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In an attempt to compete with sports media and dlgital ESPN, two sports media giants are coming together on a new advertising and editorial agreement. Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports have agreed to share content on each other websites.
One could see SI stories posted on Fox Sports’ websites and SI platforms could have Fox videos and highlights. All the while, SI and Fox will sell advertising for both sites as the two companies will share revenue.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the combined properties from the two companies attracted 68 million unique visitors in July, which would make it second behind ESPN’s 79 million uniques. Individually, Fox was third in July while SI was 10th.
While SI and Fox will maintain their own separate identities, they’ll combine their comScores under one brand and it will be part of SI’s parent company Time Inc. overall traffic.
Pete Vlastelica of who is vice president of Fox Sports digital tells WSJ his side will be happy to lean on SI for journalistic content that Fox has been lacking, it’s a good fit as Fox can now lean on them for breaking news coverage. And the two sides will also cooperate on various editorial content for properties such as the swimsuit issue, the NFL and U.S. Open.
It’s an interesting marriage of convenience for Sports illustrated and Fox. Both companies have ESPN in mind and hope that by forging this alliance, they can eventually topple the sports media behemoth.
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About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.