Type Bi-monthly magazine Founded 1978 | Format Tabloid | |
Owner(s) Louisiana Radio Network Headquarters 10500 Coursey Blvd, Suite 104
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
United States | ||
Tiger Rag Magazine is a publication and website in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that focuses on Louisiana State University athletics and bills itself as "the Bible of LSU sports." Tiger Rag is owned by Louisiana Radio Network. Since its beginning in 1978, publication schedules vary with individual sports season, though it is produced weekly through much of the year. Tiger Rag also publishes Tiger Rag Extra, an additional print magazine, hosts a website, TigerRag.com, distributes Tiger Rag Daily, a free email newsletter, and produces "Tiger Rag Radio," a weekly call-in sports talk show.
Contents
Tiger Rag offers game previews and recaps, in-depth interviews and photos. Featured columnists include Jim Engster, owner and president of LRN, Glenn Guilbeau, who covers LSU for Gannett News Service, and Marty Mulé, a sportswriter who worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune for more than 30 years.
The magazine is known for extensive coverage of LSU football recruiting and insider information with its annual football-season preview being the most popular issue. Tiger Rag has been, at times, influential in shaping public opinion on teams' quality of play and administrators' decisions. Former LSU Basketball Coach Trent Johnson resigned his position and accepted a similar post at Texas Christian University shortly after a story by former Tiger Rag Editor Ben Love accented difficulties Johnson had with ex LSU standout Collis Temple.
In 2016, Tiger Rag launched Tiger Rag Extra in addition to its main publication. Tiger Rag Extra covers recruiting and game analysis, along with the food, fashion and passion of LSU sports.
History
Steve Myers and Steve Townsend launched Tiger Rag in August 1978, two years after graduating from LSU. Myers had considered a magazine devoted to local football coverage as early as the 1960s, when he worked as a teen phoning in brief stories on area high school teams to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Myers and Townsend met as student-workers in the LSU sports information department and realized the office had significant amounts of material that would appeal to fans. Before the advent of the Internet and other specialty publications, however, much of the material essentially was unavailable publicly if it did not appear in conventional media reports. Despite working on a business plan and consulting with others who had considered the same concept, Myers and Townsend were unable to launch the publication. They parted ways after graduation assuming someone would beat them to their idea.
In 1977, Townsend was working with the Southeastern Conference league office in Birmingham, Ala., while Myers was an assistant in the University of Mississippi sports-information department. That fall, Townsend visited the Mississippi campus as an SEC representative when the football team hosted the University of Notre Dame for a game that attracted national attention. Myers and Townsend, along with Myers’ friend Gary Solomon, reunited and decided to pursue the idea of an LSU sports magazine.
The name suggested by another friend, Tiger Rag was incorporated in June 1978. Myers served as publisher and editor, while Townsend was co-editor. The magazine debuted Sept. 1, 1978, featuring senior LSU running back Charles Alexander and former running back and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon on the cover. The company spent about $8,000 on the first issue of 50,000 copies.
Ownership changes
Townsend left the magazine in 1983. His career has included a stint as media-relations director for the University of Alabama, another SEC member. Myers remained owner and publisher of Tiger Rag until 1993, when he sold the magazine to Gary Solomon’s brother, George.
In a 2008 Tiger Rag interview, Myers said his decision was based on several things, namely that he felt burned out after 15 years of nonstop coverage of the LSU sports program. He also said the football team’s troubles in the early 1990s had taken a toll on the popularity of LSU sports. Moreover, Myers said fundamental changes were taking place within the publishing industry and the early effects of the Internet already could be felt.
Solomon sold the magazine in 1996 to George Jenne, a Baton Rouge businessman and former radio-station owner. Jenne sold the magazine to Louisiana Radio Network in 2000.
Modern era
In 2005, the operations of Tiger Rag were moved into the LRN offices in Baton Rouge.
Tiger Rag is published 30 times a year on the schedule: monthly June, July and December; semi-monthly January, February, March, April and May; weekly starting the second week in August, September, October and November. In addition to its print version, Tiger Rag has also cultivated an online presence with its website, TigerRag.com, and its Tiger Rag Daily email newsletter.
Tiger Rag Editor Cody Worsham and LRN Sports Director Jeff Palermo host the Tiger Rag Radio Show, a live call-in show focused on LSU sports, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. CST on Tuesdays. The show airs statewide on the following affiliates: KDBS-AM in Alexandria, WNXX ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge, KLWB-FM The Game in Lafayette/Carencro, KFNV-FM in Ferriday, KJVC-FM in Mansfield, KRLQ-FM in Shreveport/Rustonm WSLA-AM in Slidell, KTKC-FM in Springhill, KTIB-AM in Thibodaux as well as WAZA-FM in Liberty, Miss.
In 2016, the magazine launched Tiger Rag Extra, an additional print magazine geared towards all LSU fans, hardcore or casual. Tiger Rag Extra covers LSU sports and the lifestyle surrounding it.