Rugby Magazine Set To Hit Newstands For The First Time
By John Ourand, Staff Writer
For the first time in its 34 years, Rugby Magazine will be available on newsstands starting with its September-October issue. Previously available only for a subscription, the magazine's publisher, American International Media, will make the bi-monthly magazine available for $5 per issue at up to 1,000 college bookstores and national bookselling chains, like Barnes & Noble. "We're trying to turn around a magazine that had not been making money," said Stephen Hanks, Rugby Magazine's Publisher and Creative Dir. Rugby Magazine has a combined paid and controlled circulation of about 10,000, which Hanks does not expect to increase much with the newsstand sales -- at least not immediately. That's because Hanks is planning to replace some of its controlled circulation with newsstand sales. Hanks also expects to see growth from converting a pay-site eRugbyNews.com, into a free site, called RugbyMag.com. About a decade ago, Hanks worked in custom publishing for MLB. When he was hired to turn around Rugby Magazine last October, he almost immediately switched the magazine from a monthly to a bi-monthly and stripped out news stories. "We decreased the frequency, lowered the subscription price and made the magazine more features based," Hanks said. Advertising still is dominated by the endemics. But Hanks said he's seen some movement in the alcohol (Steinlager, Moosehead) and men's grooming (Lucky Tiger) categories.
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