Triumph Books, the leader in sports publishing, and Authentic Brands Group (ABG), a global brand development, marketing and entertainment company, and owner of the Sports Illustrated brand, today announced a partnership to launch a series of Sports Illustrated frontlist trade books. Based in Chicago with its parent company Independent Publishers Group (IPG), Triumph Books has established itself as the preeminent publisher of sports books in the United States and Canada, bringing 80-90 new titles to the market every year.
“Sports Illustrated has published a wealth of industry-leading books under the Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Kids imprints and we are excited to continue this winning streak in partnership with Triumph publishing,” said Marc Rosen, EVP of Entertainment at ABG. “Triumph’s strength of reaching sports fans combined with its access to IPG’s distribution network provides Sports Illustrated with extensive reach into dozens of distribution channels from large book retailers to sports-focused specialty stores.”
Through this partnership, which is set to launch in 2021, Triumph Books and Sports Illustrated will bring to market titles in several categories, including high-end, photo-driven coffee table books, anthologies of stories from SI’s archives, team histories, commemorative books and titles focused on current events and trends that expand on Sports Illustrated’s current reporting across all forms of media.
“Triumph Books is thrilled to partner with Authentic Brands Group to continue Sports Illustrated’s book publishing program and to take it in new, exciting directions,” said Triumph Books publisher Noah Amstadter. “Triumph’s mission is to deliver books to our readers that celebrate and educate fans about the sports, teams, and athletes they love. I can’t think of a better name to do this with than Sports Illustrated, which has been the pinnacle that sports writers and photographers have strived to reach for more than half a century. We are honored to work with this team and utilize their incredible archive to bring exciting new books to fans of all ages.”
Together, ABG and Triumph will also expand the Sports Illustrated Kids catalog with updated entries in the bestselling Big Book of Who, Big Book of Why, and the My First Book series and new titles focused on sports stars from professional and college teams across several eras. “Triumph has a strong catalog of children’s sports books, from engaging titles for beginning readers like B is for Baller to more intermediate titles like Jennie Finch’s Throw Like a Girl,” added Amstadter. “Our partnership with Sports Illustrated supercharges that effort, as SI has long been the market leader in this space.”
ABG acquired Sports Illustrated in May of 2019. Under its leadership, Sports Illustrated has forged ahead in a number of exciting new verticals including long-form content via Sports Illustrated Studios, lifestyle apparel and collaborations, nutrition and wellness supplements and a women’s swimwear under the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit brand. Triumph Books and IPG’s unparalleled reach both in and outside of the book trade will expand the Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Kids imprints beyond the shelves of traditional booksellers. IPG previously signed a backlist licensing agreement with Sports Illustrated/Authentic Brands Group in 2019 and has already begun the distribution of past titles.
“Sports Illustrated and Triumph Books is an ideal partnership that unites two of the strongest brands in sports publishing,” said Cynthia Sherry, group publisher for IPG-owned Triumph Books and Chicago Review Press. “We’re overjoyed to be working with Sports Illustrated on this exciting deal that combines their legacy of great sports content with Triumph Books’ expertise in producing timely sports books fans want to read.”
