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New York Times purchasing The Athletic for $550 million
ESPN ^ | 1/6/2022 | ASSociated Press

Posted on 01/06/2022 3:30:16 PM PST by God luvs America

The New York Times Co. is buying sports news site The Athletic for $550 million, the latest move in its strategy to expand its audience of paying subscribers as the newspaper print ads business fades.

The Times, unlike many local news outlets, has thrived in the past several years. It gained millions of subscribers during the Trump presidency and the pandemic, keeping it on track for its previously stated goal of 10 million by 2025.

As of the most recent quarter, the Times had nearly 8.4 million. It has been diversifying its coverage with lifestyle advice, games and recipes, helping it counter a pullback from the politics-driven news traffic boom of 2020.

"We are now in pursuit of a goal meaningfully larger than 10 million subscriptions and believe The Athletic will enable us to expand our addressable market of potential subscribers,'' New York Times Co. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said in a news release Thursday.

It's one of the Times' largest-ever acquisitions. The company spent $1.1 billion on the Boston Globe in 1993 and $410 million for About.com in 2005, both of which it later sold for less.

(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chat; chatforum; newyorkslimes; sports; theathletic
If you subscribe to The Athletic, please cancel your subscription
1 posted on 01/06/2022 3:30:16 PM PST by God luvs America
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To: God luvs America

I stopped buying The Times ages ago. Any paper I purchased I always read the sports section first. And The Times sports section long ago became an extension of its political reporting and the op ed page. This means the death of The Athletic.

I still occasionally purchase the NY Post. Great sports section.


2 posted on 01/06/2022 3:35:28 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Suppo)
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To: God luvs America

Who the hell would subscribe to either? Spending $550M to buy a magazine that says the same thing you do is a bad investment.


3 posted on 01/06/2022 3:38:56 PM PST by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: God luvs America

I thought the NYT was going broke?


4 posted on 01/06/2022 3:41:19 PM PST by dljordan (Slouching towards Woketopia)
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To: God luvs America

If you subscribe to The Athletic, please cancel your subscription

+1. I have read one of the Athletic’s columnists at another site. Big never Trumper. Always went out of their way to bash Trump in a sports column.


5 posted on 01/06/2022 3:42:36 PM PST by alternatives? (The only reason to have an army is to defend your borders.)
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To: God luvs America

The Athletic is actually a decent site. I am so sorry to hear this.


6 posted on 01/06/2022 3:45:53 PM PST by throwthebumsout
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To: God luvs America

Won’t even be able to trust the sports scores anymore.....


7 posted on 01/06/2022 4:24:00 PM PST by reed13k (For evil to triumph it is only necessary that good men do nothing)
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To: dljordan

They are. Dirty secret is that much of their subscriber growth is for things completely unrelated to their fake news, like real estate listings and restaurant reviews. As their leftist white Baby Boomer audience heads into the afterlife, see ya later NYT.


8 posted on 01/06/2022 4:26:26 PM PST by No_Mas_Obama
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To: God luvs America

Bringing more anti Trump BS to sports!! No thanks... Can find other sports sites online for free...


9 posted on 01/06/2022 4:43:46 PM PST by Deplorable American1776 (I'm the one trying to save American Democracy...Donald Trump 6/21 at the NCGOP convention! )
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So the New York Times is the Athletic Supporter


10 posted on 01/06/2022 4:47:32 PM PST by dsrtsage ( Complexity is just simple lacking imagination)
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To: God luvs America

Operation Mockingbird still pays dividends…


11 posted on 01/06/2022 4:48:52 PM PST by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: God luvs America

I did even before I read your comment.


12 posted on 01/06/2022 4:50:37 PM PST by LazloToth (Push polls)
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To: God luvs America

I thought the New York Times was on the verge of bankruptcy


13 posted on 01/06/2022 4:58:51 PM PST by captain_dave
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To: God luvs America
Too bad. The Athletic has had some good coverage. I thought they were journalists.
14 posted on 01/06/2022 5:09:19 PM PST by TBP (Decent people cannot fathom the amoral cruelty of the Biden regime.)
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To: God luvs America

The Times has not done that well and they are spending money they really don’t have. Their failure is coming.


15 posted on 01/06/2022 5:11:02 PM PST by Captain Peter Blood (https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3804407/posts?q=1)
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To: God luvs America

I have never even heard of this publication.


16 posted on 01/06/2022 5:49:28 PM PST by WASCWatch ( WASC)
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To: God luvs America

The Times has 550 million!!?? No way.


17 posted on 01/06/2022 6:07:55 PM PST by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: TalBlack

Only if they borrowed it from Carlos Slim


18 posted on 01/06/2022 6:10:19 PM PST by Captain Peter Blood (https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3804407/posts?q=1)
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