After the turn of the century, the internet’s popularity grew significantly. Print publications had been a prime source for consumers to access news, interviews and more up to that point, but consumers started shifting their focus to the internet. For print brands like Sports Illustrated and others, this resulted in the need to readjust their monetization efforts. By the time Ross Levinsohn took over as Sports Illustrated CEO in 2016, the brand had been enjoying a steady stream of revenue from its website for many years. However, the cumulative effect of the consumer shift was still creating stress on the company.
The Sports Illustrated CEO knew that important steps needed to be taken to address the matter, and he drew from his well of professional experiences to find a feasible solution. Notably, Levinsohn has proven his value to the publishing and media industries over the course of his 40-year professional career, and he picked up a considerable amount of insight and knowledge over that time. For example, prior to joining Sports Illustrated, he was the head executive in charge at Maven Media. In the chief role for this major service provider, one of his responsibilities was to oversee the delivery of monetization services to hundreds of brands on its client list. One of his many bold efforts to raise revenue in this capacity was for one of the company’s financial clients, The Street with Jim Cramer. Levinsohn spotted an exciting opportunity to elevate revenue by appealing to consumers’ newfound interest in cryptocurrencies. To produce income for the brand, Levinsohn debuted cryptocurrency paywalls for a new channel and a related newsletter. By doing so, he met consumers’ changing interests and raised income at the same time.
This is one of many experiences that Levinsohn drew from when he approached the situation at Sports Illustrated. He decided to overhaul the brand’s monetization plan by initially offering all top-rated content to premium-level subscribers first. This new paywall was offered in addition to the standard paywall that was already in place, and it allowed the brand to squeeze more value out of its content. This impressive maneuver has been mimicked by many other print publication brands since it was introduced.