Step aside, William Randolph Hearst: Eric Church and Morgan Wallen are getting into the publishing game. The country singers purchased Field & Stream magazine and will relaunch the outdoorsy brand as a print magazine, website, and apparel company alongside plans for a live music festival.
Subscribers to the new “Field & Stream 1871 Club” can choose from three tiers ranging from $15 to $95 annually that each provide online access to new stories about hunting, fishing, and the outdoors, and the F&S archives. Members who purchase the two top tiers will receive the Field & Stream print magazine, an 11 x 14 product published twice a year. Other perks include members-only accessories (think bandannas and hats), and early access to attend live events and purchase products, including tickets to a music festival that we just can’t imagine the new owners won’t headline.
According to a release, Church and Wallen joined a team of investors to purchase the Field & Stream retail brand from Dick’s Sporting Goods and the media component from Recurrent, a digital media company.
“I can remember my grandfather kept a few of his favorite Field & Stream magazines on the dash of his truck,” Church said in a statement. “They were my Bible. It is the honor of my life to make sure that legacy carries on. It is both this responsibility to an American Icon and also to a young boy in his papaw’s truck that will be the compass that guides our steps.”
“There’s nothin’ I love more than being with friends around a campfire, on a boat or in a deer stand — and Field & Stream represents all of those to me,” Wallen said. “Being part of its future is incredible and we want to keep bringing people together outdoors, makin’ memories, for generations to come.”
It’s been a brutal two weeks for the media industry following layoffs at Pitchfork, Sports Illustrated, and the Los Angeles Times. A press release about the Field & Stream relaunch took pains to note that Colin Kearns, editor-in-chief of the magazine since 2016, will “remain in his position alongside his editorial team.” (The brand will be overseen by Doug McNamee, former president of Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia brand.)
Earlier this month, Church teased something outdoors-related was on the way when he and Wallen appeared briefly in a Field & Stream video that Church narrated.