An Ode To ‘ESPN The Magazine,’ Before It Meets Its Demise Later This Year

The internet has enriched our lives in far too many ways to count. It is the greatest invention of a generation, transforming our way of life largely for the better.

But the internet has a growing list of victims, and perhaps nothing has felt the worldwide web’s wrath more than print media, with another journalistic institution going on life support Tuesday with ESPN’s announcement that publication of ESPN the Magazine will end in September.

It’s a bummer for fans of sports and journalism alike, as the Magazine’s two-decade run occurred during a golden age of sportswriting. It came to be at the perfect time, in the late 1990s, when mainstream interest in all things sport was reaching a fever pitch and a time when print media technology was reaching its zenith.

Perhaps the truest testament to ESPN the Magazine’s greatness was that it survived this long while challenging Sports Illustrated, a true titan not only in the sports media business but the magazine landscape as a whole. ESPN the Magazine no doubt was able to survive this long because of the financial backing of the Worldwide Leader in Sports, but the medium’s sustainability wasn’t fueled solely by the ESPN cash cow — at least not in its heyday.

In a time where being able to hold a physical magazine (or newspaper) still had some intangible value, ESPN the Magazine promised to be bigger and bolder than its contemporaries like SI (or Sporting News or Sport). Former ESPN president John Skipper began his run in Bristol as the senior VP and general manager of the magazine. Skipper considers himself a content person, and that was evident from the jump, as literally was the influence of his Rolling Stone days with the look and feel mirroring the longtime music magazine.

That ESPN the Magazine came along when the network owned the sports media landscape helped and surely was no coincidence. The willingness and insistence to put seemingly unending resources into the project certainly stands out in hindsight. The advertising blitz is memorable even 20 years later with ESPN’s creative team taking some time away from the classic “This Is SportsCenter” campaign to push the magazine in creative, often hilarious manner.

(Coincidentally, ESPN the Magazine actually went with the “all nude, tastefully done” thing, in a way, with its annual “Body Issue.”)

The sort of attention ESPN now reserves solely for LeBron James was then given to the magazine in an attempt to make sure it didn’t fail. The magazine was a top priority, and the magazine’s top priority was good content. It’s a novel if not obviously outdated concept in 2019.

And the content itself deserved the attention. The covers truly were spectacular for the biweekly magazine. Resources clearly were devoted to make the cover look as good as possible every week.

(via ESPN the Magazine’s cover archive)

Even more surprising looking back is the breadth of cover subject. For instance, in 2002 alone, wide-ranging figures like Kordell Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Detroit Red Wings, Vladimir Guerrero, U.S. men’s soccer team, Minnesota Twins, Serena Williams, Los Angeles Clippers and LeBron all made covers. When was the last time you remember even more than a highlight or two from the NHL or NASCAR on ESPN? Or even baseball, really, for that matter?

The content inside the cover was good, too. ESPN used it as a vehicle to get its on-air personalities even more exposure, whether it was Stuart Scott’s always enjoyable column answering reader questions or “Outtakes,” featuring snippets of memorable interviews from Dan Patrick’s radio show. Oh, and don’t forget The Answer Guy, either. It was a coup that ESPN was able to get long-time SI columnist Rick Reilly for its own back page — although that was probably regrettable in hindsight — while the Magazine also served as a launching pad for Bill Simmons, too. Even more recently, the Magazine has served as a journalistic playground for some of the best sportswriters of the day like Wright Thompson or Seth Wickersham.

The death of ESPN the Magazine wasn’t unexpected or even that sudden. It was a foregone conclusion, and the dropoff in interest and profitability was reflected in the magazine’s standing not only within ESPN but among sports fans everywhere. Practically no one reads actual magazines anymore, and the content that typically graced the pages of the mag still will have a home on ESPN.com. The company didn’t announce any layoffs, but it sounds as if at least a handful of people will lose their jobs at some point, which stinks.

The whole thing is a bummer, and the inevitability doesn’t soften the blow. But that’s life in the internet age, for better or worse.