Sports Illustrated Publishes Historic 25 Covers For Women’s World Cup Champions

It’s no secret that getting to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated is one of the most prestigious honors in sports. And now, the magazine has taken that honor a step further with this week’s issue featuring the U.S. Women’s World Cup Champions. They published a set of 25 unique covers, one with each member of the team’s 23 players along with one for head coach Jill Ellis. The 25th one is a team-focused version for subscribers.

The magazine’s managing editor, Chris Stone, talked about the decision to make 25 unique covers, something the publication has never done before:

“The USWNT has plenty of recognizable, even famous names, but we couldn’t think of a group so thoroughly identified with a team as this one. We could go two ways: a team shot, which seemed a little conventional here, or something different and fresh: honoring not just one or two players, but all 23 of them with their own cover.”

Per a Sports Illustrated spokesman, the magazine has never done more than six different covers, which were all regional covers. This week’s unique issues will be distributed around the country.

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