One of the biggest questions around Minute Media taking over publishing rights of Sports Illustrated is what that would mean for the most prominent writers at that publication. Authentic Brands Group still owns the publication, but shifted the publishing rights from The Arena Group to Minute Media in March. Minute Media had vowed to keep the majority of SI staff, but it was unclear what would mean for the biggest names there. Well, one of those, Chris Mannix, announced Wednesday he will stay on with the new-look SI:
Mannix has been a senior writer at SI since 2018, primarily covering the NBA and boxing. (He previously worked at SI from 2004-2016, then went to Yahoo for a couple of years, then returned to SI.) He’s done quite a lot of cover stories for SI, including a late-breaking Celtics one in 2022. He’s also worked at NBC Sports Boston since 2010, and has had runs with other notable companies, including DAZN and The Volume (both companies he’s still working with). And it’s definitely notable to see him return to SI under the new ownership group.
There are still larger questions about just how SI will look under Minute Media. While the FanNation sites now look set to go on there (after a lot of uncertainty), and while significant numbers of staff do look set to continue, the wider plans for SI (including what’s ahead with print editions) have not yet been fully revealed. But the news that Mannix will return provides at least some clarity, and some continuity to the SI past. We’ll see if other big names wind up making similar announcements in the days ahead.
[Chris Mannix on Twitter/X]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.