With future of Sports Illustrated uncertain, let’s look back at the top St. Louis-themed covers

ST. LOUIS – The jobs of people who produce Sports Illustrated and the future of the magazine publication itself are in limbo after the company that paid to maintain the iconic brand’s print and digital products told staff that its license was revoked.

In an email to employees Friday morning, the Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said that because of the revocation, “we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”

Authentic Brands Group owns the Sports Illustrated brand and had been licensing it to Arena. Authentic later said in a statement that it intends to keep Sports Illustrated going. The company is negotiating with Arena and other publishing entities to determine who will do that, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about them.

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Until those negotiations are resolved, it’s unclear which journalists would actually do the work of making Sports Illustrated. It’s also unclear how many jobs were affected.

Sports Illustrated published its first magazine in 1954. SI has produced many iconic magazine covers over the years, celebrating legendary athletes, championships, milestones and the power of sports worldwide.

The St. Louis sports scene has been featured several times throughout Sports Illustrated’s decades-long run. The Cardinals, Blues and Rams have all sparked memorable SI covers, but spoiler alert, the Cardinals are undoubtedly the king of the three in terms of total covers.

Here’s a list (and links) to the many St. Louis connections with Sports Illustrated covers:

CARDINALS

• March 1956 – The first SI cover to feature the St. Louis Cardinals with legend Stan Musial posing a jump in the air, along with four teammates, during spring training.

• April 1957 – Outfielder Wally Moon is the first player to represent the St. Louis Cardinals solo on a SI cover.

• June 1961 – Pitcher Ernie Broglio featured on a SI edition titled “The National League Race”

• September 1967 – Catcher Tim McCarver featured on a SI edition titled “That St. Louis Spirit”

• April 1968 – Outfielder Lou Brock featured on a SI edition titled “Baseball.” Brock was also featured on a July 1974 cover featured “Thief At Work.”

• August 1968 – Outfielder Curt Flood featured on a SI edition and described as “Baseball’s Best Centerfielder.”

• October 1968 – Perhaps one of the most famous Cardinals-themed SI covers in franchise history, Roger Maris, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson, Mike Shannon and Lou Brock all sit by jerseys at their locker celebrating the 1968 “World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.”

• April 1980 – First baseman Keith Hernandez featured on a SI edition titled “Who Is Keith Hernandez and What Is He Doing Hitting .344?” after his 1979 co-MVP season.

• September 1987 – Shortstop Ozzie Smith featured on a SI edition titled “The Wiz” and described as “Mr. Shortstop,” just a month before he helped the Cardinals advance to a World Series.

• September 1998 – First baseman Mark McGwire featured in a Extra Edition after his then record-setting 62nd single-season home run with the cover titled “62!”

• March 2000 – McGwire featured once again with NL Central sluggers Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr., introduced as “The Power Pack”

• October 2000 – Outfielder Jim Edmonds featured in a MLB postseason edition of Sports Illustrated titled “Pennant Fever!”

• October 2004 – First baseman Albert Pujols featured for the first of several times as the Sports Illustrated cover athlete with the title “Smashing In St. Louis.”

• April 2006 – Pujols featured again on a regional “Baseball Preview ’06” edition of Sports Illustrated. Another cover with Pujols produced in May 2006 touted him for having “A Swing of Beauty.”

• October 2006 – Shortstop David Eckstein featured in a SI edition recognizing the 2006 World Series title, reading “World Champions – That’s Right.”

• March 2009 – Pujols once again featured on Sports Illustrated with a cover reading, “Albert Pujols Has A Message – Don’t Be Afraid To Believe In Me.”

• January 2013 – Stan Musial is featured posthumously in a SI memorial edition titled “The Man.”

• May 2013 – The Cardinals starting rotation recreates the iconic 1968 cover by their jerseys in a locker room, starring Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook. This edition is titled “The Cardinal Way.”

• October 2013 – Outfielder Allen Craig is featured on a World Series edition titled “The Crazy Classic.” It’s a photo of him sliding at home after he tripped over Red Sox third baseman Wil Middlebrooks and was awarded the run for interference, which led to a walkoff victory in Game 3.

• March 2014 – Catcher Yadier Molina is featured in a SI Baseball Preview Edition titled “Rare Bird,” also reading “There’s Nothing Yadier Molina Can’t Do.”

• Oct. 2014 – Pitcher Adam Wainwright featured along with NHL Blues forward T.J. Oshie in a baseball postseason-hockey preseason special titled “It’s On.”

• August 2015 – Outfielder Jason Heyward is featured in a SI edition titled “Cardinals Rule,” coming in the last season to date that St. Louis has won at least 100 games. Heyward is the last St. Louis Cardinals cover athlete for the magazine to date.

BLUES

• April 1969 – Forward Red Berenson is the first player to represent the St. Louis Blues on a SI cover.

• March 1991 – Forward Brett Hull is featured on a SI edition titled “The Incredible Hull.” The subtitle describes him as “The Blues’ Red-Hot Scoring Machine.”

• Oct. 2014 – Forward T.J. Oshie is featured along with MLB Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright in a baseball postseason-hockey preseason special titled “It’s On.”

• June 2019 – Captain Alex Pietrangelo is featured on a Special Stanley Cup Commemorative Issue titled “Blues Heaven” after the Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

RAMS

• October 1999 – Quarterback Kurt Warner is the first player to represent the St. Louis Rams on a SI cover, at least while the franchise was in St. Louis. Filling in after a preseason injury to Trent Green, SI titled this edition “Who Is This Guy?”

• February 2000 – Warner is again featured in a SI special edition called “Cinderella Stories” after he wins Super Bowl XXXIV MVP. SI produced two more Warner special edition covers, one called “A Storybook Ending To A Miracle Season,” and another called “Super Bowl Champs! The Amazing Season of the 1999 St. Louis Rams.”

• September 2001 – Running back Marshall Faulk is featured on an edition titled “Face It” and describing Faulk as “the best player in the game.”

• November 2015 – Running back Todd Gurley is featured in a SI edition titled “Battering Ram” and giving an inside look into his rookie season.

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