Sports Illustrated lays off 17, announces 12 new openings, shifts in division leadership (updated)
There are 17 layoffs in total here, but 12 new positions posted. There are also shifts in editorial structure.
Arena Group News
Sports Illustrated owner Authentic Brands Group is launching an IPO
As per SEC filings, ABG made nearly $500 million last year from various licensing deals.
Sports Illustrated publisher Maven bought The Spun for $11 million, per filing
The Spun joins Sports Illustrated and FanNation in Maven's sports portfolio.
Sports Illustrated’s reporting on Houston Texans garners alleged legal threats from EVP Jack Easterby
The Houston Texans are a mess.
Two large Maven investors have called for a new board and a new direction, and say they have the votes to force change
Investors Bryant Riley and Kevin Rendino are calling for a new Maven board.
Meredith has dropped its suit against Sports Illustrated operator Maven over unpaid fees, saying the sides have reached an agreement
"We dismissed our suit as we have come to an agreement with them that we are satisfied with."
Sports Illustrated operator Maven eliminates publisher guarantees, terminates more publishers and two execs
Maven is making significant changes to its SI-branded team sites, including eliminating publishers' guaranteed pay and parting ways with more publishers.
Maven replaces CEO Jim Heckman with Ross Levinsohn, who has quite the past
Levinsohn was previously the CEO of Sports Illustrated's media side under Maven. Before that, he was publisher and CEO of The Los Angeles Times, but eventually left there after staff protests about his past behavior.
A Maven exec told laid-off Sports Illustrated team channel publishers to take down tweets about being laid off
"Please take down the tweet that you put out. We are still paying you (will get paid at end of Sept for August work) and are asking you delete it. Thank-you. Mark."
