Sports Illustrated Women/Sport, the 176-page inaugural
test issue of SI's new sports magazine for women, will hit
newsstands nationwide on Monday, April 21, with a cover
price of $2.95. The Spring '97 debut issue features a six-
month pregnant Sheryl Swoopes on the cover in her WNBA
Houston Comets jersey. The magazine will be published twice
in '97, with frequency to be determined for '98. Initial
distribution will include 450,000 SI female subscribers and
60,000 women "strategically selected" from a Time Warner
database. Newsstand sales of more than 100,000 are expected
(SI Women/Sport). The first issue carries 68 pages of
advertising from 40 advertisers (AD AGE, 4/10).
REAX: In S.F., Gary Swan calls the issue "hardly more
noble or highbrow than the swimsuit issue," citing articles
on Tonya Harding's favorite barrooms and pool halls and an
advice column where Olympic skier Edith Thys answers for a
question on pre-event sex (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/10). In
Philadelphia, Diane Pucin looks at the launch under the
header: "Does New Magazine Offer Excuse To Ignore Women?"
Pucin: "It should be an exciting thing ... Except, it
leaves you with a queasy feeling. ... What if, in the
course of making money, SI forces women to make a choice:
read SI or read Sports Illustrated/Women Sport? Or makes it
easier for male readers to ignore female athletes in SI?
That's a setback for women athletes as much as those Summer
Olympics were a step forward" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 4/10).
