It appears to be the brutal end of an era for the iconic “Sports Illustrated” brand as the company’s entire staff — both online and print — were told in a devastating email Friday afternoon that their jobs had been eliminated.
The publication, which is licensed by the Authentic Brands Group, missed a payment of roughly $3.75 million causing its license to publish to be revoked and therefore leading to the dismissal of all employees.
On Thursday, the Arena Group issued a release noting that there would be a “significant reduction in its workforce of over 100 employees” but did not elaborate further. By early Friday afternoon, employees had received an internal memo that they would no longer be working for the company.
“We appreciate the work and efforts of everyone who has contributed to the SI brand and business,” the memo reportedly read.
In a post on X, the NewsGuild of New York and the Sports Illustrated Union issued a statement vowing to fight for all employees affected by the terminations.
Our statement on today’s mass layoffs at Sports Illustrated pic.twitter.com/tQjJdoHP4p
— Sports Illustrated Union (@si_union) January 19, 2024
“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 blue they bring to this company,” NFL editor and unit chair Mitch Goldfich penned. “It is a fight we will continue.”
According to Deadline, some employees were told that they would be terminated effective immediately while others would continue with the company for the legally required amount of notice for employers, though all would be receiving severance.
It’s a bitter end for the iconic magazine, which has run for 70 years, and follows the December scandal in which two top executives were fired after it was alleged that the publication had been using AI-generated names and technology to produce content.
The Arena Group was down over 35% in a 24-hour period following Friday’s news.
