Sports Illustrated’s new swimsuit issue really raises the Bar.
The much-anticipated mag hits newsstands today – with luscious Israeli model Bar Refaeli gracing a cover that is sure to send millions of men’s hearts a-thumpin’.
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This year’s special “Bikinis or Nothing” issue – which in addition to Refaeli (the girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio) features 32 other models – also is set to bolster the financial bottom line of Sports Illustrated.
Since it first was published in 1964, the swimsuit issue has grown into a mammoth franchise that draws up to 66 million readers, and that has generated up to $1 billion in revenue for the sports magazine’s publisher, Time Inc.
Around 10 percent of SI’s annual revenue comes from this single issue.
But the recession has still taken its toll – there’s a big drop in ad pages. So SI is trying to boost revenue with online and event-marketing ventures tied to the issue.
During a visit to the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, the 23-year-old Refaeli told The Post that “I was surprised” to be picked for the cover for the first time in three years of posing for the issue.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Refaeli.
Her cover photo, showing her on Canouan Island in the Grenadines, puts her in the august company of past swimsuit cover girls such as Christie Brinkley, Elle McPherson, Kathy Ireland and Cheryl Tiegs.
Also featured in the new issue – and on the cover page’s inset – is 21-year-old model Brooklyn Decker, an Ohio native who is engaged to tennis star Andy Roddick.
Inside, the models include Indy car racer Danica Patrick, 10 NBA team dancers and three pro tennis players – Tatiana Golovin, Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko.
They and the rest of the lovely ladies featured inside were photographed at equally beautiful locations around the world, including Naples, Turkey’s exotic Cappadocia region, Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and Mexico.