Mills Publishing

What Mills Publishing does

Mills Publishing Inc. is a privately held, founder/family-controlled regional publisher founded in 1985 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company produces and sells advertising across a portfolio of more than 30 publications organized into four verticals: performing arts playbills (17 cultural organizations including Ballet West, Broadway at the Eccles, Utah Opera, Utah Symphony, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Tuacahn Amphitheatre), university sports programs (University of Utah and Utah State University football, basketball, and gymnastics), professional journals (Salt Lake REALTOR, Utah Physician for the Utah Medical Association, UDAction for the Utah Dental Association), and the Outdoor Sports Guide magazine. Mills Publishing monetizes primarily through print and digital advertising space sales to local and regional businesses, with an ancillary revenue stream from in-house graphic arts and design services offered under separate contract to advertisers without agencies. Distribution is direct-to-publisher, with print runs ranging from 2,000 copies per issue (UDAction) to 200,000-300,000 (Broadway at the Eccles), and reach exceeding one million performing arts patrons annually.

The underlying technology stack is conventional publishing tooling: Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat) for layout, CMYK print production at 300+ dpi, and a mobile-responsive digital flipbook platform with dark-mode theming and per-page-view ad rotation. The company does not employ any AI/ML systems, programmatic ad platforms, or third-party audience-targeting integrations. GTM is direct-to-consumer through millspub.com, phone, and email, supported by a small in-house advertising sales team. Long-term client retention is strong (BMW of Murray has advertised since the company's founding year), and supply-side anchor contracts with prestigious arts institutions form the structural backbone of the business. Mills Publishing has no subsidiaries, no external institutional investment, no patents, and no disclosed strategic transactions.

Name

Mills Publishing

Legal name

Mills Publishing Inc.

Website

https://millspub.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mills Publishing Inc. is a privately held Salt Lake City-based regional publisher producing advertising-supported playbills, sports programs, professional journals, and the Outdoor Sports Guide magazine across Utah and the Mountain West, serving local businesses and marketing professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Print and Digital Advertising Publications

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Other Publishers (51319)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sports & Recreation Magazines (MPAJAEAJ), Large-Format & Specialty Printing (Signage, Posters, Displays) (MPAJALAD)

Keywords

• Print advertising
• Performing arts playbills
• University sports programs
• Professional trade journals
• Outdoor sports magazine

Headquarters

HQ city

Salt Lake City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Print Advertising: Advertising space sales in performing arts playbills, university sports programs, professional journals, and Outdoor Sports Guide magazine. Space is sold directly to businesses and marketing professionals.
2. Digital Advertising: Digital advertising placements in mobile-friendly publications with rotating ads per page view, plus website and newsletter advertising through properties like sportsguidemag.com.
3. Graphic Arts Services: In-house design services including layout and copy services provided under separate contract for advertisers without advertising agencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Mills Publishing produces and sells advertising space across a portfolio of more than 30 print and digital publications, including performing arts playbills, university sports programs, professional trade journals and the Outdoor Sports Guide magazine. The company designs and distributes these publications to arts venues, sporting events, professional association members and retail locations throughout Utah, then sells ad placements to local businesses and marketing professionals. It also offers in-house graphic design services as an add-on for advertisers.

Product overview

Mills Publishing is a portfolio of over 30 advertising publications across four main categories: performing arts playbills (17 cultural organizations), university sports programs (University of Utah and Utah State University), professional journals (real estate, dental, medical), and Outdoor Sports Guide Magazine. The core offering is print and digital playbill advertising that targets captive, affluent audiences at cultural and sporting events. The company also provides in-house design and marketing services to complement its advertising packages. Products range from high-circulation Broadway shows (Broadway at the Eccles with 200,000-300,000 playbills) to specialized professional journals, all designed to help businesses maximize reach through targeted advertising across Utah.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Outdoor Sports Guide: A free publication for active individuals in Utah and the Mountain West covering endurance sports, outdoor recreation, how-to articles, athlete profiles, adventure travel, and gear reviews. Published six times per year since 1982.
• Utah Physician
• UDAction (Utah Dental Association)
• Salt Lake REALTOR

Products and services

• Arts Programs (Performing Arts Playbills) Print and digital playbills distributed at 17 performing arts organizations across Utah, including Ballet West, Broadway at the Eccles, Utah Opera, Utah Symphony, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Tuacahn Amphitheatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company and Utah Festival Opera, reaching over one million patrons annually.
• University Sports Programs Print sports programs distributed at University of Utah football, basketball and gymnastics home games, as well as Utah State University athletics, featuring rosters, headshots and coaching bios to reach dedicated fan bases, alumni and donor club members.
• Professional Journals Official trade journals published for Utah Dental Association (UDAction), Utah Medical Association (Utah Physician, since 1953), Salt Lake Board of REALTORS (Salt Lake REALTOR) and NACVA members, providing advertisers with access to specialized professional audiences.
• Outdoor Sports Guide Magazine Free print magazine covering biking, hiking, skiing, canoeing, endurance sports, athlete profiles, adventure travel and gear reviews, with average readership of 50,000 print plus 10,000 online views per issue, distributed at ski resorts, sporting goods stores, gyms, races and cafes.
• Mobile-friendly Digital Publications Digital playbill format accessible across platforms with a dark mode theme to reduce light distraction in theater venues, featuring ads that rotate with every new page view, paired with the corresponding print publication.
• Graphic Arts and Design Services In-house layout, copy and full-range design services for advertisers who do not have an advertising agency, contracted separately to help produce ads for Mills Publishing publications.

Quantifiable outcome

• 88% brand recall rate for out-of-home advertising (industry benchmark cited by Mills Publishing)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pace Communications: Custom content and publication company producing bespoke magazines for brands and associations. Closely comparable business model: custom-published periodicals monetized through advertising rather than cover price.
• Ogden Publications: Independent publisher of enthusiast magazines (Mother Earth News, Grit, Capper's Farmer) sold via subscription and advertising. Closely mirrors the niche-audience, advertising-monetized magazine model.
• Maven (TheStreet/Mavenshare): Operates a portfolio of niche online publications targeting specific professional and enthusiast verticals (sports, finance, outdoor). Comparable diversified-niche publishing model with advertising monetization.
• City Lifestyle (formerly City Publications): Publishes hyper-local lifestyle magazines distributed free to affluent households across U.S. regions. Same advertising-supported, captive-audience, regional-celebrity playbook as Mills' Outdoor Sports Guide.
• Playbill Inc. National Broadway and performing arts playbill publisher. Direct competitor in the same niche—captive-audience theatrical playbill advertising—though at national scale rather than regional.

Others

• Issuu: Digital flipbook and online publishing platform used by independent publishers to distribute magazines and programs online. Functions as enabling infrastructure for Mills' digital playbill offerings rather than a competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Adams Publishing Group: Large regional media company operating community newspapers, magazines, and niche publications across multiple states. Overlapping in local/niche periodical publishing, though much broader portfolio than Mills.
• Hearst Media: Major magazine publisher (Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Car and Driver). Overlaps in advertising-supported periodical publishing but operates at massive national scale with a different business model.

Regional players

• Deseret News Publishing: Utah-based legacy media company publishing a major daily newspaper and related Utah-targeted periodicals. Competes for Utah advertising budgets but in the newspaper/legacy media category rather than playbills.
• Salt Lake Magazine: Bimonthly regional lifestyle magazine covering Utah dining, arts, and culture. Competes for the same Utah-based advertising dollars targeting affluent local audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MillsPublishing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mills Publishing