Sporting News sinks a little cheaper

[mediaguy]

Couple of weeks ago, it was the shameless Ricky Bobby cover, and this week's Sporting News has a faux cover outside the regular cover, with the regular masthead and an ad for a cover: Get Closer to Football with (Large Telecom I Won't Plug Here), with a .

All I can think is that times are tough in the magazine industry. An old standby like TSN wouldn't be auctioning off their covers if business was going well. Maybe that Vegas casino that rents boxers' backs can get some real estate on poor Dave Kindred's forehead. (Not that it's big, but that it can't be but a few months away from being available).

Thoughts? I know SportsCenter has the Coors six-pack of questions, etc., but they're not leading the show with the segment, either.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Couple of weeks ago, it was the shameless Ricky Bobby cover, and this week's Sporting News has a faux cover outside the regular cover, with the regular masthead and an ad for a cover: Get Closer to Football with (Large Telecom I Won't Plug Here), with a .

All I can think is that times are tough in the magazine industry. An old standby like TSN wouldn't be auctioning off their covers if business was going well. Maybe that Vegas casino that rents boxers' backs can get some real estate on poor Dave Kindred's forehead. (Not that it's big, but that it can't be but a few months away from being available).

Thoughts? I know SportsCenter has the Coors six-pack of questions, etc., but they're not leading the show with the segment, either.

It's not a blanket statement about the magazine industry. There are types of magazines that are thriving, particularly smaller, niche publications. But even with big consumer magazines, ad rates are actually pretty steady right now. It doesn't mean that many profitable magazines won't ***** out their cover if the $$$ are right, even in the best of times. But most of those publications aren't like the Sporting News, which has had a steady line between ad and edit throughout its history.

The Sporting News is not profitable. It has been bleeding money and was recently sold by Paul Allen to Advance Publications for a fraction of what he paid for it. I'm sure they are doing these embarrassing things because the financial picture is bleak. They are not a reflection of the entire industry, though. SI, for example, isn't going to have to start selling its cover anytime soon.

 

[Pilot]

l with (Large Telecom I Won't Plug Here),

Good call. I was probably going to buy the product if you'd said what it was.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I don't agree that times are tough in the magazine industry. TSN has been aced out of its market niche by USA Today and this Internet thing they have on computers these days.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

I don't agree that times are tough in the magazine industry. TSN has been aced out of its market niche by USA Today and this Internet thing they have on computers these days.

The internet absolutely destroyed TSN. Fifteen years ago, if you were a Royals fan living in Miami, TSN and SportsCenter were the best ways to keep up with your team. It was also a boon for fantasy football players because you could get reports from across the league. Now, you can find all of that on the web. TSN has also handled the transition to becoming more in-depth poorly. I don't see how TSN survives another 10 years.

 

[BYH]

Careful folks, a certain two-bit poster will be on here any second to tell us how stupid we all are, how great TSN is and how its tears could cure AIDS but it never cries.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Just FYI, there's a semi-lively Sporting News thread over at Journalism Topics.

 

[Football_Bat]

Careful folks, a certain two-bit poster will be on here any second to tell us how stupid we all are, how great TSN is and how its tears could cure AIDS but it never cries.

You all are stupid!

TSN is great!

Its tears cure AIDS, but it never cries!

Sincerely,

Certain Two-Bit Poster