Different SI golf themes over the years.
The Arena Group, a digital media publisher serving a roster of over 240 brands including Sports (under license from The Arena Group) Professional ) ) and The Street, The Spun and Parade, are enhancing their coverage of golf by having the Morning Reading from the Buffalo Club.
Ross Levinsohn, CEO of Arena and Games Group, said, “This is another step in enhancing the storytelling and user experience, and further expanding our footprint in one of the most popular sports genres.”
Sports Illustrated Media Group reached 55.9 million unique visitors in August 2022 and is the number five sports media leader according to analytics firm ComscoreSCOR
. ESPN tops the list followed by Latin American powerhouse Globo Esportes, Yahoo Sports NBC Sports Network and Playmaker.
Last summer Morning Reading entered into an editorial partnership agreement with Sports Illustrated to publish golf content on the SI website. Arena Group has now acquired a media outfit, bringing its editorial team and content in-house and rebranding it as SI Golf. While Morning Read’s audience metrics are not publicly disclosed, according to Sports Illustrated its daily email newsletter has an impressive 40% open rate and their newsletter weekly has a 50% open rate.
There is currently an earthquake of fun and excitement shaking the highest level of the game due to the PGA Tour’s ongoing rivalry with Saudi-backed LIV Golf that has politicized the game.
“It’s a great time for golf. The audience engagement is the biggest since I’ve been around and interested in it. Not only do the PGA and LPGA Tours provide exciting news stories, but the presentation of LIV and how inter-tour competition brings out the characteristics of players and increases the amount of competition is generating a lot of discussion,” Chris Pirrone, senior vice president and general manager of the Games. Illustrated Media Group, said.
“It’s really interesting to talk golf with people now because it’s more than who wins and who loses and what equipment they use. Now there are all these conversations about the business of golf and how it fits together,” he said.
Pirrone arrived in June after spending ten years at the USA Today Sports Media Group where he oversaw vertical sports that included Golfweek (one of the events he directed) and Victory. During Pirrone’s reign, the number of listeners increased sixfold from 10 million to 60 million viewers per month and the annual revenue exceeded 100 million dollars.
Sports Illustrated has unveiled a new logo after announcing the acquisition of Morning Reading
The golf media field is currently led by major golf outlets Golf Digest and the PGA Tour’s own website. But SI sees many opportunities to carve out a bigger piece of the pie and compete by offering a diverse voice and leaning into travel, equipment, photography and storytelling capabilities.
“In the short term I don’t think our goal is to be bigger. What we’re shooting for is to bring something unique to the table—not just standard coverage of the PGA Tour. News will drive the ideas.” page and audience but what else can you do that’s a little different,” he said.
“Of course I want to grow the audience, but it’s also about unique angles and unique photography and that’s why someone might come to us instead of a candidate,” Pirrone said.
SI sees the acquisition of Morning Reading as a starting point. Golf content is consumed in a premium fashion with household income levels and a desire to purchase products related to their recreation—a recipe for profitable e-commerce opportunities .
“I really want to continue to get things in golf. For me this is just the beginning,” said Pirrone.
