Athlon CEO steps down

Media industry veteran Stephen Duggan has resigned as CEO of Athlon Sports less than two years after taking the top spot and an equity stake in the 44-year-old company.

Duggan exited airport area-based Athlon late last week but remains an owner and a member of its board of directors. Taking his place as CEO is Spencer Hays, the majority owner of the company, one of Nashville's ultra rich [2] and the owner of Nashville business icon Southwestern/Great American, as well as global clothier Tom James.

Duggan had stepped into Athlon as president in the spring of 2010, a few months after he left his CEO post at Alpha Media [3], and took over as CEO [4] before Labor Day of last year. Shortly thereafter, the company launched Athlon Sports [5], a national magazine inserted into newspapers around the country with a combined readership of more than 7 million people. In a statement provided to NashvillePost.com, Hays said Duggan's departure is not related to the performance of Athlon Sports.

“Having just been named one of the hottest launches of the year by Samir Husni, aka Mr. Magazine, confirms our belief that we have a winning product and we are looking forward to the year ahead,” Hays said.