TheMaven Inc., which earlier this year licensed the rights to Sports Illustrated’s print and digital publications, moved to eliminate about 40 positions at the sports media bible as part of a broader overhaul, according to people familiar with the matter.

The employees on Thursday afternoon received notice that their jobs were being cut, according to the people.

Sports Illustrated employs roughly 160 people, one of the people said. TheMaven is planning to hire as many as 200 contract workers in coming months to cover sports, the person said.

Seattle-based TheMaven cut a deal to license Sports Illustrated’s publications in June, after previous owner Meredith Corp. sold the magazine to licensing company Authentic Brands Group for about $110 million. Authentic Brands licensed the rights to publish the magazine in print and online for at least the next 10 years in exchange for royalties and a $45 million upfront payment.

Late Thursday afternoon, Meredith said in a statement that the media assets associated with Sports Illustrated were now “officially” being operated by TheMaven. Meredith said it informed staffers of the layoffs and that it did so on behalf of TheMaven. Its statement didn’t specify the number of job cuts.