General Sports

Most of the sports magazines in this collection are specifically dedicated to either baseball, basketball, football, or soccer. Two of the sports magazines – ESPN The Magazine and Conference Call – were more general in nature. As opposed to covering one sport in depth, these magazines covered a wider range of sports for enthusiasts of multiple games to engage with in one place. ESPN The Magazine was associated with the broadcast network and covered professional and college sports, while Conference Call covered Big 12 collegiate athletics.

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Conference Call Premiere Issue

Conference Call Magazine released its first issue in April/May of 2005. The magazine, created by sports writer and editor, Derek Samson. Samson began Conference Call while working as an assistant sports editor at the Kansas City Star. The magazine covers the Big 12 Conference, which included Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Texas A&M, Colorado, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor.

The premiere issue of Conference Call featured many stories, including OU’s Orange Bowl team, Top 12 Big 12 names in college athletes, Cedric Benson and the upcoming NFL Draft, and what was happening in the Big 12 in April 2005. The magazine also featured a story on local Kansas City athlete, Wayne Simien, who was also an All-American candidate.

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ESPN The Magazine Premier Issue

ESPN The Magazine was an American sports magazine created by ESPN in March 1998 during a period of expansion after it was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 1995. The magazine was intended to compete with Sports Illustrated as a fresher alternative to the latter. The aim of ESPN The Magazine was to offer insider access to famous athletes through profiles. In addition to professional and college sports coverage, regular topics included sports business, images of the week, and opinion pieces. The cover of the first issue highlighted players ESPN deemed to be rising stars as Next Athletes, a tradition that would continue over the years. Though the magazine covered many different sports, basketball stars most frequently graced the front cover. In the foreground of the issue seen here is a 19-year-old Kobe Bryant, who would go on to be featured on the cover of ESPN The Magazine nine times, second only to LeBron James, who was featured 12 times.

In October 2009, ESPN The Magazine published its first “Body Issue” as an answer to Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue, featuring athletes of different genders, races, and body types. In November 2011, ESPN The Magazine reported a readership of almost 16 million, being the #1 magazine for men aged 18-34. Over the years, the magazine won numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, Magazine of the Year, and hundreds of other journalism awards. After 21 years, ESPN The Magazine ended its print run in September 2019, transitioning to a focus on online content, which continues to this day.

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Play, February 2006 Issue

Play began as a weekly online magazine starting in 2006 from The New York Times. It soon moved from weekly publication to quarterly, then ceased operation altogether in the Fall of 2008. Mark Bryant was the editor-in-chief. Play won several accolades during its short, two year existence and was even a finalist for the prize in general excellence at the National Magazine Awards in its final year of publication – no small feat.

Play was a part of the New York Times’ initiative to get higher end advertisers with a new set of smaller magazines that would go out with the Sunday edition. This initiative did not seem to work in Play’s favor though, with Play only lasting two years.