The company operating Sports Illustrated (SI) stated that the content under scrutiny originated from a third party, assuring that it was authored by humans. This assurance followed criticism directed at Sports Illustrated for featuring articles attributed to authors who seemed to have AI-generated profiles.
The publisher of Sports Illustrated, The Arena Group, declared the termination of its partnership with AdVon Commerce, the alleged source of the AI-generated content. Despite attempts to seek clarification from AdVon Commerce, no response was provided.
The announcement from The Arena Group came in response to an article by Futurism, published on Monday, revealing that the author images on Sports Illustrated’s website could be traced back to a website offering AI-generated headshots for purchase. For example, the bio of a writer named “Drew Ortiz” on SI’s website described his outdoor activities, while an AI-generated image on a separate website depicted a generic young man with specific features matching the description of “Drew Ortiz.” Upon investigation by Futurism, the fabricated author profiles disappeared after reaching out to The Arena Group for comment. Notably, disclaimers stating “This material is created by a third party” and “The Sports Illustrated editorial staff is not involved in the creation of this content” have been added to articles associated with the purported AI-generated writers.
According to a spokesperson for The Arena Group in an interview with Variety, the contentious articles, categorized as product reviews, were sourced from AdVon Commerce, a third-party entity. The spokesperson clarified that AdVon Commerce provided e-commerce content that was published on specific Arena Group platforms. Despite ongoing oversight of their partners, The Arena Group was caught off guard by the allegations and initiated an internal review. AdVon Commerce maintained that all the disputed content was authored and reviewed by human contributors.
The representative from The Arena Group further stated that AdVon Commerce’s content creators and editors adhere to stringent guidelines, including measures to combat plagiarism and AI-generated content. As a precautionary measure, the disputed content has been removed pending further investigation, and the partnership with AdVon Commerce has been terminated due to the revelation that some authors were instructed to use aliases to protect their identities.
In 2019, Authentic Brands Group acquired Sports Illustrated for $110 million before Meredith’s acquisition by Dotdash of the IAC. Subsequently, Maven, rebranded as Arena Group Holdings in 2021, obtained the press and publishing rights for the SI brand from AG. Based in New York, Arena Group oversees a diverse portfolio of over 265 companies, including HubPages, TheStreet, Parade, and Sports Illustrated.
