New York Times Reportedly Buying Sports Site The Athletic for $550 Million
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After a lengthy negotiation, the New York Times Co has agreed to acquire The Athletic for nearly $550 million, in a deal first reported by Jessica Toonkel of The Information.
The deal will help the New York Times reach its goal of hitting 10 million digital subscribers by 2025. As of Sept. 30, the Times reported 7.6 million digital subscribers, while The Athletic boasted a following of avid sports fans that totals 1.2 million consumers.
Talks between the two publications reportedly stalled over the summer after they failed to reach an agreement last June. The Times reassessed acquiring The Athletic last month as the two sides reportedly entered exclusive talks about a potential sale. Less than one month later, a deal has been agreed to.
Launched in 2016, The Athletic quickly began to pillage the newspaper industry, stockpiling talent at a rapid and expensive rate. Although The Athletic’s valuation is reportedly near $500 million, the company still doesn’t project to turn a profit until 2023. Receiving pressure from investors to start delivering a return, The Athletic originally sought a sale closer to $800 million.
“We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing,” co-founder of The Athletic, Alex Mather said during a 2017 interview. “We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. We will make business extremely difficult for them.”
Less than five years later, The Athletic has yet to see a profit and is being bought out by one of those local paper’s they sought to see “bleed” to death.
An annual subscription to The Athletic currently costs $72, unless the consumer prefers to pay monthly in which case it costs $95.88 for a full year. But discounts for as low as $1 per month and even free subscriptions have not been hard to find as The Athletic undoubtedly attempted to boost its reader base in search of a sale.
Other suitors for The Athletic reportedly included Axios and DraftKings before the sports platform entered exclusive negotiations with the Times.
