1/22/2024: Sports Illustrated Laid off Most of its Staff

End of an era

Sports Illustrated laid off most of its unionized workers last Friday. Sports Illustrated’s publisher, the Arena Group, defaulted on its $3.75M quarterly payment to the owner of the Sports Illustrated brand, the Authenticated Brands Group. According to wikipedia, Sports Illustrated was acquired for $110M in 2019. Its peak circulation was 3.5M in late 1980s. As of 2022, its circulation declined to around 1.23M. Like most magazines, Sports Illustrated has been struggling with its declining influence and business model. The company also got into some controversy late last year for having AI reporters write its articles. I am actually surprised that it lasted so long. But it appears the end is near.

The print media businesses have been ailing since the birth of the world wide web about 30 years ago. Many of them tried to pivot to online media but very few succeeded. We can probably count the number of successful pivots with our hands such as the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. Technology is a big disruptor and the print media is one of its casualties. Much like the internet, AI will likely have a profound impact on many industries, potentially leading some to follow the same fate as the print media. As investors, it is important to know which businesses are becoming dinosaurs and heading toward extinction and stay away from them. While their decline may be gradual, their eventual demise would be inevitable.