In June of 1954, a new sports magazine hit the shelves.  Sports Illustrated quickly became the bible of the sports world, becoming the place to find long-form, in-depth articles about the games that Americans followed, or were about to follow.  In 1964, they published their first swimsuit issue, helping to keep interest in the magazine in the down time between the end of football season and the start of baseball season.  The magazine continued to be the leader in sports journalism until the late 1990s, when the type of stories long associated with the print world moved to the internet.  In 2018, the magazine was sold and then sold again, to a venture capital firm that then licensed the brand name to a publisher that only wished to wring whatever value was left.  Today, it all came to an end, as the licensing agreement was terminated and the entire staff of Sports Illustrated was informed they would be laid off.

It’s hard to understand what this magazine meant to people before the internet.  I first got a subscription in late 1985 or early 1986.  I know the 1986 swimsuit issue, the first cover featuring Elle Macpherson, was my first and, as an eleven-year-old, introduced me to feelings I had not had before.  Eventually, I would use the magazine to decorate my bedroom, using my favorite covers to circle the four walls near the ceiling.  I got the bloopers video and the football phone, used to entice subscriptions.  At some point, the subscription lapsed, probably around the time I left for college, and I can’t remember the last time I bought an issue, let alone read one, but it was good to know it was still there.

For whatever reason, the brand, and all of the cachet that went along with it, didn’t translate to the digital world.  ESPN.com was the default place for sports news on the internet and, even if you found yourself on their website, it was severely lacking.  While today is the end, I’m sure it isn’t the end the end.  Someone new will buy, or license, the name and use it for an AI-generated website, or a sports betting app, or something that will try to extract any worth the brand still has.  Those attempts will likely fail.