Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is the largest weekly American sports magazine owned by media company Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, with over 18 million of them are men, 19% of the adult males in the United States.

Sports Illustrated
Managing EditorPaul Fichtenbaum
CategoriesSports magazine
FrequencyWeekly
Circulation3,000,000 per week (within the U.S.)
First issueAugust 16 1954
CompanyTime Inc. (Time Warner)
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
Websitesportsillustrated.cnn.com
ISSN0038-822X

Cover history

Most covers by athlete, 1954-2003

Athlete Number of Covers
Michael Jordan 49
Muhammad Ali 37
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 29
Magic Johnson 22
Jack Nicklaus 22

Most covers by team, 1954-May 2008

Team Number of Covers
New York Yankees 66
Los Angeles Lakers 64
Dallas Cowboys 46
Boston Red Sox 44
Chicago Bulls 44
Boston Celtics 39
Los Angeles Dodgers 38
Cincinnati Reds 38
San Francisco 49ers 34
Notre Dame Football 33

Most covers by sport, 1954-2003

Sport Number of Covers
Pro Football 519
Baseball 510
Pro Basketball 302
College Basketball 200
Golf 155
College Football 153
Boxing 134
Track and Field 99
Hockey 83
Tennis 78

Celebrities on the cover, 1954-2003

Celebrity Year Special Notes
Ed Sullivan 1959 On cover as golfer
Bob Hope 1963 Owner of Cleveland Indians
Shirley MacLaine 1964 Wearing a football uniform
Steve McQueen 1971 Riding a motorcycle
Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson 1977 Promoting the film Semi-Tough
Big Bird 1977 On the cover with Mark Fidrych
Arnold Schwarzenegger 1987 Caption on cover was Hot Stuff
Ice Cube 1999 On cover with Shaquille O'Neal
Chris Rock 2000 Wearing Los Angeles Dodgers hat

Fathers and sons who have been featured on the cover

Father Son
Archie Manning Peyton & Eli Manning
Calvin Hill Grant Hill
Bobby Hull Brett Hull
Bill Walton Luke Walton
Jack Nicklaus Gary Nicklaus
Phil Simms Chris Simms
Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Cal Ripken, Sr. Cal Ripken, Jr. & Billy Ripken

Presidents who have been featured on the cover

President SI Cover Date Special Notes
John F. Kennedy December 26, 1960 First Lady Jackie Kennedy also on cover and Kennedy was President-Elect at the time of the cover.
Gerald Ford July 8, 1974 Cover came one month before President Richard Nixon announced he would resign from the Presidency.
Ronald Reagan November 26, 1984 On cover with Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing
Ronald Reagan February 16, 1987 On cover with America's Cup champion Dennis Conner
Bill Clinton March 21, 1994 On cover about the Arkansas college basketball team

Tribute covers (In Memoriam)

Athlete SI Cover Date Special Notes
Len Bias June 30, 1986 Died of a cocaine overdose just after being drafted by the Boston Celtics
Arthur Ashe February 15, 1993 Tennis great and former US Open champion who died from AIDS
Reggie Lewis August 9, 1993 Celtics player who died due to a heart defect
Mickey Mantle August 21, 1995 Died after years of battling alcoholism
Walter Payton November 8, 1999 Died from rare liver disorder
Dale Earnhardt February 26, 2001 Died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500
Ted Williams July 15, 2002 Boston Red Sox who died of cardiac arrest
Johnny Unitas October 23, 2002 Baltimore Colts great who died from heart attack
Brittanie Cecil April 1, 2002 Fan killed as the result of being struck with a puck to the head while in the crowd at a Columbus Blue Jackets game
Pat Tillman May 3, 2004 Arizona Cardinals player who was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.

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