Ex-Card Junior Bridgeman bidding for Sports Illustrated

Tim Sullivan | Courier Journal

Junior Bridgeman has never appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but his name might soon appear on its masthead.

The former University of Louisville basketball star, who has become one of the sports world’s richest retirees, has emerged as a serious bidder for a storied magazine struggling with secular change.

“It’s an iconic brand,” Bridgeman said Sunday morning. “The next part of our analysis is there are other things, other areas that we can go. ... (But) In this world, you can’t be overly optimistic.”

Less than two months after closing a $2.8 billion purchase of Time Inc. in January, the Iowa-based Meredith Corporation announced plans to sell four of the best-known products in publishing: Time, Fortune, Money and SI. Vanity Fair has reported that Meredith rejected an offer of more than $300 million for all four titles from National Enquirer owner David Pecker, and that more than 20 bidders have shown interest in Sports Illustrated as a standalone property.

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The New York Post has reported that the William Morris Endeavor talent agency has dropped out of the bidding as the price has risen and that only two or three bidders remain for each of the four magazines. A source close to Philadelphia 76ers owner co-owner Josh Harris said a $125 million bid by Harris and his partners for Sports Illustrated was rejected.

“I would think that ($125 million) would not quite get it done,” Bridgeman said.

Still standing are Bridgeman and, according to a source with the magazine, a group that includes Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and motivational speaker Tony Robbins. There may be others. Though he expects to know more by the middle of the month, Bridgeman was not sure where he stood as of Sunday.

“I don’t know exactly where they are (in the process),” he said. “You don’t know whether anything’s going to happen.”

Bridgeman, 64, was twice the Missouri Valley Conference’s Player of the Year at U of L, and starred on its 1975 Final Four team. A first-round selection of the Los Angeles Lakers, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the deal that brought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to LA. Used as both a shooting guard and a small forward, he averaged 13.6 points per game during a 10-year NBA career and had his No. 2 jersey retired by the Bucks.

But Bridgeman has made a bigger mark in the business world, first building a sprawling empire of more than 300 Wendy’s and Chili’s franchises across 16 states, then divesting two years ago to acquire the Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company and distribution rights in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska.

In 2016, Forbes estimated that Bridgeman was the fourth highest-paid retired athlete, behind Michael Jordan, David Beckham and the late Arnold Palmer, with an annual income of $32 million. His net worth has been pegged at $600 million by TheRichest.com.

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First published in 1954, and long one of the most prestigious names in publishing, Sports Illustrated has recently suffered from some of the same pressures that have afflicted the entire industry, most notably the migration of advertising revenues from print to online. In a pattern all too familiar in journalism, subsequent stages of that vicious cycle typically translate as layoffs, cutbacks and a less compelling product.

Once published 51 weeks a year, SI dropped to 45 issues in 2016 and 38 in 2017. In a letter published in its Christmas 2017 issue, editor Chris Stone announced that the magazine would move to an every-other-week schedule in 2018.

Though the Meredith Corporation’s web site claims Sports Illustrated is still seen by 17 million readers, that its web site generates 207 million monthly page views with 33 million unique visitors, the magazine’s continuing decline prompted an anguished essay this spring on theringer.com:

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“Sports Illustrated — a cultural touchstone, the quintessential middle-class American magazine of the postwar era, the publication that has defined and chronicled much of what is important about sports for more than 60 years — seems to be dying,” Michael MacCambridge wrote.

Bridgeman seems to think the patient can be saved. Moving the magazine’s operations out of New York real estate would cut costs, but Bridgeman said he has not yet thought that far into the future. Neither has he made plans to attend a photo shoot for the popular swimsuit issue.

“Depends on where they do the swimsuit shoots,” he said. “But I’m more excited about Sportsman of the Year.”

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/tims