Authentic Brands Group says Sports Illustrated ‘highly profitable’ 2 years after licensing dispute with Arena Group

The ownership and operation of Sports Illustrated is one of the more peculiar stories in sports media this decade; one that appears to be amid a quite lucrative chapter two years after it nearly shut down entirely.

Owned by Authentic Brands Group since 2019, SI was initially licensed to and operated by Arena Group. That arrangement fell apart in spectacular fashion in March 2024, when SI posted artificial intelligence-generated product reviews to its website, the first domino in a series of troubling revelations about the magazine under Arena’s watch.

Arena hired a new executive, Manoj Bhargava, after the AI incident, only for Bhargava to infringe on the company’s agreement with unionized staff and push it even further into a financial hole. Arena missed a licensing fee payment to Authentic in March 2024. The magazine, according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times, was unprofitable at that time. As a result of the turmoil, SI momentarily shut down its print product and sat idly as Authentic sued Arena over a breach of contract.

The magazine later rehired much of the staff Bhargava had terminated, and Authentic got to work monetizing the brand. It now uses Minute Media to run SI‘s media arm.

Authentic owns many formerly important retail brands such as Reebok, and licenses companies to run them. Authentic makes larger-scale deals using the brand name and legacy, such as the Sports Illustrated parties it has begun hosting at big events like the Super Bowl each year.

And in the new Los Angeles Times write-up, Authentic claims that SI is now “highly profitable.”

While Authentic supposedly does not break out financial data by brand, the Times cites data showing a projected $3 billion increase in sales for the company this year. SI‘s print circulation is reportedly down to around 400,000, but Authentic told the Times that “less than half” of the brand’s revenue comes from its media business.

Beyond the parties, the SI name is also used for a ticketing service, which the Times reports is expected to generate $500 million in revenue this year. The company launched a women’s sports event this year in partnership with Scripps, and is the stadium name sponsor for the New York Red Bulls. An SI FAST channel has reportedly grown 60 percent since its launch in January.

Under Minute Media leadership, SI still employs many notable journalists producing strong work, including Michael Rosenberg on golf, Pat Forde on college sports, Albert Breer on the NFL, and of course media commentator Jimmy Traina. The company also runs dozens of microsites dedicated to coverage of local teams under the “OnSI” vertical.

Notably, the Times story claims that SI is “close” to a new contract with the Sports Illustrated union. But in late March, the union posted a video to social media with a caption revealing it was 15 months into negotiations on a new deal and still found Minute Media’s proposals on wages, medical benefits and AI “unacceptable.”

Despite a circuitous route to financial stability and continued questions about Authentic’s commitment to the spirit of sports journalism that fueled SI‘s legacy, the company has shepherded SI back to financial health and, hopefully, a long future.