NY Times to buy The Athletic for ….

[Max Fischer]

12 hours ago, Demongyz said:

NYT is complete trash.  ESPN has proven their brand of crap doesn't belong in sports...

 

I don't think NYT will understand that.

 

Bye Bye The Atheletic

So you will cancel your subscription based solely on what exactly?

 

[dave mcbride]

13 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

1.)  I'm a subscriber of The Athletic.

2.)  I think it's fantastic.

3.)  I will never subscribe to the NY Times.

4.)  If the NY Times tries to insert any of its crap into The Athletic, I'm gone.

 

 

I have subscribed to the NY Times and have for 30+ years. 
 

I would never subscribe to the Athletic.

 

If this means I get free Athletic content, excellent.

[buffalonian]

13 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

1.)  I'm a subscriber of The Athletic.

2.)  I think it's fantastic.

3.)  I will never subscribe to the NY Times.

4.)  If the NY Times tries to insert any of its crap into The Athletic, I'm gone.

 

 

What “crap” are you concerned about? Just curious, I’ve subscribed to the NYT for many years and have generally found it to be a good newspaper, not perfect, but really good. 

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It really isn't, but sure. Let's do it in PPP.

 

Please take it over to PPP so I never have to look at this thread again!  

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Please take it over to PPP so I never have to look at this thread again!  

 

I meant to. But it accidentally ended up on Off The Wall. I am lost once I am off the main board 🤣

[aristocrat]

The athletic has bled money since it opened.35 mil in 21,  41 mil in 2020, 54 in 19.  NYT gave them a gift 

[Inigo Montoya]

10 minutes ago, buffalonian said:

What “crap” are you concerned about? Just curious, I’ve subscribed to the NYT for many years and have generally found it to be a good newspaper, not perfect, but really good. 

 

Hey buffalonian,

 

By "crap" I mean politics.  When I'm reading a sports article I don't want politics in it.  I'm a news junkie, I've always been interested in politics and I'm a consumer of lots of political info from all sides of the political spectrum.  ( I really recommend a website called Realclearpolitics.com which is a clearing house for news articles and it always provides both sides of every issue / argument so you can read both and make up your own mind) 

 

When I need an escape from that world I turn to sports.  I think the Athletic is fantastic sports journalism and I don't want it tainted by an organization that might see it as another avenue to push a political agenda.  

 

I hope it doesn't happen. 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Inigo Montoya

[atlbillsfan1975]

5 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

"The Athletic will continue to operate as a standalone site, the Times said in its announcement. New York Times Company CEO Meredith Kopit Levien told investors on a call following the news that they would initially offer The Athletic as a separate subscription and ultimately offer it as part of a “broader Times bundle.”

 

Give it a year or two before you can only get it in a packaged deal.

100%, when projections aren’t being met the NYT will pivot and up the subscription rate, but now you get access to the NYT as well. 
 

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

The athletic has bled money since it opened.35 mil in 21,  41 mil in 2020, 54 in 19.  NYT gave them a gift 

 

This was always the plan I think. Prove there is a market for the product then exit without having to prove you can run it profitably. 

4 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Hey buffalonian,

 

By "crap" I mean politics.  When I'm reading a sports article I don't want politics in it.  I'm a news junkie, I've always been interested in politics and I'm a consumer of lots of political info from all sides of the political spectrum.  ( I really recommend a website called Realclearpolitics.com which is a clearing house for news articles and it always provides both sides of every issue / argument so you can read both and make up your own mind) 

 

When I need an escape from that world I turn to sports.  I think the Athletic is fantastic sports journalism and I don't want it tainted by an organization that might see it as another avenue to push a political agenda.  

 

I hope it doesn't happen. 

 

 

The Athletic already covers the politics within sport. 

[buffalonian]

4 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Hey buffalonian,

 

By "crap" I mean politics.  When I'm reading a sports article I don't want politics in it.  I'm a news junkie, I've always been interested in politics and I'm a consumer of lots of political info from all sides of the political spectrum.  ( I really recommend a website called Realclearpolitics.com which is a clearing house for news articles and it always provides both sides of every issue / argument so you can read both and make up your own mind) 

 

When I need an escape from that world I turn to sports.  I think the Athletic is fantastic sports journalism and I don't want it tainted by an organization that might see it as another avenue to push a political agenda.  

