Ross Levinsohn, who now serves the media industry as the Sports Illustrated CEO, is a master at reinventing monetization strategies. His skills in this key area have been put to great use by Sports Illustrated in recent years. Around the turn of the century, the internet had gained significant momentum, and more people were turning to it as their preferred source of content. This meant that print publications, including Sports Illustrated and others, were feeling a financial strain. As consumers were looking toward the internet for news and stories, they were moving away from print magazines. This resulted in financial strain through lower readership. By the time Ross Levinsohn became the Sports Illustrated CEO in 2016, the situation was ripe. After all, while Sports Illustrated had a revenue-producing website by that time, this revenue growth was not keeping pace with revenue loss from print subscriptions.

A great portion of Levinsohn’s experience with monetization plans in the media world has been while he worked as Chief Executive Officer for Maven Media. As a major industry service provider, Maven Media’s core services were provided to more than 300 established brands. One of these services covers monetization strategies. While he worked with Maven Media, Levinsohn spotted many great opportunities to take some of those brands’ revenue streams to a new level. For example, cryptocurrencies were gaining momentum in the financial world, so the audience of The Street with Jim Cramer had a bold appetite for related content. To address this lucrative opportunity, Levinsohn led the development of a cryptocurrency-specific paywall. This smart move has satisfied changing consumer demand and modernized the brand’s revenue structure.

At Sports Illustrated, Levinsohn decided to use a new paywall to give the brand a much-needed revenue boost. However, he did not want to create extra content to support the paywall. His innovative mind decided to offer the brand’s news and interviews earlier through an early-release paywall. By transforming Sports Illustrated’s monetization plan in this way, Levinsohn has been able to properly address the brand’s modern challenge.