When Authentic Brands bought Sports Illustrated, company leadership was pretty open about the fact that their goal was to generate as much revenue off of the iconic publication’s name as possible. It licensed editorial operations to The Maven. Authentic Brands would focus on branding and licensing.
JC Penny and Authentic Brands have reached a deal to create a Sports Illustrated clothing line according to AdWeek. It includes collections for men, women and kids. A JC Penny executive says the styles are “inspired by the iconic moments in sports.”
That characterization feels like a bit of a stretch. Awful Announcing reviewed some of the offerings in the collection and a lot of them are very plain-looking sportswear.
Authentic Brands has been very busy with the Sports Illustrated name lately. Before the clothing line, the company had already launched an SI-branded sportsbook and an SI-branded ticketing service. The company is also looking to use the iconic publication’s name to market a line of NFTs.
