New York Times Co. Said to Have Reached Deal for The Athletic

The New York Times Company has reached an agreement to buy The Athletic, the online sports news outlet with 1.2 million subscriptions, in a deal valued at around $550 million, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The acquisition could help The Times reach 10 million subscriptions ahead of its 2025 goal.

Started in Chicago in 2016 by two media entrepreneurs, Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, The Athletic was made for die-hard fans who were not finding the in-depth coverage they craved at a time when newspapers were in decline, Sports Illustrated was sold and ESPN began laying off journalists.

The Athletic hired prominent sports journalists from across the country, bringing coverage of games and the latest sports controversies to readers who had grown accustomed to getting their news online. It had a reporter covering nearly every major professional sports team in North America, as well as several top European soccer clubs, while also serving up magazine-length feature stories and podcasts.

The site now has about 600 employees — roughly 400 of them editorial staff members, making it the second-largest employer of sports reporters in the country, behind the Disney-owned ESPN. Like a number of digital media companies that have found success in recent years, The Athletic relies on subscribers, rather than advertisers, as its main source of revenue. A significant injection of cash came in January 2020, when The Athletic raised $50 million from a number of investors.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/business/new-york-times-the-athletic.html