I guess it was just a matter of time, but Sports Illustrated now has a paywall. Will any of you pay for a subscription? I used to love SI, but it's now only a shadow of what it used to be. They've had massive layoffs in recent years, and it doesn't have the content it used to have. To me, the Athletic is a better deal. What do the rest of you think? https://www.crossingbroad.com/2021/02/sports-illustrated-erecting-a-paywall.html
Funny you should ask. I've subscribed to SI for more than 45 years, but the most recent issue was my final one. I would have stopped a couple of years ago, but through various promotions I've gotten the last couple of years for free. It has become an all-feature magazine - either fluff or serious character studies. Either way, that's not why I'm interested in sports.
Online Subscription services have taken over especially the past 5 years. Not just media but software and other services. Surprised it took so long.
It's a two-edged sword. The paywall will give SI subscription revenue, but it will probably decrease the number of people clicking on the stories, and that may reduce the site's desirability to advertisers and what they're willing to pay to advertise. Paywalls usually work well only when the content is good enough that people are willing to pay for it (e.g., the Athletic). Otherwise, it's often a sign of desperation. SI has laid off tons of people in the last few years, and most of the well-known writers are long gone. I wonder if the paywall is just an attempt by management to pick the last morsels of meat off the SI carcass and name. I question whether SI's content is so good that a lot of people will pay to read it.
There's too much quality free information out there for me to justify paying to read someone else's opinions. So it's a no for me dawg.
