(NEW YORK) — Sports Illustrated employees were notified on Friday that a “significant number, if not all” of their jobs were set to be eliminated, according to a new statement from the publication’s union.
The Sports Illustrated union posted on X: “This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship. We are calling on ABG to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.”
Mitch Goldich, unit chair of the SI union and NFL editor, said in a statement that the union will continue to fight for the publication.
“We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue,” he said.
Sports Illustrated has been owned by Authentic Brands Group since 2019 but sold its publishing rights to The Arena Group. This week, The Arena Group also announced a significant reduction to its workforce of 100 employees.
In December 2023, Sports Illustrated CEO Ross Levinsohn was fired by The Arena Group’s board to “improve the operational efficiency and revenue of the company,” the company said at the time. Manoj Bhargava was named interim CEO.
Operations President and COO Andrew Kraft, media president Rob Barrett and corporate counsel Julie Fenster were also terminated late last year.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for The Arena Group said: “Even though the publishing license has been revoked, we will continue to produce Sports Illustrated until this is resolved.”
The spokesperson noted that the company is in “active discussions” with ABG but they “aren’t the only ones.”
“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 spokesperson said.
Sports Illustrated has been a leading voice in sports journalism for 70 years, in both print and online. The magazine was developed in 1954 by Time magazine creator Henry Luce.
ABC News has reached out to Authentic Brands Group and Sports Illustrated for comment.
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