PRWeek: ‘The Juice was always worth the squeeze’: pr pros on landing clients in Sports Illustrated
Excerpt:
Communications execs note that SI.com and its social media channels are active.
“Some of their top writers continue to post new stories to the site now, including ones that I most often follow, such as Jimmy Traina, Chris Mannix and Conor Orr,” says former 160over90 exec Shaun Clair, who recently cofounded the firm Gray Wolf. “The SI union actually contributed the most toward ‘the death of SI’ narrative by their own statement, which said ‘possibly all’ staff could be let go. That turned out not to be the case—or at least premature to publicly state.”
Clair expects another licensee to take the helm of the editorial brand.
“The editorial team has been downtrodden by a ‘death of a thousand paper cuts’ effect, but [Authentic Brands] could grant another publisher licensing control, and I hope revive the editorial efforts closer to its previous heights,” he says. “The staff at SI certainly deserves as much and the credibility of the brand allows that possibility to happen.”
He also notes, “Authentic Brands Group is actually trying aggressively to elevate the power of the brand through commercial deals.”
One was announced this month. The venerable Churchill Downs racetrack, the home of the Kentucky Derby, will open a fine-dining experience called Club SI on opening night, April 27, of Derby Week, following the signing of a multi-year naming-rights partnership with Authentic Brands.
SI-staged events are also upcoming. The night before Super Bowl LVIII on February 10 in Las Vegas, Sports Illustrated The Party at the Wynn Las Vegas presented by Captain Morgan will welcome The Chainsmokers as its headliner.
