• Loading stock data...
Friday, June 6, 2025

Is the Owner of 5-Hour Energy Drink Turning ‘Sports Illustrated’ Into a 5-Hour Energy Promotional Arm?

  • Since the arrival of Manoj Bhargava atop the group that operates ‘SI,’ staffers have voiced concerns about the outlet’s editorial autonomy.
  • Last week ‘SI’ ran a story lifted directly from promotional materials for a 5-Hour Energy racing sponsorship.
Sports Illustrated
Syndication Tuscaloosa News

Manoj Bhargava owns 5-Hour Energy, the caffeine-packed drink company. The billionaire also effectively controls Sports Illustrated. 

That’s why SI employees became concerned last week when a story appeared on SI.com under an “SI Staff” byline touting 5-Hour Energy’s sponsorship of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s IndyCar team. The first two paragraphs of the Feb. 22 news story mirrored a press release that went out from the 5-Hour Energy team the same day, and much of the rest of the copy was lifted verbatim from the statement

The news story, as pointed out in an email from the SI Union to its members (and obtained by Front Office Sports) “did not include any disclosure of Manoj Bhargava’s roles with 5-Hour Energy or Sl.” The story, according to that email, “was placed in the news stack on the homepage and sat there for more than 24 hours. Obviously, this is totally unacceptable and a blatant breach of the most basic journalistic ethics. We fought hard for … provisions in our contract to prevent just this type of meddling.”

The SI Union has filed a grievance over the story, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the filing. It’s unclear whether Bhargava personally insisted that the story run, but since his arrival staffers have voiced concerns about the editorial autonomy at SI, fearing that those loyal to him are putting SI’s storied reputation at risk, according to multiple internal SI sources. 

Bhargava has spent more than $120 million over the last several months to seize control of the Arena Group—the media company that operates SI—through the accumulation of stock and debt. Included in his arrangement with Arena is a guaranteed five-year, $60 million commitment to advertise Bhargava’s consumer-brand company, Simplify Inventions, across Arena’s various arms, including SI, Men’s Journal and The Street. Arena, meanwhile, remains entangled in a dispute with Authentic Brands Group, the licensing behemoth that owns SI

Authentic moved to terminate the Sports Illustrated licensing agreement last month after Arena missed a $3.75 million payment, coinciding with mass layoffs at SI. Arena continues to operate SI as Bhargava and his representatives seek to rework a 10-year operating agreement with Authentic, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions. Authentic has also held discussions with potential new operators of SI, suggesting that its arrangement with Arena could come to an end.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

NiJaree Canady

Stacked Texas Tech NIL Roster Now a Win Away From Softball Title

The Red Raiders have a winning formula with NIL and recruiting.
ESPN has not let NBA Countdown “marinate” as talent changes too frequently, ex-host Michelle Beadle tells FOS.
breaking

SiriusXM Parts Ways With Michelle Beadle, Cody Decker

Beadle, Decker exit three months before Stephen A. Smith takes their slot.
Tony Clark

Everything You Need to Know About the MLBPA-OneTeam FBI Investigation

Money from lucrative group licensing deals is under federal scrutiny.
Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers Finally Agrees to Deal With Steelers

The one-year deal is reportedly set to be signed Friday.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

As TNT Sports Shifts, WBD Investors Reject $52M Zaslav Pay

Company shareholders reject the executive’s pay in a non-binding vote.
May 30, 2025

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.
hanson_smiling
May 30, 2025

Scott Hanson Agrees to Long-Term Deal for NFL RedZone

His contract expired after the 2024 season.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 30, 2025

Panthers-Oilers Rematch Could Be Big in Canada. Will U.S. Ratings Dip?

Likely viewership declines in the U.S. are countered by robust Canadian audiences.
May 28, 2025

NBA East Finals Delivers Strong TV Ratings, but West Is Struggling

The Pacers and Thunder are both up 3–1 in their conference finals series.
Around the Horn
May 23, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Around the Horn’s Final Days

FOS followed Tony Reali at the penultimate taping of the ESPN icon.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”