TPG Capital, the $103 billion private-equity firm that owns talent and sports agency Creative Artists Agency, withdrew from the bidding fray for
Sports Illustrated, according to the
New
York Post.The sports magazine best known for its swimsuit issue has been on the block since last year. Publisher Meredith Corp. acquired the title with its $2.8 billion takeover of
Time Inc. in January 2018.
Jon Miller, a former executive at AOL and News Corp., was leading the possible bid by TPG, whose internet
and media investments also include Airbnb, Hotwire, Ipsy, Lynda.com, RentPath, SurveyMonkey, TES Global and Uber. TPG will have a chance to cash in on its investment in Uber when the ride-hailing
company goes public later this year.
“It is not likely to lead to a
transaction,” a source told reporter Keith Kelly at the New York Post.
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Last year, Meredith announced plans to sell Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Time and
Money. Time and Fortune were sold quickly to private investors, while SI and Money have been in limbo.
Meredith originally sought $150 million for
SI and has held firm on that asking price.
Two other bidders are said to be in the running for SI, including former Milwaukee Bucks star Ulysses “Junior”
Bridgeman. He built a fortune with investments in fast-food franchising and Coca-Cola bottling.
News Corp. also is considering a bid for SI, but is more interested in
FanSided, its digital property, per the NYP.
Like many print publications, SI has seen a steady decline in readership and advertising as audiences shifted their
reading habits to digital media. The magazine had a weekly print circulation of 3.1 million in 2010, but cut its frequency to biweekly last year as ad pages dwindled.
The top sports websites
include traditional media brands, like ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports and The Sporting News, and digital newcomers such as Verizon Media’s Yahoo! Sports, Turner’s Bleacher
Report, Vox Media’s SBNation and Yardbarker.
The problem with sports programming is the average age of its viewership; it keeps rising as younger audiences lose
interest in sports. Athletic participation for kids has dropped in the past decade, while other forms of entertainment, such as streaming video, social media and esports, are gaining the attention of
younger audiences, according to IPG Media Lab.
Those trends are likely to suppress the value of any sports-related brand, including media properties like SI.