It was announced on the magazine’s Twitter page that the issue, Sport’s 484th, will be its final one. Sport is published by Wireless Group, the company that owns sports radio station Talksport, which was acquired last year by News UK.
The magazine, which has been printed since 2008 at Wyndeham Group's Peterborough printing site, has around 306,000 copies distributed each week to stations, hotels, universities and leisure centres across the country.
A message from Sport on Twitter said: “We have some news, and we are very sorry to report it is sad news. Next week’s issue, number 484, will be the final issue of Sport.
“From the very first issue in September 2006, the team here – both editorial and commercial – have been proud to produce a magazine we always wanted to celebrate all that is special about sport. We love it and the aim was simply to share that passion with our readers.
“Across more than 10 years and more than 480 issues, we hope we have done that. It has been a privilege and a joy from the first issue to the last, and we would like to thank everyone who has contributed in any way – from Thierry Henry, who graced our first cover all those years ago, to the many hardy distributors who have braved more than a few cold, wet and windy Friday mornings to deliver our labours of love into people’s hands.”
It is currently unclear as to what will happen to the staff at Sport. Last month, Dennis Publishing ceased publication of another free weekly, Coach, putting 15 jobs at risk.
The news comes at a time when a number of newspaper and magazine publishers have been moving their print work around; News UK just has took on a portion of The Daily Mail’s printing at its Newsprinters’ sites in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire and Knowsley, Merseyside.
