Sports Illustrated Debuts a Premium Paywall Under CEO Ross Levinsohn’s Watch

When Sports Illustrated launched its print magazine to eager sports enthusiasts more than seven decades ago, it positioned itself to primarily profit from ads and subscriptions. The monetization plan proved to be fruitful until a few decades ago, which is when the internet’s popularity blossomed dramatically. As the internet rose to become a dominant force in the media world, Sports Illustrated’s audience’s preference gradually shifted from the print magazine to the brand’s website. While the website was monetized well, the overall transition in consumer preference created a financial challenge. This modern problem has also impacted numerous other media brands in recent years.

Ross Levinsohn was given the position of Sports Illustrated CEO in 2016, which was a time when this problem was reaching a key moment. He understood that he needed to make an important change to Sports Illustrated’s paywall structure, and he had many professional experiences to draw from to accomplish this goal. In fact, as a 40-year veteran in the media and publishing worlds, Levinsohn had been a top executive leader for elite companies like Guggenheim Digital Media, Maven Media, Yahoo!, Whisper Advisors, Fox and others. While he worked for the digital services provider, Maven Media, he was tasked with oversight of monetization strategies for more than 300 brands. One of the clients he served, The Street with Jim Cramer, had the opportunity to raise its revenue with a new paywall structure. Specifically, its core audience had a growing interest in cryptocurrencies. Levinsohn moved the brand into this space by creating a structure to monetize a targeted newsletter and channel.

The Sports Illustrated CEO was able to harness his insights from this and other previous professional experiences to take control of his current employer’s situation. He applied the paywall strategy to the brand’s monetization plan in a unique way. The paywall that he created did not produce revenue from a new avenue of content. Instead, it increased the value of current content lines. This was accomplished by offering a higher-level subscription plan that granted early access to the brand’s content. Because the challenge impacted brands throughout the industry, Sports Illustrated’s unique approach to resolving the situation has inspired others to take similar steps.

When Sports Illustrated launched its print magazine to eager sports enthusiasts more than seven decades ago, it positioned itself to primarily profit from ads and subscriptions. The monetization plan proved to be fruitful until a few decades ago, which is when the internet’s popularity blossomed dramatically. As the internet rose to become a dominant force…

When Sports Illustrated launched its print magazine to eager sports enthusiasts more than seven decades ago, it positioned itself to primarily profit from ads and subscriptions. The monetization plan proved to be fruitful until a few decades ago, which is when the internet’s popularity blossomed dramatically. As the internet rose to become a dominant force…