Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an american sports magazine owned by media conglomerated time warner. this was the brain child of TIME patriarch and sports lover Henry Luce  and was launched in august 16, 1954. After suffering losses for more than a decade, the magazine's fortune turned once Andre Laguerre (chief of life-time bureaus in Paris and London) became it's managing director.
Laguerre's singular coverage of the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. it followed by innovations which more than doubled the circulation. Laguerre's innovations included the liberal use of color photos,scouting reports, in depth reporting from writers like Robert Creamer, Tax Maule and Dan Jenkins, regular illustrations featured by artists like Robert Riger, high school football player of the month awards, inserts of sports cards in the center of the magazine and the concept of long story at the end of every issue.
Special marks were made by the photographers Rich Clarkson, Mark Kauffman, Neil Leifer, Walter Looss, Hy Peskin, with the innovations like putting cameras in the goal at a hockey game and behind a glass blackboard at a basketball game.
The magazine's ornateness was further enhanced by the stories of Frank Deford, Pete Rozelle, Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant and Howard Cosell.
The regular segments include:
"Who is got and who is not",a feature on a tear and who is in a slump.
"Inside the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football, college basketball, NASCAR, golf,boxing, horse racing,soccer and tennis"
"Faces in the crowd" honors talented amateur athletes.
"Back page column" highlights the writers and the contributors.
Since its inception, sports illustrated has annually presented the sportsman of the year award to an athlete or a team. Roger Banister won the first sportsman of the year award, and Derek Jeter is the most recent awarded sportsman.
The magazine cover is on the basis of a sports myth known as sports illustrated cover jinx.
Sports Illustrated has launched a number of related publishing ventures,including:
Sports Illustrated kids magazine
Sports Illustrated almanac manuals
SI.com sports news website
Sports Illustrated Australia
Sports Illustrated Canadian edition
Sports Illustrated Presents
Sports Illustrated women magazine
Sports Illustrated on campus magazine
The proliferation of commemorative issues and subscription incentives seemed to some  like an exchange of journalistic integrity for commercial opportunism. Though the most profitable magazine, it became a predictable magazine also, and to some it lacked in sophistication for sometime. Besides in the early issues the subject matter was directed at upper class activities like yachting, polo and safaris, which attracted few.
Yet, having over 23 million readers,and around 3 million subscribers, this weekly magazine was the first one to win the national magazine award for general excellence. The magazine, beyond any doubt remains a predominant sports publication with a consistent weekly circulation which marks an achievement of the level of prominence.