street. LOUIS — The jobs of the people who produce Sports Illustrated and the future of magazine publishing itself are in limbo after the company that paid to maintain the iconic brand's print and digital products told employees that its license was being revoked.
In an email to employees Friday morning, Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said that due to the cancellation, “we will be laying off employees who work for the SI brand.”
Authentic Brands Group owns the Sports Illustrated trademark and has licensed it to Arena. Authentic later said in a statement that it intends to continue operating Sports Illustrated. The company is negotiating with Arena and other publishing entities to determine who will do so, according to a person familiar with the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Until these negotiations are resolved, it is not clear which journalists will actually do the work of making Sports Illustrated. It is also unclear how many jobs were affected.
Sports Illustrated published its first magazine in 1954. SI has produced many iconic magazine covers over the years, celebrating legendary athletes, championships, milestones and the power of sports around the world.
The St. Louis sports scene has been featured numerous times over the decades in Sports Illustrated. The Cardinals, Blues, and Rams all pulled off memorable SI covers, but spoiler alert, the Cardinals are undoubtedly the king of the three in terms of total covers.
Here is a list (and links) to several St. Louis connections to Sports Illustrated covers:
basics
- March 1956 – SI's first cover shows the St. Louis Cardinals with legend Stan Musial jumping into the air with four teammates during spring training.
- April 1957 Outfielder Wally Moon is the first player to represent St. Louis. Louis Cardinals solo on SI cover.
- June 1961 – Pitcher Ernie Broglio was featured in an SI issue titled “The National League Race”
- September 1967 – Catcher Tim McCarver was featured in an SI issue titled “That St. Louis Spirit”
- April 1968 -Outfielder Lou Brock was featured in an SI issue titled “Baseball.” Brooke also appeared in A.J July 1974 The cover featured “Thief At Work”.
- August 1968 – Outfielder Curt Flood was featured in an SI edition and described as “the best outfielder in baseball.”
- October 1968 – In perhaps one of the most famous Cardinals-themed SI covers in franchise history, Roger Maris, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson, Mike Shannon, and Lou Brock sit next to their jerseys in their closet celebrating the 1968 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
- April 1980 -First baseman Keith Hernandez was featured in an SI issue titled “Who is Keith Hernandez and what does he do batting .344?” After his MVP season in 1979.
- September 1987 – Shortstop Ozzie Smith was featured in an SI edition titled “The Wiz” and billed as “Mr. Shortstop,” just one month before helping the Cardinals advance to the World Series.
- September 1998 – First baseman Mark McGwire appeared in the bonus issue after hitting a record 62nd single-season home run with a cover titled “62!”
- March 2000 – McGwire reappeared with NL Central sluggers Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr., introduced as “The Power Pack.”
- October 2000 -Outfielder Jim Edmonds was featured in MLB's postseason issue of Sports Illustrated with the headline “Pennant Fever!”
- October 2004 – First baseman Albert Pujols made his first of many appearances as the Sports Illustrated “Smashing In St. Louis” cover athlete.
- April 2006 -Pujols was once again featured in the regional “Baseball Preview '06” issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Another cover was produced with Pujols on May 2006 He described him as having a “beauty trapeze.”
- October 2006 – Shortstop David Eckstein appeared in an SI issue tribute to the 2006 World Series title, writing “World Champions — That's Right.”
- March 2009 -Pujols once again appeared in Sports Illustrated with the cover reading, “Albert Pujols has a message – Don’t be afraid to believe in me.”
- January 2013 -Stan Musial appeared posthumously in a memorial edition of SI titled “The Man.”
- May 2013 – The Cardinals starting rotation recreates the iconic 1968 cover with their locker room jerseys, starring Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook. This edition is titled “The Cardinal Way.”
- October 2013 -Outfielder Allen Craig was featured in the World Series edition titled “The Crazy Classic”. It's a photo of him sliding home after tripping over Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks and getting a run awarded for interfering, leading to a walk-off win in Game 3.
- March 2014 – Catcher Yadier Molina is featured in an SI Baseball Preview issue titled “Rare Bird,” which also reads “There's Nothing Yadier Molina Can't Do.”
- October 2014 – Pitcher Adam Wainwright appeared alongside NHL Blues forward TJ Oshie on a preseason baseball and hockey special titled “It's On.”
- August 2015 – Outfielder Jason Heyward was featured in SI's “Cardinals Rule” issue, which comes in the final season to date in which St. Louis has won at least 100 games. Heyward is the last St. Louis Cardinals cover athlete to date.
Blues
- April 1969 – Forward Red Berenson is the first player to represent the St. Louis Cardinals. Louis Blues on the cover of SI.
- March 1991 – Frontman Brett Hull appeared in an SI edition titled “The Incredible Hull.” The subtitle describes him as a “red-hot blues scoring machine.”
- October 2014 – Forward TJ Oshie was featured alongside MLB Cardinals player Adam Wainwright in a preseason baseball and hockey special titled “It's On.”
- June 2019 -Captain Alex Pietrangelo was featured in a special Stanley Cup commemorative edition titled “Blues Heaven” after the Blues won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Rams
- October 1999 – Quarterback Kurt Warner is the first player to represent the St. Louis Rams on the cover of SI, at least while the franchise was in St. Louis. After Trent Green's preseason injury, SI ran the headline “Who's This Guy?”
- February 2000 -Warner appeared again on a special edition of SI called “Cinderella Stories” after winning the Super Bowl XXXIV MVP award. SI has produced two additional Warner special edition covers, one of which is called “A short story that ends with a miraculous season” Another called “Super Bowl Champions!” “The St. Louis Rams' amazing 1999 season.”
- September 2001 – Marshall Faulk appeared in an issue titled “Face It” and called Faulk “the best player in the game.”
- November 2015 – Running back Todd Gurley appears in SI's “Battering Ram” issue and an inside look at his rookie season.
