SI today is debuting a new multiplatform content vertical devoted to technology and media in sports, extending an ongoing effort by the Time Inc. brand to branch into new areas. “Tech & Media” (SI.com/Tech) will exist as a section within SI.com, and is fueled in part by a content partnership with sports technology site SportTechie “Tech & Media,” will be co-branded with both SI and SportTechie. The section will serve as the home for Richard Deitsch’s “Media Circus” columns. Other content within the section will be a mix of shorter pieces, long-form articles, video material and social media postings, including live streaming on Facebook Live and deployments on Snapchat. “Technology now intersects with so many of our storylines and with how we produce content ourselves,” said new SI Editorial Dir Chris Stone. “It’s really at the nexus of everything we do, so this is very logical extension for us.” Coverage will also extend into other SI franchises including The MMQB. Financial terms of the SI-SportTechie partnership were not disclosed, but the deal was put together primarily by outgoing SI Group Editor Paul Fichtenbaum and SI CMO Damian Slattery. Brendan Ripp, former SI Group Publisher who now leads tech and telecommunications sales for all of Time Inc., also was an early champion of the initiative. The creation of “Tech & Media” follows several other SI content vertical launches including SI Films, Swim Daily, Campus Rush and Planet Futbol. SI’s creation of “Tech & Media” and partnership with SportTechie.com bears some resemblance to the brand’s “SB 100” collaboration last year with Wired to imagine the future of football, which carried a heavy technology theme. However, where that was a defined, five-month editorial project, this new venture is an open-ended partnership.
