Frequency Three Times Per Year Company STACK Media, Inc. | Circulation 875,000 | |
Categories Sports Performance and Lifestyle Magazine Founder Nick Palazzo and Chad Zimmerman First issue February 2005 (2005-02) | ||
STACK Magazine, the print product of STACK Media, Inc., is a sports performance and athlete lifestyle publication dedicated to helping high school student athletes improve their performance and daily lives through safe and effective methods. The magazine provides differentiated sports content focused on athletic performance, fitness, nutrition and other important aspects of the athlete lifestyle and provides a roadmap for athletes to following on the journey to reaching their athletic dreams. The magazine's content guides them with training routines, nutrition plans and motivational stories from high-profile professional athletes including Cam Newton, Drew Brees, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Joe Mauer and Justin Verlander. Double issues of STACK Magazine are distributed free of cost three times per year to 13,500 high schools nationwide (about 75% of all U.S. high schools with sports programs), resulting in a readership of 5.4 million athletes.
Contents
Content
The magazine covers a wide variety of topics, including training, nutrition, sports skills, athlete lifestyle and motivation. The articles are often sport-specific in nature, covering nearly all sports including football, basketball, baseball, track, soccer, volleyball, swimming, wrestling, softball, lacrosse, tennis and hockey. Much of the how-to content features pro athletes and the elite experts that support them. Key contributors include performance coaches Mike Boyle, Todd Durkin, Mark Verstegen and Chip Smith and nutritionist Leslie Bonci. The magazine leverages it's audience of millions of athletes and more than 200 brand ambassadors known as STACK Beasts, who provide feedback on content, products and programs, to ensure the content is relevant and impactful for its readers.
History
STACK Media, Inc. was founded by Nick Palazzo and Chad Zimmerman, both former collegiate athletes, in Cleveland, Ohio in February 2005 to educate and empower athletes of all ages and to discourage the use of anabolic steroids and other unsafe practices by high school athletes. STACK Magazine's premier issue featuring a young LeBron James on the cover was printed and distributed shortly thereafter. STACK was originally financed privately, helped by a $15,000 win from a 2003 competition organized by Northeast Ohio's Council of Smaller Enterprises. Further financing has come from its current Chairman and from private equity firm CapitalWorks LLC of Cleveland. The extensive readership, mostly males in the age range 12–24, has attracted major Blue Chip advertisers including Nike, Inc., Reebok, Gatorade, ASICS, New Balance, Under Armour, Milk, Navy and the United States Army.