Type of site | Sports journalism |
---|---|
Available in | English, French (Montreal only) |
Headquarters | , United States |
Owner | The New York Times Company [1] |
Created by |
|
URL | www |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Required |
Launched | January 2016 |
The Athletic is a subscription-based sports journalism department of The New York Times .
It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. The Athletic also covers national stories from top professional and college sports. The Athletic's coverage focuses on a mix of long-form journalism, original reporting, and in-depth analysis. Its business model is predicated on dis-aggregating the sports section of local newspapers, and reaching non-local fans not reached by a local newspaper. [2]
The Athletic was founded in 2016 by Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann as an independent subscription-based online sports magazine, and it gradually expanded its stable of writers over the next few years to provide better coverage of more teams in more markets, including in the United Kingdom. However, the magazine remained unable to earn enough revenue without advertising to make a profit, and the owners began to seek an outside buyer. The New York Times Company acquired The Athletic for $550 million in 2022, initially as a semi-independent entity under the continued direction of Mather and Hansmann. In July 2023, the company dissolved the New York Times' existing sports department, laid off or reassigned its sports staff, and began operating The Athletic as a replacement sports department under new management. [3]
As of 2022, The Athletic provided local coverage in 47 cities and regions of North America as well as coverage in the United Kingdom. [4] It includes the 32 National Football League teams, the 30 Major League Baseball teams, the 30 National Basketball Association teams, and 23 of the 32 National Hockey League teams.
The Athletic was founded by Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, former coworkers at subscription-based fitness company Strava, with the mission of producing "smarter coverage for die-hard fans." [5] The company was built as an alternative to the struggling ad-supported models. [6] The Athletic relies on subscription revenue, not advertising revenue, to support the business. [7] Mather and Hansmann believed sports fans would be willing to pay for good reporting and writing, a clean app and no ads. [8] At the time, a few newspapers were trying out paywalls, but the common industry view was that information on the internet needed to be free. [9]
As part of Y Combinator's summer 2016 batch, [10] the site originally launched in Chicago in January 2016, [11] with Jon Greenberg serving as the founding editor, along with Sahadev Sharma (Cubs) and Scott Powers (Blackhawks). Greenberg and Powers previously worked at ESPN Chicago, while Sharma left Baseball Prospectus' Cubs vertical to join the website.
In October 2016, The Athletic expanded to a second city, Toronto, to focus on Maple Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays coverage. The Athletic hired James Mirtle as editor-in-chief for Toronto. [12] Mirtle had spent over a decade as a sportswriter at The Globe and Mail before joining The Athletic.
A third city, Cleveland, launched in March 2017, with Jason Lloyd as editor-in-chief. [13] The Athletic continued city expansion to Detroit in June 2017 with the hiring of Craig Custance from ESPN as editor-in-chief. [14]
In August 2017, the site launched in the San Francisco-area market with long-time San Jose Mercury News writers Tim Kawakami as editor-in-chief and Marcus Thompson as columnist. [15] [16] The Athletic also added national coverage with new writers including baseball veteran Ken Rosenthal, shortly after Fox Sports eliminated its entire writing staff, [17] [18] as well as college basketball standout Seth Davis and college football institution Stewart Mandel. [19] [20] Mandel led the launch of the national college football section, "The All-American", at the end of August.
The Athletic expanded into Philadelphia, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and the rest of Canada in September 2017 bringing local coverage to 15 US and Canadian pro sports markets. The vast majority of expansion was aimed at expanding coverage to underserved hockey fans. [21]
In February 2018, The Athletic announced further expansion into three new cities—New York, Dallas, and Cincinnati—and launched baseball-only coverage in Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, and Kansas City. [22] [23] [24] The site also introduced expanded national MLB coverage with the addition of Jayson Stark, Jim Bowden, Eno Sarris, and editor Emma Span. [25]
The site announced full coverage in Denver and Boston starting in April 2018. [26] In Denver, The Athletic hired several reporters from The Denver Post . [27] In Boston, the initial staff consisted of beat writers previously employed at The Boston Globe , the Boston Herald , and the Springfield Republican 's web portal MassLive. [28] Adding to college football coverage, The Athletic added dedicated beat writers for major programs like Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. [29]
In May 2018, the site announced coverage of both domestic and international soccer. [30] In June 2018, The Athletic increased coverage in Los Angeles [31] and expanded into Buffalo, New York, by hiring several reporters who had been bought out from The Buffalo News the same month. [32]
The Athletic continued market expansion in July 2018 with the addition of Atlanta with former The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writers David O'Brien and Jeff Schultz, Baltimore, and Wisconsin. The site also added 19 college football writers to cover most of the major NCAA football programs. [33]
In August 2018, The Athletic launched Fantasy Sports coverage and continued expansion across US markets including Washington, D.C., Carolina, Nashville, Indiana, Miami, and New Orleans. [34] The site also announced expanded NBA reporting with Shams Charania [35] and NFL coverage with Jay Glazer. [36]
The Athletic completed local coverage expansion to all NHL and NFL teams by September 2018 after adding writers in Jacksonville, Houston, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Las Vegas. Memphis was added as the 47th local market covered by The Athletic in October 2018, expanding coverage to all NBA teams.
