on a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. SI has similar relationships in the facilities and youth sports spaces. Authentic is focused on expanding its events and hospitality business, both as a revenue generator and also as a marketing opportunity for its other branded offerings. It went from 10 to 15 gatherings between 2023 and ‘24, Authentic said, hosting visitors at Churchill Downs’ Club SI and (through an SI Tickets deal) Gillette Stadium’s Sports Illustrated Pavilion, as well as individual activations at F1 races and a LIV Golf tournament in Dallas. “Our only challenge right now is human capital in terms of, ‘How many events can we have a year?” Dienst said. Last week, Sports Illustrated announced the return of “SI The Party” the night before Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, with Dom Dolla and Diplo set to perform at Mardi Gras World. VIP tickets start at $400. The event is put on with help from hosting company Medium Rare. Coverage of the 2024 pre-Super Bowl party included handwringing over what it meant for SI—and journalism writ large—to have the brand host such revelry while the editorial operation’s future remained uncertain. Come February, “SI The Party” will likely be just as loud as the 2024 version, if not louder. Only this time, there will be less noise surrounding it. Read More About: