6 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
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The next edition of SportS IlluStrated will be the March 2020 issue.
Look for it on newsstands and in your mailbox beginning on February 20.
HE WORLD has changed
over the last half century—
how’s that for a stunning
historical and cultural insight? As
obvious as that is, it’s still fun to take
stock of the evolution. Especially
since we’ve been thinking a lot here
lately about what this magazine has
been and where it’s going.
Take the Jan. 20, 1969 issue of
Sports Illustr ated. Joe Namath
on the cover, following the Jets’
epic upset of the Baltimore Colts in
Super Bowl III. Tex Maule’s game
story, with then hipster references
to the Jet Age and “swinging” nights
on the town. The word housewife in
the headline of a different story. A
car ad touting power windows as a
technological leap that will ease the
physical burden of rolling up to a
mailbox and mailing a letter.
That issue popped up as we were
conceptualizing the cover for this
magazine: a grouping of the nine
living MVPs of the Super Bowls played
in Miami (r i ght), including Namath.
In some ways South Florida is the
unofficial home of the Super Bowl; this
year’s game, at Hard Rock Stadium, is
the 11th in Miami, more than any other
host city. It’s been the scene of some of
the most super Super Bowl moments
(Broadway Joe’s guarantee, Swann’s
catch, Montana’s drive) and some of the
strangest. As Michael Rosenberg shows
in his story that begins on page32, the
growth of the Super Bowl from football
curiosity to de facto national holiday
can be traced quite clearly through the
games played in South Florida, from
Super Bowls II to LIV.
That push-pull between past and
future is especially resonant right now
for SI. We’re entering a new chapter in
our 66-year history: This is our first
issue as a monthly magazine. Things
have changed since
Namath’s Super Bowl
cover. Maule’s story
was full of game
detail and play-by-
play, the kind of
information that is
outdated seconds
after the final
whistle, much less
days or weeks later
when a magazine
is read. The new
SI is no longer a
vessel for news
and event recap.
It’s an invitation
to lean back and
enjoy thoughtful
writing and beautiful
images—you’ll find
both in Rosenberg’s
story and in any
those around it on
the pages that follow.
This is the first
of 16 issues of SI
you’ll see in 2020,
including the Swimsuit Issue and
standalone previews focused on
football, the NBA, baseball and the
Olympics. You’ll see heavier, brighter
paper that showcases our trademark
photography. And you’ll see pages
full of the stories that have been
synonymous with SI since 1954: in-
depth features, probing profiles, sharp
investigative journalism—produced by
the best writers in the business.
Like the Super Bowl, Sports
Illustrated is a living, breathing,
evolving institution—always building
and growing beyond what it was
before. Thanks for being part of that
story, and please, let us know what
you think about the new SI. ±
PAST
AND
PRESENT
BY THE EDITORS OF
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
FEEDBACK ON DECK
T
KO
HJIRO KIN
NO (BRADSH
AW
, M
ANN
ING, RICE, SW
AN
N AN
D YO
UN
G); DAVID E. KLU
THO (BREES); GREG N
ELSO
N (H
OW
LEY);
JEFFERY A. SALTER (N
AM
ATH); JAM
IE SCH
WABEROW
(ELW
AY)
EDITORS’ LETTER
