Gary Hoenig

GM & Editorial Director, ESPN Publishing

The first employee of ESPN The Magazine, hired in 1993, Gary Hoenig has been general manager and editorial director of ESPN Publishing since 2008, responsible for all aspects of the publishing division, from finance to production, including the editorial direction of ESPN’s award-winning magazine and the acquisition, editing and production of books with the ESPN imprint. 

In 2009 Hoenig added running ESPN Insider to his core responsibilities and merged ESPNTheMag.com with the ESPN Insider product, enhancing the content provided to fans; thereby creating a more robust online pay model for the company. Hoenig’s direction of ESPN Insider has lead to a 33 percent increase to its hundreds of thousands of subscribers. 

Hoenig was one of The Mag’s founding editors at its March 1998 launch and served as editor in chief of from March 2003 to January 2008. The Magazine received honors from Adweek and Advertising Age for best magazine launch of 1998, and won the National Magazine Award for Design in 1999, its first year of eligibility, and the 2003 award for General Excellence. The Magazine was also honored with the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2006, and was named to Adweek’s Top 10 Hot List of magazines for five consecutive years (2001-2005), rising to No. 2 in 2003. It is the only men’s magazine to be named to the list for five consecutive years. 

Before joining ESPN, Hoenig was part owner and editor in chief of NewsInc., a business magazine on the newspaper industry that he later converted to a biweekly newsletter and a daily digital media news service.  In 1992, Hoenig’s company also re-launched as Magazine Week. 

Hoenig began his career in 1967 at the New York Times, and spent nearly 13 years there as associate editor of “SportsMonday” and assistant editor of “The Week in Review.”  He moved to the Washington Star in 1980, holding the posts of graphics editor and executive sports editor.  Upon returning to New York in 1981, Hoenig joined Newsday, where he rose to the title of assistant managing editor and director of planning and development. He was also the paper’s business editor during its expansion into New York City, and led investigations into the junk bond scandals of the 1980s. 

In addition to his newspaper and magazine experience, Hoenig is the author of Reaper: The Story of a Gang Leader (Bobbs-Merill, 1975), and was editor and producer of Courtside: The Fan’s Guide to Pro Basketball, which he created for the NBA. 

Hoenig is a graduate of Queens College.

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