Sports Illustrated goes way back before it was published under this name in 1954. Two previous magazines had similar titles, with Sports Illustrated being published between 1936 and 1938, then Dell Publishing tried Sports Illustrated in 1949, only publishing 6 issues before closing.
It was the Time patriarch, Henry Luce, who had the idea of publishing Sports Illustrated in 1954, who believed that sports fans would be interested in the magazine. The magazine had a difficult time in its first few years. In 1960, Luce hired a new manager and editor, Andre Laguerre, whose writing impressed him during the Winter Olympics.
Laguerre organized writers into departments and hired professional cameramen to take full-color photos of that week’s sporting events. It was also Laguerre’s idea to include the now-famous swimsuit edition.
Today, the magazine is published monthly and is owned by the Maven Group. At the end of 2015, the magazine had a circulation rate of more than 3 million.
These job cuts prompted the remaining employees to consider unionizing.
The magazine did receive criticism when it allowed Christine Blasey Ford to attend an awards ceremony, giving her preferred seating in December 2018.
Sports Illustrated maintains a corporate office in Seattle, Washington.
Sports Illustrated goes way back before it was published under this name in 1954. Two previous magazines had similar titles, with Sports Illustrated being published between 1936 and 1938, then Dell Publishing tried Sports Illustrated in 1949, only publishing 6 issues before closing.
It was the Time patriarch, Henry Luce, who had the idea of publishing Sports Illustrated in 1954, who believed that sports fans would be interested in the magazine. The magazine had a difficult time in its first few years. In 1960, Luce hired a new manager and editor, Andre Laguerre, whose writing impressed him during the Winter Olympics.
Laguerre organized writers into departments and hired professional cameramen to take full-color photos of that week’s sporting events. It was also Laguerre’s idea to include the now-famous swimsuit edition.
History
Today, the magazine is published monthly and is owned by the Maven Group. At the end of 2015, the magazine had a circulation rate of more than 3 million.
These job cuts prompted the remaining employees to consider unionizing.
The magazine did receive criticism when it allowed Christine Blasey Ford to attend an awards ceremony, giving her preferred seating in December 2018.
Sports Illustrated maintains a corporate office in Seattle, Washington.
I will not re-hash the communications over the last several months, but will relate the last two emails as examples. It has not appeared that my emails are actually read (or understood).
My email read “I don’t want a subscription to SI. I do want to continue my gift subscription to James Harvey (that is what the $48.00 was for).
Your email response “As requested, your gift order has been cancelled. ……… Also, kindly confirm if you wish to cancel your personal subscription.”
Last Case ID 49746938
Many decade gift subscription (no subscription for me). No problems until last Nov/Dec.
I miss the old Sports Illustrated. As a subscriber for the past 3-4 decades, I looked forward to the weekly issue. I understood that the stories presented had already been covered/reported by other media outlets but I still looked forward to seeing how SI would compose the issue and enjoyed reading articles from some of the best writers in the world with pictures taken by some of the best. And the covers…I looked forward to the covers! I currently have a couple dozen framed on the wall of my office. But now, with the monthly format, there aren’t that many covers and while the feature stories are well written/composed, that isn’t what I am looking for. I was looking for a weekly recap of the world of sports. Now, I really don’t care about when (or if) the monthly issue arrives. I set it aside and, at some point, usually will pick it up and look through it, maybe reading one of the articles. At this point, I really don’t know if I will renew when this current subscription expires.
Getting back to the covers, I have been trying to contact someone at SI who could answer my question about acquiring a printed copy of a recent “Daily Cover”. I am guessing that they are not available. However, no one seems to be able to answer that question. My attempts to reach “anyone” are quickly and consistently responded to with offers of assistance – consisting of a couple of phone numbers and/or links to various websites. The phone numbers seem to lead to outsourced call centers where the people answering try to be helpful but none ever seem to understand what it is I am looking for as they work from a script and, at the end of the call, want to extend my subscription or get me to purchase a gift subscription. Oh, and they will give me one of the same phone numbers or links that I have already done. JOB WELL DONE! You have successfully cut your payroll costs and created a customer service function that does…what?
So, as a subscriber for 3-4 decades now in my 60s, what is my value to you? Am I so far out of your defined marketing target group that you would let me go without any effort at all? There must be a real person there to answer the phone…or is there?
Bill Morton
My one over-riding question…how do I get in touch with a real person, employed by SI, who could engage in a real conversation and answer my question?