Sports Illustrated fires nearly all of its employees

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Employees of Sports Illustrated have been notified by its publisher of a mass layoff of journalists for the magazine. A majority of its employees were told about the layoffs, and the remaining will be told later, potentially leaving all of its employees laid off.

Authentic, the owner of SI, has discontinued its licensing arrangement with Arena Group to publish the magazine. The layoffs come one day after the Arena Group announced the downsizing of its company by releasing over 100 employees, according to Business Newswire.

Authentic Brands Group acquired SI  for $110 million in May of 2019 and the cause of the massive layoff has been attributed to “substantial debt and recently missed payments,” by Arena Group.  

In a statement released by Sports Illustrated Union Group and the News Guild of New York, the four-year relationship between Arena Group and SI has been a rocky one.

“This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship,” the union said in a statement. “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.”

Sports Illustrated has been a cultural icon in the sports world since its inception in 1954, capturing high profile athletes and sports teams to adorn its illustrious cover over the course of  its 70-year tenure.

Athletes and journalists in the sports world have taken to social media to express the significance of gracing the cover of SI as well as their disdain of the news.

Chase Daniel, former NCAA college star and NFL Quarterback on Sports Illustrated layoffs

Kevin Clark, ESPN Journalist

Jamele Hill, former ESPN Journalist and Contributing writer for The Atlantic Magazine

SI  has won national awards for both its print and digital media productions. Despite having millions of viewers on both  media platforms, the future of SI is still unclear and this is a developing story.