ESPN The Magazine and Sporting News posted significant increases in advertising revenue in 2003 while industry leader Sports Illustrated dipped from its 2002 numbers, according to recently released Publishers Information Bureau data.
Six-year-old ESPN The Magazine recorded $211.4 million in ad revenue in 2003, an increase of more than 25 percent from 2002, according to the bureau's numbers. Ad pages were up 6.3 percent, to 1,551.
ESPN The Magazine Publisher Chris Collins cited the automotive, apparel and footwear, and business and technology categories as the top buyers for the year. He said the latest figures are a further reflection of the publication's firm hold on the No. 2 spot in the market.
"We're excited," Collins said. "It's a result of a great, strong brand, and a pretty clear position in the marketplace, which we've been reinforcing for the last six years."
Sporting News, bolstered by 77 new advertisers who bought in during the last 12 months, increased ad revenue by 31.6 percent in 2003, to $39.1 million. Ad pages increased 6.9 percent, to 792 pages.
Sporting News Publisher Pete Spina said large increases in the automotive, alcohol, retail, real estate and insurance categories fueled the 117-year-old publication's gains.
"These are all new advertisers that are starting to realize the Sporting News is delivering an interesting audience of passionate readers," Spina said.
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated, whose $641.9 million in 2003 ad revenue trailed only People ($744.2 million) and Better Homes & Gardens ($654.3 million), saw a slight drop of 0.4 percent. Ad pages fell by 6.4 percent.
Newly hired SI publisher Dave Morris cited a decline in the domestic automotive, food and snacks, and insurance/finance categories as reasons for the drops. He added, however, that based on early bookings and a continued industrywide turnaround, he expects SI ad pages to grow by 5 percent in 2004.
On the golf front, Golf Digest generated $121.3 million in 2003 ad revenue, an increase of nearly 12 percent over 2002, according to the numbers. Golf magazine saw a 7.8 percent increase, to $156.4 million.
Total magazine ad revenue for 2003 was $18.3 billion, a 6.3 percent increase over 2002 totals, according to Publishers Information Bureau. Those numbers exclude figures for Conde Nast Publications, Fairchild Publications and Golf Digest Cos., divisions of Advance Magazine Group, whose numbers are now reported on a national page-rate basis, rather than the bureau's category rate basis.
Advance Magazine Group is a company of Advance Publications, which also publishes Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.
ESPN The Magazine, published jointly by Walt Disney Co. and Hearst Corp., has a paid circulation of 1.69 million, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Sporting News has a paid circulation of 706,420, while SI has a paid circulation of 3.27 million, according to ABC figures.
