NEW YORK — Sports Illustrated’s new manager said Thursday that the 65-year-old sports magazine is cutting more than 40 jobs out of a staff of 150.
Maven, the company now managing the magazine, will add 200 contractors to cover college and professional sports teams, said Maven spokesman Greg Witter. These people are “independent publishers, contractors” but “still professional journalists,” he said.
Maven struck a licensing deal in June to operate Sports Illustrated with the magazine’s new owner, branding company Authentic Brands Group. Magazine publisher Meredith, which earlier this year sold Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands for $110 million, was initially supposed to run the magazine’s print edition and website.
Sports Illustrated’s new CEO, Ross Levinsohn, is the former publisher of the Los Angeles Times and a controversial figure who was investigated on sexual harassment allegations. He was cleared of wrongdoing by the company, then called Tronc, that had owned the paper. He is a frequent collaborator with Maven’s CEO, Jim Heckman, a media entrepreneur.
