Written By: Maggie Brown (maggiethe_journalist)
The publishers of Sports Illustrated notified its employees via email on Friday that they plan to have a mass layoff that will start as early as today due to losing its publishing rights.
According to a post on TheShaderoom’s Instagram, the layoffs are a result of a missed payment in the amount of $2.8 million from SI; thus promoting this bold move.
Sports Illustrated’s employee union took to X – formally known as Twitter, to release a statement regarding the layoffs and confirming reports that this could possibly affect most, if not all of the NewsGuild workers they represent.
“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,” Mitch Goldich, NFL editor and unit chair, said in a statement.
Since its inception in 1954, SI has been the go-to sports magazine for millions across the world with its weekly distribution that has more recently moved to monthly distribution.
According to The Washington Post, SI’s … “publishing rights were acquired by Meredith Publishing in 2018 as part of the purchase of Time Inc, … and less than a year later, Meredith sold the magazine’s intellectual property to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. ABG owns the intellectual property of many brands and stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali and Reebok.”
Many of the affected employees who were terminated immediately will still be paid due to such short notice per their union contract, while others will be expected to finish out the notice period and receive additional information during that time.
SI is just the latest company to have mass layoffs. Many others such as Google, Meta, Macy’s, Wayfair plus more have also suffered the same fait for one reason or another.
Social media users reacted to the news of SI’s layoffs with many heartfelt messages to the employees, job offers, and reminiscent thoughts plus memories of the magazine throughout the years.