The Athletic signed three veteran TV journalists in November 2018, including 60 Minutes correspondent Armen Keteyian, in the publication's efforts to produce more video content as a supplement to written coverage. [37]
In May 2019, The Athletic announced an expansion into motorsports coverage featuring veteran journalist Jeff Gluck. While NASCAR is the dominant focus of coverage, The Athletic aims to be a destination for all motorsports fans by including other major events, such as the Indianapolis 500. [38]
In August 2019, The Athletic expanded to the United Kingdom, predominantly covering domestic and international football. The team was initially led by managing director Ed Malyon and editor-in-chief Alex Kay-Jelski. [39] [40]
In April 2024, Laura Williamson was announced as the editor-in-chief for UK and Europe. Their stable of writers, includes: Michael Cox and Oliver Kay… David Ornstein and Daniel Taylor. [41] [42] [43] [44] [45]
The company began exploring a sale to a larger media company in 2021, following continued unprofitability, driven by high expenses and reliance on venture capital funding instead of operational revenue. As of that time, the site had 1.2 million subscribers and $80 million in revenue, having raised $55 million in venture capital funding. Axios entered discussions with The Athletic in March of that year but ultimately declined to make an offer. The New York Times was the leading contender for a potential acquisition as of May, with Vox Media also expressing interest. [46] [47] Buyout talks between The Athletic and The New York Times ended in June 2021. [48] On November 2, 2021, reports emerged that sports betting companies DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment, among other companies, were among some of the bidders for the company. [49]
Ultimately, in January 2022, The New York Times Company announced that it would acquire The Athletic for $550 million, in a transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. The Times noted that The Athletic would continue to run independently of the Times, and co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann would continue to lead the operation. [50]
In June 2023, The Athletic underwent a reorganization, cutting 4% of its staff, reassigning 20 journalists, and discontinuing the use of team-specific beat reporters. [51] [52] The following month, The New York Times announced that it would shut down its own sports department in favor of distributing content from The Athletic and its reporters via its platforms. Existing New York Times sports reporters will be reassigned to other departments. The decision was criticized by the New York Times Guild, which alleged the paper was engaging in union busting by "outsourc[ing] union jobs on our sports desk to a non-union Times subsidiary under the preposterous argument that The Times can 'subcontract' its sports coverage to itself." [53] [54]
Investors, media executives, and reporters who don't work for the Athletic all express skepticism about the business. But almost no one will share these sentiments publicly. Who wants to be seen badmouthing one of the only places still hiring journalists? Bringing on writers for top dollar and freeing them from chasing clicks is admirable, the doubters say, but it's no way to make money.
Ira Boudway,Bloomberg BusinessWeek [9]
The Athletic has raised a total of $139.5 million over five rounds. [55]
The first major funding was provided by Courtside Ventures, which provided $2.3 million in seed funding in Jan 2017. [56] [57] In July 2017, the company raised another $5.4 million in Series A funding also led by Courtside Ventures. [58] In March 2018, the company announced a $20 million third round of funding led by Evolution Media. Mather reported that this money would be invested into expanding coverage to new cities and increasing the number of writers from the then staff of 120. [59] The Athletic raised another $40 million in a Series C funding round in October 2018, co-led by Founders Fund and Bedrock Capital. [60] The money will be used to invest in expanding teams focused on audience, data and editorial teams, subscriptions, podcasts and video. [61]
As of August 2019, [update] The Athletic had 600,000 paying subscribers with an 80% retention rate year-over-year. Most of its subscribers, 60%, follow sports teams in two or more cities. [9] In September 2020, The Athletic announced one million global subscribers, as well as expansion into additional breaking news content formats. [62]
This section may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.(May 2022) |
The Athletic has published multiple investigations regarding workplace misconduct, sexual abuse, and other transgressions in the sports community. In 2018, Athletic journalist Tim Cato published an in-depth report on allegations regarding workplace misconduct within the Dallas Mavericks organization. [63] The report detailed how high-ranking members within the Mavericks organization ignored and tacitly approved of financial misconduct and mental abuse.
