In one and a half years, the Arena Group and Sports Illustrated CEO Ross Levinsohn took both companies to greater heights. The Arena Group is already prepared to join the Russell 2000, Russell 3000, and Russell Microcap Index, an outstanding growth for a firm that works in a crowded media industry. The Russell 3000 evaluates the accomplishments of the largest 3000 U.S firms. Joining it is a significant turning point for any company. The leading Russell 3000 firms are part of the largest stocks in the U.S, and retail and institutional vendors worldwide use the Russell Index products and skills.
The Arena Group is a media company with over 200 brands and 40 properties, which include TheStreet, HubPages, Sports Illustrated, and Parade Media. In 2019, Sports Illustrated magazine and its intellectual property were acquired by Authentic Brands Group for $110 million. However, despite the promise of Sports Illustrated as a brand, it was clear that the company required a visionary who could amend the magazine with new streams of revenue and electronic media, so they tapped Levinsohn as the Maven and Sports Illustrated CEO. He came up with the idea of rebranding Maven to The Arena Group and shifting its focus from several topics to content with a specific category.
Ross frequently refers to his approach of fine-tuning media firms as a playbook. The plays in the book comprise acquiring and hosting sites in various areas like lifestyle, finance, and sports verticals. When he took over as CEO, the company focused its energy, strategy, and resources on using technology to reconstruct media brands. They put money into the development of their strategic team and technology platforms and created a playbook for success that is currently driving user and financial development.
Today, Sports Illustrated Group surpasses being a productive content creator. It presides over a scalable monetization stack and technology platform and owns a subscription infrastructure that is well-oiled. Ross states that it is not by accident that Sports Illustrated has undergone a rebirth but because it is a trusted and meaningful brand.