# Sports Illustrated

*Sports Illustrated*|  |
| Managing Editor | Paul Fichtenbaum |
| Categories | Sports magazine |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Circulation | 3,000,000 per week (within the U.S.) |
| First issue | August 16 1954 |
| Company | Time Inc. (Time Warner) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | sportsillustrated.cnn.com |
| ISSN | 0038-822X |

Sports Illustrated is the largest weekly American sports magazine. Media company Time Warner owns it. The magazine has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week; over 18 million of them are men, 19% of the adult males in the United States.

In late 2023, *The Futurist* reported that the magazine had published articles that were written by artificial intelligence. *Sports Illustrated* had not written that the articles were not written by people. The CEO of the magazine was fired soon after the report.

## Cover history

**Most covers by athlete, 1954-2003**

| Athlete | Number of Covers |
| --- | --- |
| Michael Jordan | 49 |
| Muhammad Ali | 37 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 29 |
| Magic Johnson | 22 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 22 |

**Most covers by team, 1954-May 2008**

| Team | Number of Covers |
| --- | --- |
| New York Yankees | 66 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 64 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 46 |
| Boston Red Sox | 44 |
| Chicago Bulls | 44 |
| Boston Celtics | 39 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 38 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 38 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 34 |
| Notre Dame Football | 33 |

**Most covers by sport, 1954-2003**

| Sport | Number of Covers |
| --- | --- |
| Pro Football | 519 |
| Baseball | 510 |
| Pro Basketball | 302 |
| College Basketball | 200 |
| Golf | 155 |
| College Football | 153 |
| Boxing | 134 |
| Track and Field | 99 |
| Hockey | 83 |
| Tennis | 78 |

**Celebrities on the cover, 1954-2003**

| Celebrity | Year | Special Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ed Sullivan | 1959 | On cover as golfer |
| Bob Hope | 1963 | Owner of Cleveland Indians |
| Shirley MacLaine | 1964 | Wearing a football uniform |
| Steve McQueen | 1971 | Riding a motorcycle |
| Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson | 1977 | Promoting the film Semi-Tough |
| Big Bird | 1977 | On the cover with Mark Fidrych |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | 1987 | Caption on cover was Hot Stuff |
| Ice Cube | 1999 | On cover with Shaquille O'Neal |
| Chris Rock | 2000 | Wearing Los Angeles Dodgers hat |

**Fathers and sons who have been featured on the cover**

| Father | Son |
| --- | --- |
| Archie Manning | Peyton & Eli Manning |
| Calvin Hill | Grant Hill |
| Bobby Hull | Brett Hull |
| Bill Walton | Luke Walton |
| Jack Nicklaus | Gary Nicklaus |
| Phil Simms | Chris Simms |
| Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
| Cal Ripken, Sr. | Cal Ripken, Jr. & Billy Ripken |

**Presidents who have been featured on the cover**

| President | SI Cover Date | Special Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| John F. Kennedy | December 26, 1960 | First Lady Jackie Kennedy also on cover and Kennedy was President-Elect at the time of the cover. |
| Gerald Ford | July 8, 1974 | Cover came one month before President Richard Nixon announced he would resign from the Presidency. |
| Ronald Reagan | November 26, 1984 | On cover with Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing |
| Ronald Reagan | February 16, 1987 | On cover with America's Cup champion Dennis Conner |
| Bill Clinton | March 21, 1994 | On cover about the Arkansas college basketball team |

**Tribute covers (In Memoriam)**

| Athlete | SI Cover Date | Special Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Len Bias | June 30, 1986 | Died of a cocaine overdose just after being drafted by the Boston Celtics |
| Arthur Ashe | February 15, 1993 | Tennis great and former US Open champion who died from AIDS |
| Reggie Lewis | August 9, 1993 | Celtics player who died due to a heart defect |
| Mickey Mantle | August 21, 1995 | Died after years of battling alcoholism |
| Walter Payton | November 8, 1999 | Died from rare liver disorder |
| Dale Earnhardt | February 26, 2001 | Died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 |
| Ted Williams | July 15, 2002 | Boston Red Sox who died of cardiac arrest |
| Johnny Unitas | October 23, 2002 | Baltimore Colts great who died from heart attack |
| Brittanie Cecil | April 1, 2002 | Fan killed as the result of being struck with a puck to the head while in the crowd at a Columbus Blue Jackets game |
| Pat Tillman | May 3, 2004 | Arizona Cardinals player who was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan. |

## Other websites

* SI.com Archived 2012-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
* SI Vault Archived 2008-06-14 at the Wayback Machine: All the editions since 1954
* Page of the magazine at SI.com Archived 2008-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
* Sports Illustrated for Kids