TheMaven Inc., which earlier this year licensed the rights to Sports Illustrated’s print and digital publications, laid off as many as 40 staff members, or 25 percent of its staff, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Christian Stone, the magazine’s editor in chief, is leaving the publication after seven years at the helm, according to the report. Sports Illustrated employs roughly 160 people, one of the people said. TheMaven is planning to hire as many as 200 contract workers in coming months to cover sports, a source told the Wall Street Journal.

Seattle-based TheMaven reached a deal to license Sports Illustrated’s publications in June, after previous owner Meredith Corp.  sold the mgazine to licensing company Authentic Brands Group for about $110 million. Authentic Brands licensed the rights to publish the magazine in print and online for at least the next 10 years in exchange for royalties and a $45 million upfront payment.

In a statement, Maven said it was beginning a three-month transition process aimed at revitalizing and strengthening the iconic magazine and website. Maven vowed to add more journalistic firepower and boost investments in technology to enhance real-time news cycle coverage, strengthen mobile platform delivery, and increase the development of complementary video content.

Maven Media Brands (MMB) is a subsidiary of Maven, the publicly held corporation, and will manage, produce and operate Maven’s owned media destinations and licensed brands. This division is home to TheStreet.com, which Maven acquired earlier in 2019, and will also oversee Sports Illustrated.

Sports Illustrated’s current management has been actively collaborating with Maven to transition the existing business and to fill new roles within MMB. Approximately 300 distinct voices, the majority of which are journalists, will be producing stories for SI by January 2020, which will help drive an increase in SI content production.

Maven also announced its initial hires:

  • Ross Levinsohn will serve as President of MMB and CEO of Sports Illustrated
  • Andrew Kraft, CRO & Chief Strategy Officer of Maven, will also serve as Chief Operating Officer of MMB
  • Steve Cannella and Ryan Hunt, longtime leaders at Sports Illustrated, will join MMB as co-editors in chief of Sports Illustrated
  • Margaret De Luna, previously President of TheStreet, has been named President, Membership and Marketing Services of MMB
  • Mark Ellis, a sales leader who previously led teams at Yahoo and Sports Illustrated, will join as Chief Revenue Officer of Sports Illustrated
  • Danny Lee will reprise his role at Sports Illustrated and serve as Publisher
  • Suzanne Bursich, also a Sports Illustrated veteran executive, will lead Advertiser Solutions and Marketing at Sports Illustrated

Maven said that under the leadership of Cannella and Hunt, the new SI magazine and website will launch in January 2020 and build upon the unrivalled standards, traditions, and reach of the storied brand. In addition to Sports Illustrated, MMB will continue to publish Sports Illustrated Kids, SI Presents, and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

Maven said it has already signed agreements with more than 80 new publishers of local sports content across the country to reimagine local sports team coverage. “Sports Illustrated Mavens” are seasoned and recognized journalists such as Mike Fisher (Dallas Cowboys Maven), John Bohnenkamp (Iowa Hawkeyes Maven), and Patricia Traina (New York Giants Maven), who will produce content for the Sports Illustrated and Maven digital platform reaching an audience of more than 100 million every month. Scott Kennedy and Mark Pattison will join MMB and work within the editorial team at Sports Illustrated to expand local coverage to more than 200 teams and markets.