Can an assist bring Sports Illustrated back to full strength? Here's some of the mag's iconic covers

Sports Illustrated is making a comeback.

Back in January, the legendary outlet laid off more than 100 employees. That happened because The Arena Group, which had a deal with Authentic Brands to publish SI content online and in print, missed a $4 million payment.

At the time, the publication said it would switch to a more "streamlined business model," and the layoffs nearly forced the magazine to stop the presses for good. Then, The NewsGuild of New York and the Sports Illustrated Union filed a lawsuit accusing Arena of union-busting.

Now, Authentic has a new 10-year licensing deal with Minute Media, which also owns sports websites The Players' Tribune and Fansided. Minute Media chief executive Asaf Peled told The New York Times the company plans to hire back some of the staff let go two months ago.

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That's a relief to generations of sports fans. "If you are older, you knew exactly what day Sports Illustrated showed up in the mailbox … if your team made the cover, it was the greatest thing ever, " posted ESPN's Scott Van Pelt on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, when the bad news hit SI in January.

Tom Brady also had thoughts:

To celebrate Sports Illustrated's new agreement, here are some iconic covers:

Some iconic Sports Illustrated covers

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SI covers for all seasons

Contributing: Steve Gardner and Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz.