The world of golf journalism has just taken a major hit. One of the most reputable sources of news, Sports Illustrated, has seen a lot of changes. It happened because of one major investment decision they made to enhance the future of their business.

As multiple sources report, Sports Illustrated‘s parent company, Minute Media, had to lay off a huge chunk of its employee base recently. The publication firm got rid of about 12% of its workforce. And some of the biggest names in journalism were let go in the process, including Bob Harig, Mike Rosenberg, John Schwarb, and Jeff Ritter.

Kevin Van Valkenburg of Fried Egg Folf revealed, “If you want to understand why Sports Illustrated is essentially in hospice care, it’s because of stupid decisions like this. They paid $200 million for an AI video platform that had to abandon because it did not work.”

He shared a screenshot of an article that read that Minute Media had made a huge investment in VideoVerse. However, they had to later terminate the integration of the AI platform and ended up firing their employees to cover the losses.

VideoVerse was founded in Mumbai, India, in 2016. The AI video editing company works primarily in the sports and news industries. They have worked with various clients like CNBC, FIFA/FIFA+, UEFA Champions League, and Wimbledon.

Speaking of the journalists, Bob Harig previously worked for ESPN and the Tampa Bay Times and worked in the industry for about 40 years. But before his journey in journalism began, he was a caddie giving expert advice in the Chicago suburbs. He completed his education at Indiana University.

Mike Rosenberg’s experience as an expert has extended to about 53 years. Starting in 1973, he worked as a freelancer for Bedford Minuteman. He also edited for the Lexington Minuteman and the Lowell Sun.

For 30 years, John Schwarb has worked as a sports journalist for ESPN.com, PGATour.com, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He finally joined Sports Illustrated as a senior writer.

Jeff Ritter is the least experienced of the quartet. With 20 years of experience, he has worked with Golf Magazine and Morning Read. He also received the 2016 Edward R. Murrow Award for his excellent work.

Despite its reputation, the firm couldn’t deliver the services Sports Illustrated expected from it. Hence, the media house had to terminate the terms and lay off its employees. That left many in the community outraged. Let’s see how the fans reacted.

Netizens left furious after Sports Illustrated’s poor business decision

Sports Illustrated’s firing spree saw many big-name journalists lose their jobs. And that didn’t sit well with the golf community.

One of them said, “To be fair- the rules of the game changed on them dramatically. I 💯 agree with the generational fumble, but a hard transition for the leadership team they had in place.”

Back in 2024, Authentic Brands Group (ABG) revoked The Arena Group’s publishing license from Sports Illustrated after the latter missed a quarterly payment. Since then, they have been working with Minute Media, the firm behind other media houses like The Players’ Tribune. The fan believes the changes have caused a lot of stir in SI’s structure and business approach.

Another fan wrote, “There are still a few good writers at SI but the end product is so poor that it’s just sad. Yes, I still subscribe just for the article or two each month.”

The first issue of Sports Illustrated was released on August 16, 1954. For nearly 72 years, it has been a staple in American sports news consumption habits. While it will still exist beyond it, watching some of its best golf journalists leave might really affect the quality of its publishing.

Someone had a simple solution as they suggested, “Just write good stories, take good pictures and publish them in a compelling way… Not that difficult. Sports Illustrated was must-read for me for a long, long time. I didn’t just read it. I read it a certain way, taking my time working my way to the back page.”

As easy as it may seem, there is a lot that separates a good reporter from a great one. There is a reason there are very few Bob Harigs in the world.

Someone wrote, “The biggest mistake was reviving SI after the last time it almost died. I was a big SI fam back in the day, but the business changed and SI didn’t change with it. Honestly, the brand should probably have been sunset long ago.”

Sports Illustrated had a round of major layoffs back in 2019. Back then, journalists like DeAntae Prince had been released by the firm. The fan believes the media house should have been shut down back then.

Lastly, a comment read, “The publication has been on life support since it became a commodity decades ago. Nostalgia won’t change that. That being said, I have subscribed for decades and won’t cancel until they stop publishing.”

Back in 2019, during the layoffs, the brand had also become a commodity. It was sold to the Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for $110 million. The fan thinks that the firm has lost its authenticity since then.