Sports magazines bounced back last year after a dismal advertising performance in 2001.
According to final numbers from the Publishers Information Bureau, the two biggest general-interest titles, Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine, posted big gains. SI, owned by AOL Time Warner, finished up 13 percent at $644 million in ad revenue, while Walt Disney-owned ESPN The Magazine enjoyed a 37 percent increase to $169 million.
Topping both publications was The Sporting News, owned by Vulcan Ventures. Ad revenue at the 117-year-old weekly jumped 39 percent to $29.7 million. Both The Sporting News and ESPN The Magazine plan broad circulation increases this year.
Among titles focused more narrowly, AOL Time Warner's TransWorld Skateboarding jumped almost 24 percent to $26.3 million. At Runner's World, published by Rodale, ad revenue increased 22 percent to $23.5 million.
POST TIME: Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, the new assistant managing editor of sports for The Washington Post, believes the world of sports journalism has never been tougher.
"We're competing with other media outlets and with outlets of those we cover, like mlb.com," he said.
To stand out, Garcia-Ruiz will continue predecessor George Solomon's emphasis on enterprise reporting. But he won't unveil special sections, which many newspapers have embraced to try to generate one-shot ad revenue.
Unlike many sports sections across the land, Garcia-Ruiz said the Post's hasn't suffered dramatic cutbacks in space.
After 28 years as the Post's head man in sports, Solomon, 62, is likely to remain with the section as a writer.
"He has more energy than anyone here," Garcia-Ruiz said.
The Post's circulation is about 750,000 on weekdays and more than 1 million on Sundays.
NEW MOGULS: Andy Bigford was named vice president of Warren Miller Entertainment, while Kendall Hamilton took his place as editor of Ski magazine. Both properties are owned by AOL Time Warner's Time4 Media.
Beyond his duties at Warren Miller, Bigford will focus on developing editorial and marketing programs within Time4 Media.
Hamilton takes over a magazine in good shape. In 2002, ad revenue at Ski increased 8 percent to $34.2 million.
Please write to David Sweet at dsweet@sportsbusinessjournal.com.