"Field & Stream" magazine, which was first published in 1895, had gone "digital only" back in 2021. Two modern country legends have taken steps to bring the iconic publication back.
It was announced yesterday that Eric Church and Morgan Wallen are part of a team that has acquired the Field & Stream brand, with plans to start a music festival and even publish a semiannual print edition, on top of maintaining the website and retail opportunities. Field & Stream assets had been split up as the print magazine went digital-only, with Recurrent coming to own the brand’s ongoing media and Dick’s Sporting Goods having picked up the retail side. The group fronted by Wallen and Church has picked up both sets of assets and is putting everything back under one roof, according to brand reps.
Field & Stream magazine was a part of American households from its founding in 1895 up through the turn of the century, maintaining a circulation of over a million copies into the 1990s. It ceased print publication less than three years ago, after publishing a 125th anniversary edition in 2021, at which point it went all-digital.
In individual statements, both Church and Wallen spoke up about what the publication meant to them. "I can remember my grandfather kept a few of his favorite Field & Stream magazines on the dash of his truck," Church said in a statement. "That truck took us on hundreds of outdoor adventures and I all but memorized every story and every picture on every page. They were my Bible. It is the honor of my life to make sure that legacy carries on. It is both this responsibility to an American icon and also to a young boy in his papaw’s truck that will be the compass that guides our steps."
Wallen said, "There’s nothing I love more than being with friends around a campfire, on a boat or in a deer stand - and Field & Stream represents all of those to me. Being part of its future is incredible and we want to keep bringing people together outdoors, making memories, for generations to come."
The print edition won’t be on newsstands, but will be sent out twice a year to a membership community that is being established, the "Field & Stream 1871 Club."
Source: Variety