By: Christiana Sciaudone
Field & Stream, the venerated 153-year-old brand that covers fishing, hunting and more, announced a partnership today with BirdDog to offer branded excursions.
BirdDog offers access to hunting and fishing experiences at various price points and experience levels through its network of private landowners. Anyone who books an experience with BirdDog through Field & Stream also gets a free 1871 premium membership, which includes two Field & Stream print journals, a $15 merch store reward, early access to events such as the Field & Stream Music Fest, exclusive invites to member-only experiences and more.
It’s the latest such announcement in the reinvention of the magazine, which was purchased by country music singers Morgan Wallen and Eric Church in January for an undisclosed sum. Coming up next is a venture in the furniture space. The pair is taking a cue from the Chip and Joanna Gaines empire, seeking to broaden their reach (and revenue) with partners of all kinds—as long as they resonate with the core audience that Field & Stream targets.
The idea of reviving a floundering brand is nothing new—see Polaroid, Lego and Atari—but trying to bring back legacy media is not for the faint of heart. Stories of those who have tried and failed abound, especially when attempting to resuscitate a single title while lacking any kind of scale to ease the burden of costs, Doug McNamee, president of Field & Stream told A Media Operator.
“The initial intuition of the ownership group was, ‘This is a relic, this is an heirloom publishing company,” McNamee said in an interview. “If we do this for the right reason, if the purpose from the beginning is true and authentic, then we can chart the path from there.”
That’s not to say Church and Wallen are simply funding a hobby nor are they simply interested in hemorrhaging cash. It’s still a business and should make a profit, eventually.
The road has already proved to be more complicated than expected. The first Field & Stream music festival, featuring Eric Church, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more, was expected to be held in South Carolina in early October, only to be canceled because of Hurricane Helene.
The festival, in partnership with Southern Entertainment, was also supposed to be the kickoff of a partnership between Field & Stream and Yuengling, claimed to be the oldest brewery in the U.S., which includes limited-edition product launches, unique experiences and a content hub to engage fans.
“We’ve been really encouraged about the brands that want to be aligned with us, that really want to tap into that authenticity and authority that comes with the Field & Stream platform,” McNamee said.
This month, Field & Stream Lodge Co., a branded hospitality platform backed by the magazine, announced its first location in Bozeman, Mont. with reservations open for winter of 2025. The platform was created by Starwood Capital Group,, a private investment firm, and Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, a real estate and hospitality company.
The revenue structure for such partnerships varies. The magazine is still running affiliate and programmatic revenue, and offers memberships, which are the de facto equivalents of subscriptions. That means two issues this year and four next, with a publication that more closely resembles a coffee table book than a magazine with rich illustrations, quality paper, high-caliber content and a limited number of ads. The website has also been given a makeover.
Memberships currently number just under 30,000, of which an estimated two-thirds came from before the change in ownerships. The subscriptions range from $15 for digital only, $45 for print only and $95 for premium, which includes gifts, discounts and first dibs on music fest tickets.
“It isn’t something where it’s just shot through the rafters, but we didn’t expect it to,” McNamee said. It’s also a far cry from 1995, when the magazine celebrated 100 years of existence and a circulation of almost 2 million.
The team stands at 15 to 20 employees, with some in consulting roles. Revenue is currently divided in thirds among membership, direct ad sales and indirect, be it affiliate or programmatic. The goal is to split sales 50-50 between media and the burgeoning partnership opportunities. McNamee acknowledges that there are no guarantees that the new incarnation of the brand will succeed, but said, “We believe that there’s a connection and a fire that will resonate with people, and ultimately, we’re hopefully on the path to achieving that.”
Through its strategic partnerships, Field & Stream hopes to leverage its credibility and nostalgia to boost revenue.
“We’ll start to explore what other channels in the media side of the equation we can have success in, whether that be in the TV or short form video space, or in the audio,” McNamee said.
