Product Description

Sports Illustrated brings you spectacular action photography and in-depth coverage. With Sports Illustrated, you get into it!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78 in Magazine Subscriptions
• Formats: Magazine Subscription, Print

Amazon.com Review

Who Reads Sports Illustrated?
Sports Illustrated is created for sports fans, but because of the exceptional writing and photography it appeals to almost everyone. Sports Illustrated's writers and photographers deliver award-winning coverage of sports and the human spirit.

What You Can Expect in Each Issue:

• Leading Off: Big bold photos that put you in the heart of the action.
• Dan Patrick: read funny but insightful interviews with Dan’s radio show guests from the world of sport.
• Scorecard: delivers an intriguing essay followed short snippets of sporting new and popular item such "They Said It", Sign of the Apocalypse", "For the Record" and "Pop Culture Grid".
• Inside: Gives the reader a closer look at the biggest games, names and happenings from the world of sports.
• Features: provide insightful previews , the story behind the game, investigative journalism such as breaking the Alex Rodriguez steroid scandal and powerful book excerpts.
• The Vault: through images and words, each week SI takes a look back at a memorable event and/or athlete from over 50 years of archives.
• Point After: closes the issue with an often funny, sometimes poignant and always entertaining essay from a stable of SI writers including Selena Roberts, Phi Taylor and Chris Ballard.

Special Issues Included in Your Subscription:

• NFL and College Football Previews
• NBA and College Basketball Previews
• MLB Preview
• NHL Preview
• Sportsman of the Year
• Swimsuit Issue

Magazine Layout:
Sports Illustrated is a spectacular mix of award-winning photography and world-class writing presented with clean, readable design.

Click on any image below to see select pages from Sports Illustrated:



Contributors:
The Sports Illustrated editorial staff is comprised of the leading sports journalists of our era. Fans of the publication look forward to Peter King's NFL coverage; Tom Verducci's perspective on MLB; Ian Thomsen and Chris Mannix on the NBA; Austin Murphy and Seth Davis on college football and basketball, respectively. There are more than 100 writers, editors and photographers who contribute to SI on a weekly basis.

Past Issues:


Comparisons to Other Magazines:
Superior writing and photography both make this magazine unique. SI is weekly and covers the entire sporting world.

Advertisers:
Advertising is primarily garnered from the top 200 sports brands.

Awards:
Sports Illustrated is the most acclaimed Sports weekly magazine in the history of publishing. Already in 2009, SI has garnered more than 30 awards for writing and photographic excellence.

Customer Reviews

A Champion Only By Reputation
Like the lumbering, over-the-hill heavyweight fighter who still has just enough sting in that legendary left hook to be seen as a contender in the eyes of a promoter looking for a good pay-per-view buy-rate, Sports Illustrated continues to pack just enough punch to keep up with ESPN the Magazine and The Sporting News. But what a fall it has been over the past several years.

When SI was rocked by ESPN the Magazine's hip style (surprisingly, with several former SI staffers designing the award-winning layout), it began to revamp the format; in particular, the front section with quirky, short features and trendy questions and answers from athletes. It was tweaked over the years, but is now getting smaller and smaller.

Where The Sporting News emerged from the abyss with weekly columns covering a wide-range of sports, SI has toiled with its back pages to have quick hits on pro and college athletics. But unlike the TSN columnists - who deliver more opinion than straight news - SI typically plays it safe with facts and stats.

There has been a disturbing trend where it seems that pages are for sale to anyone with a nice check. A recent article on SEC football had all the puff of a paid advertisement and SI relies way too much on book excerpts throughout the year.

Many of the feature stories seemingly could have been penned at any time and then updated with a dash of new material for publication. The recent cover story on Ray Lewis could actually have been used at any point of the football season. And for an editor to allow the quotes from cowards - sources that wouldn't go on the record - critical of Alex Rodriguez was nothing short of tabloid journalism.

The Internet certainly has redefined the publication of weekly magazines. But instead of leading the pack, the editors at SI have been scrambling for years to try and get even with its competitors.

But just like that heavyweight, the time away from serious training in the gym shows in the slow footwork and punches that will just miss the mark.

How to get the best deal on SI, the top sports magazine....
Sports Illustrated has been around forever. Many claim that the magazine has lost relevance in the age of the Internet and ESPN. I disagree. Though the articles are not as timely as those other sources, the writing is still classy and fascinating. To SI the formula is simple and enduring: athletes are people, and the stories behind those people make for great reading. Throw in columnists like Peter King, Michael Silver, and Rick Reilly, and you have three must reads almost every issue. I like my sports with depth and substance, and that is what SI provides. ESPN the Magazine pales in comparison. Though I am still annoyed with SI over their brutal and unnecessary cover article on the University of Miami football program years ago, I still have to respect them for putting their opinion out there, agreed with or not.

That being said, should you wish to subscribe here is some good advice for you on getting the best possible deal. Don't order here. Go to their website and to the subscription inserts in the magazine itself, compare the prices, and request that a billing notice be sent to you instead of paying with a credit card. This way when your subscription is up for renewal, you have the opportunity to cancel without your card being charged. Often times sites like this one utilize a third party service that contracts with the various magazines, your payment goes to them and they auto-renew you. I find it easier to do it through the magazine themselves. Saves me the trouble, and invariably, the magazine comes a lot quicker.

SI's still got it
I have been a subscriber to SI for 18 years (since my junior year in high school). Some may be disappointed with the magazine because it is essentially the BusinessWeek of the sports world. But just as we have CNBC for real-time business info, we have ESPN (or CNNSI) for real-time sports info. That's not what SI is supposed to be - never was. SI fills the role of recapping the major developments in the sports world, while adding a great mix of some feature articles (often athlete profiles or controversial issues), "hit-and-run" facts and figures, as well as the obligatory editorials. When I consider what I look forward to each week, it's actually not the wrap-ups of major sports events or some high profile story. It's the "little things":

-the provactive close-up pictures at the beginning
-Letters to the Editor (maybe the only ones I read of any mag)
-Go figure (intriguing numbers that tell a story)
-Rick Reilly's last page column (he has a warm, conversational style that's almost mesmerizing)

Yes, it's true. You'll read more about baseball, football and basketball than you will about swimming, golf, or extreme sports. But accept SI for what it is - a great way to stay current, go deeper than the daily sports page, and be entertained. The price offered here is cheaper than my own subscription - it's also cheaper than a cup of coffee and lasts longer. So if you are even half a sports fan, you should be treating yourself to a weekly SI.