Professional athletes have joined rock stars and movie stars as trendsetters in what they wear and drive and where they live and eat, says Scott Miller, publisher and part-owner of Hollywood-based Moves magazine.

Moves, a glossy quarterly magazine, has its title because pro athletes "are always on the move," traveling to and from games, personal appearances and vacations, Miller said.

With the slogan "about professional athletes, for professional athletes," The magazine is attempting to build a niche in the fast-moving world of sports marketing, he said.

A glance at the three-year-old Moves offers some lessons for a how a business can quickly become profitable if it has access to an important audience and knowledge of what that audience wants to buy.

The magazine has free distribution to 30,000 pro athletes and sports businesspeople, and stories geared to athletes on topics including fitness, vacation spots, cars and financial advice. The magazine does not have stories on steroids and other sports scandals - coverage Miller notes is widespread in magazines like Sports Illustrated and on networks like ESPN.

'Access to the athletes'

That formula is attracting advertisers ranging from yacht manufacturers to high-end jewelers, automakers, clothiers and cigar makers.

"We provide those companies with access to the athletes," said Miller, who previously was VP of ad sales for CWC Sports, a New Jersey-based company that published National Football League teams' yearbooks.

"Several realtors have told us they sold homes because of our ads," said Michael Neal, Moves' co-publisher and director of photography.

Advertisers also expect that fans who see a pro athlete driving a Cadillac Escalade or smoking a Monte Cristo cigar might want to "be like Mike," in the words of Nike's ground-breaking ads with Michael Jordan.

Jordan was on the cover of the magazine's spring 2007 issue, for a story on his new role as part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Moves has stars on its team, and they join its staff in meetings with athletes and event sponsors. Film director Spike Lee, a big sports fan, is part-owner. NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown and Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints running back, are on its board of directors.

Samir Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi, said he is aware of only one other magazine, OverTime, with a theme like Moves. OverTime, founded in 2004 and based in New Orleans, is published by former University of Miami and NFL cornerback Ryan McNeil, who mails the magazine to pro athletes.

Husni, who monitors the magazine industry on his MrMagazine.com Web site, said he has not seen Moves. When told of its content, he said it appears similar to OverTime, but Moves' distribution system "could prove to be a big advantage" over existing and potential rivals.

Moves is distributed in almost all NFL, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League clubhouses, Miller said. He and his partners use their contacts with teams, including their clubhouse attendants. They also work with players' agents and publicists to get them to see the magazine and attend the company's growing number of sports event parties.

Profitable from the get-go

On the Wednesday night prior to this year's Super Bowl, Moves held a party at the Fifth nightclub in Miami Beach, which featuring current and former NFL stars. It plans to hold a party in Manhattan prior to the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.

The magazine is a co-sponsor of charity events, such as former NFL quarterback Stan Humphries' golf tournament in San Diego and former NFL quarterback Warren Moon's bowling tournament in Houston.

"Our advertisers get access to all those events" and free copies of the magazine, said Mitchell Teger, Moves senior VP of sales and marketing.

The magazine sells a limited number of subscriptions, at $120 a year, to corporate executives who have season leases on Dolphin Stadium luxury suites and other ties to sports business.

Moves was profitable from its first issue, a 90-pager, Miller said. The magazine now has 320 pages. About 80 percent of its ads are paid, with the rest in trades of services.

Revenue exceeded $1 million last year, will be above that figure this year and should grow as Moves adds events, Miller said.

Regarding potential rivals, he said: "We have a head start, and a direct distribution system that would be hard to match."

THE CHALLENGES:

• Making sure the magazine has information for players in all pro sports
• Screening advertisers, to assure they are high quality
• Continually improving the writing and photography - an example for any business in a competitive industry

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Athletes live in a 24/7 world, and they need information to fit their lifestyles.
• As a quarterly magazine, the stories must have shelf live.
• You cannot cut corners if you target a high-end audience.

MOVES MAGAZINE

Publisher: Scott Miller
Web site: www.movesmagazine.com
Address: 1624 Monroe St., Suite 100, Hollywood 33020
Phone: (954) 929-6844
E-mail: miller@movesmagazine.com