Sports Illustrated employees were notified on Friday of massive layoffs—some immediately, others in a short period—with the possibility of losing the entire staff within three months.
According to an email obtained by BreezyScroll, Authentic, the licensing group that paid Meredith $110 million for Sports Illustrated five years ago, has terminated its agreement with The Arena Group to publish SI in print and digital. That move comes three weeks after Arena failed to make a $3.75 million payment, violating the company’s SI licensing agreement, which began in 2019. (Authentic’s termination notice, meanwhile, triggered a $45 million fee due immediately to Authentic, according to an SEC filing on Friday.)
According to Sports Illustrated union sources, terminated guild members will be given 90 days notice
On Friday, Arena told SI employees in an email, “We were notified by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) that the license under which the Arena Group operates the Sports Illustrated (SI) brand and SI-related properties has been officially revoked by ABG. As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”
According to SI union sources, terminated guild members will be given 90 days’ notice (during which time the licensing agreement may be resolved), and laid-off non-guild employees will be let go immediately. As of midday Friday, there was still a lot of confusion about the extent of the layoffs, but at a 2 p.m. staff call, it was clear: anyone who left within 90 days would be laid off unless the licensing issue was resolved.
“Some employees will be terminated immediately and paid instead of the applicable notice period under the [union contract],” Arena’s email to staffers said. “Employees with a last working day today will be contacted by the People team soon. Other employees will be expected to work through the end of the notice period and will receive additional information shortly.”
The Sports Illustrated Guild posted on X (formerly Twitter): “We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue.”