Sports Illustrated’s Entire Staff Told Their Jobs Have Been Eliminated After Authenic Brands Revokes License To Publish; Union Vows To “Fight For Every One Of Our Colleagues”
deadline.comFollowing through on a warning earlier this month, Authentic Brands Group has revoked Sports Illustrated‘s license to publish due to a missed payment.
As a result of the move, the entire staff of the 70-year-old print and online publication was notified on Friday that their jobs were being eliminated. “We appreciate the work and efforts of everyone who has contributed to the SI brand and business,” SI operator The Arena Group wrote in a memo to employees that set off outrage on social media.
In a statement, Sports Illustrated Union and The NewsGuild of New York vowed to “fight for every one of our colleagues.” The Arena Group, which has operated the venerable brand under a license agreement since 2019, said in an SEC filing this month that it did not make a quarterly payment of about $3.75 million.
Authentic “issued the company a notice of breach with the intent to exercise its right of termination,” Arena said in the filing, adding that they are “in discussion” with the licensor.
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