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Maxim meets ESPN
Can two ex-NFLers succeed in this crowded field?
By Jeff Bercovici
Of all the arenas where publishers compete, nowhere is the turf more hotly contested than in the men's category.
In the course of gobbling up huge shares of the market for themselves, newish magazines like Maxim, Stuff and FHM—the so-called lads titles—have inspired a slew of media companies and entrepreneurs to launch their own takes on the genre.
But with each new entry, the prospect of success for the next newcomer grows dimmer.
The latest to arrive is Controversy, a new lads-style men's magazine that is set to make its national debut early next month.
What makes Controversy unique is that the men behind it, Derrick Frazier and Quentin Coryatt, are former National Football League players.
Frazier, who studied journalism in college, spent six years in the NFL playing defensive back for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys. He is Controversy's founder and publisher.
Coryatt, a creative consultant for the magazine, joined the Colts as a linebacker after being the second overall pick in the 1992 draft. He played for seven years in Indianapolis and finished his career with the Cowboys.
The two men, who met while students at Texas A&M University, launched Controversy in 2000 as a bimonthly regional publication in Texas and in California. The Feb./March issue, on newsstands Feb. 4, will be the first to be distributed nationally, with a 100,000 rate base.
Frazier describes the magazine as a cross between Maxim and ESPN The Magazine, with fashion, sports and entertainment coverage, as well as, of course, numerous half-dressed actresses.
In keeping with its name, each issue explores several knotty questions. A recent issue looked at the decision by the London police force to decriminalize marijuana possession and asked a panel of women if they think men are "biologically prone to cheat."
The founders' NFL ties afford them luxuries like being able to call up St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk just before the playoffs for an exclusive interview.
One might wonder how well qualified the inhabitants of such a rarefied realm are to address the concerns of readers with far more ordinary lives.
But Frazier claims his NFL experience hasn’t alienated him from the point-of-view of Everyman.
"The only thing I really felt disconnected from initially was the celebrities, because I wasn’t a celebrity—meeting Halle Berry and Pam Anderson, things like that," he says.
"We just happened to play in the NFL, and we happen to be editors now."
But will they find as much success on the newsstand as they did on the field?
In addition to launching in the midst of an advertising recession, Controversy risks getting lost in a rush of new entries into the men's category. The newcomers include the recently relaunched House of Roses and Harris Publishing’s King, both of which are aimed primarily at black and/or urban readers.
Another new men’s title, Complex, is scheduled to debut in March.
So how does Controversy stack up?
With its impressive access to A-list celebrities, it’s better than House of Roses and King, but those magazines may actually stand a better chance at success, targeted, as they are, at a specific audience segment.
Controversy, on the other hand, appears intent on going head-to-head against Maxim and FHM, but it lacks the consistent tone and polished, if crude, humor of those magazines.
A Rolodex full of future Hall-of-Famers won’t be of much use unless Frazier and Coryatt can make Controversy feel like less of a me-too proposition.
January 18, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.
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