Sports Publishing in Chapter 11

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 10/20/2008 7:52:00 AM

Struggling Sports Publishing officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Central Illinois late last week. The publisher estimated assets of between $100,001 and $500,000 and liabilities of between $1 million to $10 million. The company said it had between 100 to 199 creditors and reported that it did not believe there will be money available to pay unsecured creditors. Ingram Publisher Services will continue to accept returns from the company through January 23, but will stop shipping new titles October 24. Sports Publishing is said to be close to signing with a new distributor.  

Sports Publishing has had financial problems for about one year and had been unsuccessful in finding a buyer for the company. A growing number of authors have also complained about not being paid by the house, which as of last week had only two remaining employees.