Sports Illustrated on the brink of massive layoffs during awful day

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer on cover of Sports Illustrated, August 7, 2006.When it comes to sports media brands, it's hard to match Sports Illustrated. The behemoth magazine was first published in 1954 and enjoyed a decades-long heyday filled with millions of subscribers. Getting your weekly magazine was an event, and reading it cover to cover was customary.

What happened in the last 10-20 years or so is a familiar one for anyone in the media industry. Digital publishing fragmented the industry. Advertising money dried up. There are more great options than ever for a sports fan, but more choices spreads out the money even more.

Throw in some mergers and/or acquisitions, and … well, it's not great.

That reportedly is the current state of affairs with Sports Illustrated, which is on the brink of massive layoffs — as much as 50% of its editorial staff —in the wake of the transfer of ownership from Meredith to Authentic Brand Groups. Many of the laid off employees would be replaced by freelancers and bloggers from TheMaven.

If that's not bad enough, employees were reportedly called to a set of hasty meetings Thursday, only to have the meetings postponed at the last moment. Tim Rohan, a Sports Illustrated staff writer, laid out the situation on Twitter: