Sports, inc. to Fold; Low Ad Sales Cited

Fourteen months after launching Sports, inc., a weekly sports business magazine, Times Mirror Co. announced Tuesday that it was folding the New York-based publication.

Edward E. Johnson, chairman of Times Mirror Magazines, said that although Sports, inc. won praise from sports industry leaders, the “readership enthusiasm was not matched by advertising support.”

The magazine, with a circulation of about 25,000, focused on the business of sports, with recent articles exploring financial management for athletes and how to build sports arenas. Johnson said the staff succeeded in creating a magazine of “real value to the sports business industry.”

Some of the information contained in Sports, inc. will continue to appear in the Sporting News, another Times Mirror publication, based in St. Louis.

“While we are of course disappointed with this outcome, it certainly doesn’t lessen our commitment to the magazine field, in which we have grown significantly in recent years,” Johnson said.

Scott Kabak, president of Sports, inc., said his primary responsibility is to help find new jobs for his 46 staff members. Kabak said he will first try to find them positions with other Times Mirror publications, and if that fails, help them look elsewhere.

“Everyone did a good job and we are proud of what we did,” Kabak said. He said the office will remain open through next week.

Times Mirror did not disclose how much money Sports, inc. lost but considers it “minimal,” according to a company spokeswoman. Los Angeles-based Times Mirror, which publishes The Times and other newspapers, is a diversified media company.

In addition to the Sporting News, Times Mirror magazines include Field & Stream, Popular Science, Outdoor Life, Home Mechanix, Golf Magazine, Ski Magazine, Skiing, Salt Water Sportsman, Yachting, the Sporting Goods Dealer, Broadcasting, National Journal and Government Executive.