ESPN has announced that, after this September’s issue of ESPN The Magazine is released, the publication will no longer offer a regular print edition.
- In a statement posted to their press site, the network noted that that they’d be moving publication of ESPN The Magazine over to a digital platform.
- This change is expected to occur after the release of September’s popular The Body Issue.
- Announcing this decision, ESPN cited the fact that the vast majority of their readers were already consuming their written content digitally.
- However, they did note that there may be special exceptions in the future — such as the release of The Body Issue — where a print edition might be released as well.
What they’re saying
- ESPN’s full statement on ESPN The Magazine: “Our journalists will continue to create the same exceptional content. Consumer habits are evolving rapidly, and this requires ESPN to evolve as well. The only change here is that we are moving away from printing it on paper and sending it in the mail, following September’s release of The Body Issue. Our data shows the vast majority of readers already consume our print journalism on digital platforms, and this approach will maximize our reach and impact. In the future, we will explore releasing tentpole collections such as Body in special, differentiated print formats.”