Sports Illustrated print edition lives on after deal with Minute Media

Media

By Ariel Zilber and Josh Kosman

Sports Illustrated’s print edition lives.

Authentic Brands Group on Monday reportedly agreed to a deal with Minute Media — ending a months-long feud with former publisher Arena Group, which had threatened to stop printing the iconic magazine if it wasn’t awarded the license.

Minute Media, the New York-based digital sports media brand whose holdings include The Players’ Tribune and Fansided, will sell a stake in the company to Jamie Salter-owned Authentic as part of the 10-year deal, according to The New York Times.

Asaf Peled, the CEO of Minute Media, guaranteed that fans of the magazine, which set the standard for sports journalism since being founded in 1954, will still be able to find it on newsstands.

“In the current era of digital, it’s still not trivial and quite difficult to build your own brand and get people to know and admire it,” Peled told The Times.

“So once you get the opportunity to work with and grow an iconic brand like Sports Illustrated, you take it.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal between Minute Media and Authentic Brands, which bought SI for $110 million from Meredith five years ago, includes an option to extend the agreement for up to 30 years total, the Times reported.

Peled also told the Times that his company plans to expand SI’s coverage globally and to rehire some of the staffers that were slated to be fired by Arena.

Minute Media will begin running SI and its website this week, Peled said.

Arena Group, which had its license revoked in January after refusing to make a $3.75 million quarterly payment, threatened to kill the print edition after Authentic Brands indicated it was leaning toward awarding the rights to a rival, as The Post reported last week.

Arena’s largest shareholder, the energy drink magnate Manoj Bhargava, sought to renegotiate the three years left on the original 10-year, $150 million deal with Salter.

“Jamie does not react well to threats,” a source close to the situation told The Post on Monday.

“Jamie probably doesn’t trust [Bhargava]. Manoj could come back in two years and break the contract again.”

Arena, which had been publishing the magazine and the SI website while seeking to strike a new deal, could be on the hook for a $45 million termination fee.