A Look Back at the Best Old Sports Magazines
By
Richard Janvrin
Contributor Updated: 26 November 2024
Richard Janvrin Contributor
Richard has been writing about sports since he was a teenager. Still, his first professional role came in 2015, covering all things NFL and fantasy football-related. From there, in December 2018, he started in the sports betting industry, covering sportsbook reviews before arriving to where he is today.
The Best Old Sports Magazines
For decades, picking up the latest issue of your favorite sports magazine via a subscription service that mailed it to your home or picked it up from local retailers was the best way for sports fans to get news, updates, and inside scoops or profiles on their favorite teams and athletes.
These magazines evolved over the years, but with the emergence of social media and the instantaneousness of news, magazines are seemingly not as sought after and reserved for locations like the waiting rooms at doctor’s offices.
Most of these old sports magazines are not even in circulation anymore.
Even the top online sportsbooks provide information about sports via blogs or social media posts.
Regardless of their standing today, many have been legendary in their coverage of ports. Below, I’ll honor them, discussing six of the most notable we’ve seen on store shelves over the years.
Let’s check them out.
Sports Illustrated
When you think of old sports magazines, the first one you often think of is Sports Illustrated.
This magazine set the standard for sports reporting and journalism and the quality of sports photography.
Sports Illustrated covers various sports with legendary writers like Walter Iooss Jr., Frank Deford, and Rick Reilly.
Not only did SI cover sports, but they also dove into lengthy stories that humanized the athletes we root for throughout the year.
The magazine developed the Swimsuit Edition, which helped attract more attention to the magazine and its journalism.
The magazine has featured some of the most prominent images in sports history, including Muhammad Ali over Sonny Liston, which Neil Leifer took.
Deford also crafted profiles of figures like Arthur Ashe, Bobby Knight, and others.
Sports Illustrated also created its SI Sportsmen of the Year Award in the 1950s. It was given to a player who demonstrated the best sportsmanship. For one of the best sports magazines to begin offering an award was a massive deal, and it gave SI even more credibility.
It was regarded as a notable and important award, and British runner Roger Banister received the first one.
As of October 2024, no print sports magazines had been released in six months, as the former publisher refused to turn over the subscriber list.
The Sporting News
Also referred to as “The Bible of Baseball,” The Sporting News magazine covers all sports now. However, the vintage sports magazine began by focusing on baseball, including providing statistics, box score updates, updates on standings, and more before TV and radio were fully developed to provide listeners and viewers with information.
The magazine was established in the late 1880s, so it’s seen many of the notable events in sports, including baseball history, such as Babe Ruth’s run, Jackie Robinson’s break into the MLB, and Hank Aaron’s pursuit and breaking of the home run record during his playing days.
The Sporting News focused on statistics early, which separated them from the coverage at the time. This included comparing players, which drew more interest from fans.
Like Sports Illustrated and the other magazines on this list, TSN provided player profiles and brought in some of the best sportswriters, including Dick Young.
The Sporting News released its final printed magazine in 2012.
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN is perhaps the most well-known sports network of all time. On November 3, 1998, it released its first-ever printed sports magazine.
This magazine not only covered sports but also had specific sections dedicated to notable personalities, including Stuart Scott’s Two Way, which answered readers’ questions.
There was also The Biz with Peter Keating, a transcript of The Dan Patrick Show when he was at ESPN, and The Life of Reilly, in which Reilly, formerly with Sports Illustrated, offered some opinions.
ESPN rivaled Sports Illustrated, releasing their first “Body Issue” magazine to rival the swimsuit editions.
The magazine has undergone many changes over the years, and by 2016, only “The Biz” and “Zoom,” a section with one large image taking up two pages, remained from the original lineup.
There then became a focus on Sabermetrics and statistics.
ESPN The Magazine will soon feel like an old sports magazine, as the final issue was published in September 2019.
SLAM
Slam, one of the best sports magazines dedicated to basketball only, launched in 1994 with Charlotte Hornets player Larry Johnson on the cover.
It also incorporated hip-hop culture, which was really breaking into the mainstream at that time.
Not only was Johnson on the cover but there was also a story written about me by Andrew Serwer and a feature on Cal Golden Bears freshman Jason Kidd.
Slam saw an uptick in sales of about 25% from 1996 to 1997.
The magazine saw numerous ownership changes, and the current holding company is Slam Media Inc.
LeBron James has appeared on the cover 27 times.
The first woman, Chamique Holdsclaw, appeared on it in 1998.
What made Slam stand out was not only its infusion of hip-hop culture but also its acceptance of player-written articles and an expansive “Letters to the Editor” section.
There was also a Trash Talk section where readers could praise or take shots at the magazine NOYZ, which had one-liner jokes about basketball, and the Rookie Diary, where players discussed their first season.
The popular sports magazine is still circulating today, offering six issues per year.
Golf Digest
As you’d expect, Golf Digest covers golf and has done so since 1950. It is among the best sports magazines.
One of the more important features and sections it offers is a biennial ranking of the world’s best golf courses. This has been available since 1965. In 2010, it released the list “Top 50 Courses for Women.”
In 2009, the magazine was nominated for a National Magazines Award.
Over the years, the magazine has featured sections including tips from golfers like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
It also provided insight into the mechanics of swinging and playing the sport.
In addition to reviewing the courses, there were breakdowns for balls, clubs, and more.
Golf Digest is arguably the sport’s number one source for coverage, covering all major events all year long.
Pro Football Weekly
Founded in 1967, Pro Football Weekly, covering only the NFL, ran through 2013 before relaunching its sports magazines in 2014 due to a partnership with Shaw Media.
The magazine had more than 30 annual issues per year, including weekly iterations during the football season.
It also offered Pro Football Weekly Preview, Fantasy Football Guide, Draft Preview, and Pro Prospects Preview.
The magazine covered anything you could think of to do with the NFL.
For football fans, before the Internet and 24/7 coverage on social media and television, this was the single best way to understand the sport in more detail, including the draft, stats, and insights into how the game was played.
It launched the website ProFootballweekly.com in 2015, but today, it is redirected to Shawlocal.com, which focuses on Chicago Bears coverage.
