SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY, my first stop on the web every morning, has this handy chart of SI vs. ESPN THE MAG sales the past two years:
Wonder what those numbers would look like if you removed revenue from SI’s swimsuit issue - a copy that happens to be the highest-selling mag on the planet every year. I’m guessing the ad revenue for SPORTS content would be a lot closer to dead, flat even.
I know the swimsuit issue probably does more in actual sales than ad rev, but still you have to believe that those numbers skew the comparison to the ESPN offering.
Is there anything left in sports media that ESPN’s tentacles haven’t choked the life out of? We all know ESPN owns TV and the web, but now it appears its on the verge of officially taken over print too.
It’s akin to Nike being the world’s top seller of skateboard shoes, or Microsoft trying to take over the gaming biz. It just doesn’t look and sound right.
ESPN does a nice job with its content, but I’m on the other side on this one. We need to maintain varied sources in the media, and hopefully outlets like SI can fight off ESPN’s advances into its core business.
5:44 pm on August 26th, 2009
Maybe it is a generational thing. I am 47, grew up with SI, still subscribe. I tried ESPN The Mag for one year. I could swear EtM is laid out for people with some sort of attention deficit disorder — whether the content is good or not is somewhat lost to me because I can’t follow the flow, hate the fonts, sidebars, etc. If you infer from this that I am a grumpy old man who is uncomfortable with change, you might be right. But I’ll stick with SI.
6:03 pm on August 26th, 2009
Interesting that from the poll, it appears that mags are off the rader for folks. I know I haven’t read a sports mags in … I can’t remember the last time.
6:16 pm on August 26th, 2009
The swimsuit issue has been good news/bad news for SI. Thanks to relentless promotion. the swimsuit issue plainly overshadows SI editorial now.
But of course, the swimsuit issue is what keep SI an ongoing concern. Be careful what you wish for Time, Inc.!
7:17 pm on August 26th, 2009
How does ESPN ‘own the web’? Yahoo Sports is #1 (for like the past 2 years) according to comscore.
8:01 pm on August 26th, 2009
taf, Yahoo Sports has some great content, esp. the blogs. but clearly Yahoo benefits greatly from having traffic redirected from Yahoo.com.
same thing with FoxSports.com and MSN.
ESPN.com is by far the most-trafficked standalone site on the web.
12:06 am on August 27th, 2009
I had to call three times to stop my ESPN the Mag subscription that comes with Insider. I was finally told that I couldn’t cancel it, but I could have it sent overseas to someone stationed overseas. I wish they would have told me that when I made my first two calls.
Thought smoe of you may want to know if your ESPN the Mag goes straight from the mailbox to the recycle bin.
1:36 am on August 27th, 2009
And ESPN is part of the Go.com network. Why split hairs over where the traffic comes from?
10:41 am on August 27th, 2009
ESPN mag reads like a sports center script, its terrible, great photos but terrible writers, the magazines flow is also terrible half way through the mag you just dont care anymore. it tries too hard.
SI is a great mag, radio shows should take a tips from the SI editorial, touch on the hot topics but educate people as well, and update them on past hot topics and their developments
sporting news, is for gamblers..thats it.