Sports Illustrated later this year will start a new site about the NBA, similar to the NFL-focused MMQB.
The Time Inc. brand originally contemplated a basketball-themed site during its pursuit last year of NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski. SI came close to landing Wojnarowski, but he ultimately signed a four-year contract extension with Yahoo Sports last summer that paved the way for January’s debut of The Vertical.
Chris Stone, newly installed this month as SI’s editorial director, said the yet-to-be-named basketball site will not be as personality driven as The Vertical or The MMQB, led by longtime SI football writer Peter King. But like The Vertical, it will explore elements of basketball culture and lifestyle in addition to coverage of the league itself.
“The NBA is clearly on an extraordinary arc. There is a great audience and a huge appetite for more content,” said Stone, who is succeeding SI Group Editor Paul Fichtenbaum, who is leaving SI June 30 after 27 years. “There’s something really compelling we want to do in this area, somewhat in the mold of The MMQB. We see this as a logical next step for us.”
It will debut likely around the start of the 2016-17 NBA season. Specific staffing and budget has not been determined, but SI basketball writers Lee Jenkins, Chris Ballard and Andrew Sharp will be among those involved. Like The MMQB, content will comprise text, video, audio and social media. The look and feel of the site will likely use elements from a planned redesign of SI.com, which will go live sometime this summer. SI.com last received a substantial refresh two years ago.
A basketball site would extend SI’s corporate strategy to create new content franchises. SI last week began a new vertical devoted to technology and media in sports in partnership with sports technology site SportTechie. The company previously rolled out SI Films, Swim Daily, Campus Rush, SI Play and Planet Futbol, among other projects.
“Look at everything our bosses [at Time Inc.] have signed off on in the last 18 months,” Stone said. “They have not only been accommodating, they have been aggressive, and I would expect that to continue.”
Stone, previously SI’s managing editor, said he also intends to expand the brand’s presence in live events. SI runs an annual Sportsman of the Year event in New York, and recently expanded its Swimsuit fan festival into a twice-a-year initiative with a new summer event, also in New York, to join activities each February related to the issue’s publication. Stone said he intends to develop several more.
“There is a real opportunity for us to venture into more non-core assets that in turn will help enrich the core,” he said.
