Weeks before the Summer Olympics in London and the start of the National Football League’s training camps, Sports Illustrated is cutting editorial staff through buyouts and possible layoffs.
Terry McDonell, editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group, has asked reporters and editors to volunteer for buyout packages by June 21. Depending on the number of people who volunteer, he will decide whether he has to lay off any of the magazine’s 210 editorial employees.
Mr. McDonell would not provide numbers. In late 2008, when Time Inc. had buyouts and layoffs at several of its magazines, including Sports Illustrated, he had to ask about 40 people to leave out of a staff of 250.
Mr. McDonell said he was making these moves to cut costs and integrate the magazine and digital properties. Buyouts and layoffs could extend beyond Sports Illustrated and SportsIllustrated.com to its children’s editions and swimsuit issue, and to publications like Golf Magazine and Golf.com.
“Unfortunately, there will be some pain in this, meaning the reduction of staff,” Mr. McDonell said. “At this point I don’t know what the number will be but I do know that it will be substantially smaller than what we’ve done in the past.”
Sports Illustrated has fared better than most magazines plagued by circulation declines. Circulation in December 2011 was at 3.1 million, compared with 3.2 million in December 2008, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
But Mr. McDonell said the magazine wanted to better integrate its digital operations with the magazine. The changes, he said, will involve having a single “N.F.L. czar” to run all of its National Football League coverage, for example, and a “golf czar” to handle coverage across all of its platforms.
“We’re trying to turn that into something more efficient,” Mr. McDonell said. “It used to be that we had a lot of collaboration between the Web site and magazine. Now we’re trying to turn that collaboration into something more efficient, especially with the Web site and with video opportunities.”
He added this decision came from within the Time Inc. Sports Group.
“Someone asked me the other day if this is part of a large corporate plan. I haven’t talked to anybody about this except to those supporting me,” he said.
Scott Novak, a spokesman for Sports Illustrated, stressed that this would not affect the magazine’s Summer Games coverage.
“Our coverage for the Olympics this year will exceed Beijing and include the publication of a new Olympic daily app,” Mr. Novak said.
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