Television networks are salivating at the prospects of increased audiences and the advertising dollars that will follow. Sports Illustrated reaches 50 million readers in print and online, a decent-sized audience, albeit nowhere near that of its rival ESPN, whose monthly TV viewership is about 115 million. Furthermore, as Michael MacCambridge noted in an exhaustive piece in The Ringer that ran in April, Sports Illustrated has been mismanaged for decades. Sports Illustrated also made several blunders, including failing to buy ESPN in 1984 at the bargain-basement price of $237 million, MacCambridge reported. According to MacCambridge, Sports Illustrated made a “healthy” profit last year, which presents a problem.

Source: Forbes December 11, 2018 14:35 UTC