Following reports of artificial intelligence writing articles for Sports Illustrated and posting them under human pseudonyms, there have been changes pertaining to the executive leadership of its parent company. The Arena Group’s chief operating officer Andrew Kraft and president of media Rob Barrett have been fired, which took place before a conference call with company staff on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Michael McCarthy and A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, the protracted conversation lasted more than 90 minutes and featured majority owner Manoj Bhargava, who also owns 5-hour Energy. Sources told Front Office Sports that the departures of Kraft and Barrett, however, were unrelated to the AI report from Futurism.
Throughout the call, Bhargava emphasized that he has control over Sports Illustrated and other outlets owned by The Arena Group. This came after the Sports Illustrated Union released a statement that conveyed how writers were “horrified” by the Futurism article and demanded “answers and transparency” from its parent company.
The Arena Group laid off 17 employees earlier in the year as Sports Illustrated looks to solidify a transition from print to digital media, which included a 21% growth in the sector within its third quarter earnings report. Moreover, the company’s sports properties reached the No. 2 sport in the Comscore sports properties rankings on the quarter, something it called “a milestone achievement for the brand.” It was concurrent with a 600,000-follower increase on social media during the quarter as well. Nonetheless, comments from Bhargava revealed his thoughts on the publication, which included a plea for employees to “stop doing dumb stuff.”
“No one is important,” Bhargava said to staffers, according to what a source told Front Office Sports. “I am not important…. The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.”
After the meeting, The Arena Group provided a statement to Front Office Sports about what transpired and the nature of Bhargava’s involvement in the discussion. Furthermore, the source stated that no mention of the Futurism article was made over the course of the meeting.
“Today, Manoj [Bhargava] conducted a virtual town hall and spoke with the staff of The Arena Group, and took questions,” The Arena Group said in a statement. “Also today, some adjustments to the business have been made to improve the efficiency and revenue, and also some changes to senior management have been made.”
Bhargava, under his venture capital company Simplify Inventions, purchased a 65% stake in The Arena Group for $50 million, along with a five-year, $65 million advertising pact. The Arena Group was previously known as TheMaven, Inc., and consists of more than 265 media brands within the categories of lifestyle, finance and sports. As part of the deal, Bridge Media Networks, a Simplify Inventions subsidiary, was also added under The Arena Group portfolio, and Simplify Inventions also received $25 million of preferred stock in the Sports Illustrated parent company.
