ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997                TAG: 9703180048
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-6  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: SKIP WOLLENBERG ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPORTSWOMEN COME INTO THEIR OWN WITH 55 MILLION WOMEN PLAYING SPORTS, ADVERTISERS SEE DOLLARS IN TARGETED MAGAZINES

Advertisers say Conde Nast is aiming at active women, while Sports Illustrated is going after the fan and occasional player.

Women are filling playing fields and leagues of their own, and the publishing powerhouses behind Sports Illustrated and Vogue are giving chase with new sports magazines designed for them.

Don't count on a swimsuit issue featuring men, though.

John Jay, acting publisher for Sports Illustrated Women/Sport, said the magazine won't imitate its big brother on that score. ``We don't expect the readers of this magazine would want it,'' he said.

Lucy Danziger, editor in chief of Conde Nast Sports for Women, said a swimsuit issue is ``not a bad idea, but we don't discuss specific editorial content in advance.''

Time Warner Inc.'s Sports Illustrated plans a test issue of Sports Illustrated Women/Sport next month and will follow with another test issue in September. The schedule beyond that is undetermined.

Conde Nast Publications Inc., which publishes women's magazines such as Mademoiselle and Glamour as well as Vogue, is making Conde Nast Sports for Women a monthly magazine with an October issue.

The Sports Illustrated spin-off is relying on its expertise in sports coverage. Conde Nast says its experience publishing women's magazines has given it insight into its audience.

Their prime targets are women in their 20s and 30s who grew up under federal regulations enacted in 1972 that require that schools spend as much on girls' sports programs as they do on sports for boys.

The regulations changed the face of sports. It's no longer just the women's tennis and golf tours.

Women stole the show at last year's Summer Olympics in Atlanta. One women's pro basketball league just wrapped up its first season while a second league plans a June debut. Pro softball and soccer are next.

And schoolgirls have been taking up sports with increasing frequency. Only one in 27 girls played sports when Title IX of the Civil Rights Act passed 25 years ago. Today, one in three schoolgirls are active in sports.

It has been estimated that 55 million women play sports.

``Today, we have a whole generation of women who have come out of that generation playing sports,'' said Jay of Sports Illustrated Women/Sport. ``They are not just participants, but they are observers and fans.''

Both magazines promise to cover athletes, trends and issues raised by women's sports in much more detail than they get in general sports magazines.

Advertising buyers say Conde Nast is aiming at active women while Sports Illustrated is going after the sports fan and occasional player.

``They are different enough that the market can probably hold both of them,'' said Beth Fidoten, who helps clients of Grey Advertising decide which magazines will carry their ads.

The test issue for Sports Illustrated Women/Sport will have a circulation of 600,000, including the 450,000 women who subscribe to Sports Illustrated.

Deanna Brown, publisher of Conde Nast Sports for Women, said the idea for the magazine has been discussed for six years. Conde Nast began an intensive market study in January 1996.

``We found a lot of the male sports titles by men for men did not reflect the sensibilities women have about sports. Women think of it as an emotional, personal experience and more about participating rather than competing,'' she said

The study said women would be interested in a sports magazine that told them more about the experience of sports and its role models.

Conde Nast Sports for Women promises circulation of 350,000.

Advertisers will include sneaker, sportswear, sporting goods, automotive and financial services businesses.

LENGTH: Medium:   79 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ASSOCIATED PRESS. Conde Nast Publications plans to 
          launch Conde Nast Sports for Women in October. That issue will 
          feature mountain biker Jenny Nelson on the cover. The company 
          promises circulation of 350,000. color.