In March 2021, The Athletic published an investigation regarding sexual misconduct and abuse at Louisiana State University (LSU). In the report, Brody Miller detailed the rampant sexual misconduct that was present at all levels of the LSU organization, and interviews with former players helped support an investigation conducted by law firm Husch Blackwell. [64]
In September 2021, The Athletic released a report detailing the gross sexual misconduct of association football coach Paul Riley in the NWSL. The report detailed Riley's sexual abuse of several players, namely Sinead Farrelly and Meleana Shim, as well as an unnamed additional player, while coaching at Portland Thorns FC. The report also revealed that the allegations, first reported to the club in 2016, were partially responsible for the decision not to renew his contract in Portland. Riley, however, immediately assumed a new coaching position within the NWSL. The NWSL, and Riley's current team, responded with no comment. Paul Riley denied all allegations. [65] Riley was fired shortly afterward, and the relevant soccer bodies (NWSL, FIFA and the United States Soccer Federation) launched investigations.
The New York Times Company is an American mass-media company that publishes The New York Times and its associated publications and other media properties. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
ESPN is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications (20%) through the joint venture ESPN Inc. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen, Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan.
L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, also known as L&N Stadium and formerly known as Cardinal Stadium and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, is a football stadium located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the southern end of the campus of the University of Louisville. Debuting in 1998, it serves as the home of the Louisville Cardinals football program. The official seating capacity in the quasi-horseshoe-shaped facility was 42,000 through the 2008 season. An expansion project that started after the 2008 season was completed in time for the 2010 season and brought the official capacity to 55,000. An additional expansion project aiming to close the open end of the horseshoe to add 6,000 additional seats was announced on August 28, 2015, and was completed in 2019.
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, and other content focusing on the conference's member schools. It is a joint venture between Fox Sports and the Big Ten, with Fox Corporation as 61% stakeholder and operating partner, and the Big Ten Conference owning a 39% stake. It is headquartered in the former Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House building at 600 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago.
Major League Soccer has expanded several times since the league began play in 1996. Major League Soccer was established as the top level of professional soccer in the United States in 1993 with 10 teams and began play in 1996. It has expanded several times since 1998 into new markets across the United States and, since 2006, Canada.
Penske Media Corporation is an American mass media, publishing, and information services company based in Los Angeles and New York City. It publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including Variety, Rolling Stone, Women's Wear Daily, Deadline Hollywood, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Boy Genius Report, Robb Report, Artforum, ARTNews, and others. PMC's Chairman and CEO since founding is Jay Penske.
Bleacher Report is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London.
Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass SB Nation and The Verge. Bankoff had been the CEO for SB Nation since 2009.
SB Nation is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2003. The blog from which the network formed was started by Bleszinski as Athletics Nation in 2003, and focused solely on the Oakland Athletics. It has since expanded to cover sports franchises on a national scale, including all Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, and National Football League teams, as well as college teams, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling, totaling over 300 community sites. In 2011, the network expanded into technology content with The Verge, leading to the parent company Sports Blogs Inc. being rebranded as Vox Media. SB Nation operates from Vox Media's offices in New York City and Washington, D.C.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. Headquartered in New York City, it is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation.
The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas and joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season. The Dash play all home matches at Shell Energy Stadium.
Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. As of April 2024, Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group ; Vice TV ; Virtue ; and Vice Digital. It was cited as the largest independent youth media company in the world, with 35 offices.
DraftKings Inc. is an American gambling company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It offers sportsbook and daily fantasy sports (DFS) services.
Oscar Health, Inc. is an American health insurance company, founded in 2012 by Joshua Kushner, Kevin Nazemi and Mario Schlosser, and is headquartered in New York City. The company focuses on the health insurance industry through telemedicine, healthcare focused technological interfaces, and transparent claims pricing systems which would make it easier for patients to navigate.
Under the public healthcare policy of the United States, some people have incomes too high to qualify in their state of residence for Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for those with limited resources, but too low to qualify for the premium tax credits that would subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. These people are described as falling into the Medicaid coverage gap.
ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by the ESPN division of the Walt Disney Company, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. It is one of Disney's three flagship subscription streaming brands in the United States, alongside Disney+ and Hulu, and operates using technology of Disney subsidiary BAMTech, now known as Disney Streaming.
Time's Up was a non-profit organization that raised money to support victims of sexual harassment. The organization was founded on January 1, 2018, by Hollywood celebrities in response to the Weinstein effect and the Me Too movement. As of January 2020, the organization had raised $24 million in donations.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league owned by the teams, and under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation. At the top of the United States league system, it represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The NWSL was established in 2012 as a successor to Women's Professional Soccer (2007–2012), which was itself the successor to Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of Women's Professional Soccer.
Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack is headquartered in San Francisco.
We founded The Athletic with this simple mission: produce smarter coverage for die-hard fans.