Sports Illustrated is facing mass layoffs. Here’s what we know.

The entire staff at Sports Illustrated could be out of a job after receiving layoff notices Friday, potentially the final nail in the coffin for the beloved sports magazine.

Sports Illustrated’s union confirmed that “possibly all” Guild-represented workers could be let go after the magazine’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, revoked the publishing license it sold to another company, Arena Group. Last week, Arena missed a $2.8 million payment due to Authentic Brands. The union represents about 80 employees.

“As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand,” said a note to staffers emailed Friday morning and obtained by The Inquirer. The note said some workers would be terminated immediately, while others would work through an unspecified notice period.

Staffers remain confused. One writer who requested to remain anonymous due to concerns about future employment said there hasn’t been any further information about layoffs or the future of the magazine.

“We haven’t had any communication with the company beyond the email that’s been circulated,” the staffer said.

“We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue,” NFL editor Mitch Goldich said in a statement.

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It is unclear if Authentic Brands will sell the publication rights to Sports Illustrated to another company or renegotiate with Arena. In an SEC filing Friday, Arena said it was “engaging in continuing discussions” with Authentic regarding its licensing agreement and announced a plan to reduce “approximately one-third” of its current workforce.

“Authentic is here to ensure that the brand of Sports Illustrated, which includes its editorial arm, continues to thrive as it has for the past nearly 70 years,” the company said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that the traditional ad-supported Sports Illustrated media pillar has best in class stewardship to preserve the complete integrity of the brand’s legacy.”

Arena was widely criticized in November after a story in Futurism claimed the company published content created by an artificial intelligence tool and tried to pass it off as human-created content. CEO Ross Levinsohn was fired by Arena weeks later. Manoj Bhargava, the founder of the caffeine brand 5-Hour Energy, took over as interim CEO and resigned earlier this month.

Levinsohn remained on the company’s board, but announced his resignation Friday, calling the company’s actions against Sports Illustrated “the last straw.”

“An incredible team spent years rebuilding great brands like SI through very challenging times,” Levinsohn wrote on LinkedIn. “To watch in horror what is transpiring now is one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever witnessed in my professional life.”

Authentic Brands purchased Sports Illustrated for $110 million in 2019. The magazine dates back to 1954 and was owned by Time Inc. until 2018, when the brand was sold to Meredith Corporation. These days, the once-weekly magazine is published monthly, but hasn’t lost its appeal to sports fans and writers who grew up reading the famed publication.

“A Sports Illustrated cover was, for decades, the number one starmaking vehicle in sports. It was what Carson was for a comedian or SNL was for a band,” wrote This Is Football host Kevin Clark. “*Sports* is worse off without those things. That things got this bad this quickly is unfathomable and totally avoidable.”