 

I hope it doesn't happen. 

 

The NYT has had a pretty minimalist sports section for several years now. But I don’t recall politics ever surfacing much it in sports news reporting; maybe in some sports-related editorial content but I think that is to be expected in any publication. My guess is that acquiring the Athletic is an effort by the NYT to seriously bolster its Sports content, which has been nearly non-existent for quite some time. 
 

I don’t subscribe to the Athletic.  Does it publish editorial content? Would it, for instance, publish opinionated pieces on a topic like Colin Kaepernick, or other topics where sports, politics, and culture intersect? 

[DCOrange]

13 hours ago, hemma said:

I wonder if the writers have stock options/grants & get a piece?

 

If yes, I really should have said nicer things about Buscaglia.

 

I would bet almost anything that at least the bigger name writers with The Athletic are getting a decent chunk of this. I know some of the writers are already counting their money.

[Inigo Montoya]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

The Athletic already covers the politics within sport. 

 

Hey Gunner,

 

Some sports stories have a political angle.  No argument there.  When those stories occur I want the facts of the situation from the reporter, what used to be know as "straight reporting" not proselytizing.  Over the last several years it seems harder and harder for reporters to keep their personal views out of the story they are reporting on.  They are not reporting so much as providing their own commentary on the situation. 

 

I read The Athletic for info on the Buffalo Bills, the Buffalo Sabres, the NFL as a whole, and fantasy football to a lesser extent.  I have not found any stories in The Athletic that are presented with an overt bias or slant, even when covering stories where politics and sports merge.  That's why I pay for a subscription.  I really think it's the best sports journalism out there.  I hope that doesn't change.

 

[BMWR100RT]

I watch football on Fox and hold my nose. Same thing. Eventually the news will come from the Eye of Sauron and you'll all think you won while toiling in a pit. 

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Hey Gunner,

 

Some sports stories have a political angle.  No argument there.  When those stories occur I want the facts of the situation from the reporter, what used to be know as "straight reporting" not proselytizing.  Over the last several years it seems harder and harder for reporters to keep their personal views out of the story they are reporting on.  They are not reporting so much as providing their own commentary on the situation. 

 

I read The Athletic for info on the Buffalo Bills, the Buffalo Sabres, the NFL as a whole, and fantasy football to a lesser extent.  I have not found any stories in The Athletic that are presented with an overt bias or slant, even when covering stories where politics and sports merge.  That's why I pay for a subscription.  I really think it's the best sports journalism out there.  I hope that doesn't change.

 

 

I think it is the best sports journalism out there too. But it already does a lot of political and some of that commentary on the context within which the story arises. The reporting on the stadium has particularly been so. What you are talking about is different you are talking about slanted reporting. I have no idea whether the NYT does this, I have never read it, but slanted reporting and politics are not the same thing. 

1 minute ago, BMWR100RT said:

I watch football on Fox and hold my nose. Same thing. Eventually the news will come from the Eye of Sauron and you'll all think you won while toiling in a pit. 

 

The same. I hate just about everything Rupert Murdoch stands for and he is the absolute master of slanted, one-sided coverage. 

[DCOrange]

19 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

This was always the plan I think. Prove there is a market for the product then exit without having to prove you can run it profitably. 

 

Yep, companies looking to acquire in a case like this don't really care if you're profitable as long as you're showing revenue growth. It's similar to all those stories about the NBA losing money every year where it's technically true, but being profitable isn't the goal.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

5 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

"The Athletic will continue to operate as a standalone site, the Times said in its announcement. New York Times Company CEO Meredith Kopit Levien told investors on a call following the news that they would initially offer The Athletic as a separate subscription and ultimately offer it as part of a “broader Times bundle.”

 

Give it a year or two before you can only get it in a packaged deal.

 

That would be unfortunate

[Inigo Montoya]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

 but slanted reporting and politics are not the same thing. 

 

 

Fair point Gunner.   I could have been more precise with my choice of words.

[Mr. WEO]

Lost in all this....is this:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/sports/the-athletic-newspapers.html

 

By the time you finish reading this article, the upstart sports news outlet called The Athletic probably will have hired another well-known sportswriter from your local newspaper. In a couple of years, once The Athletic has completed its breakneck expansion, perhaps that newspaper’s sports section will no longer exist.

 

 

“We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing,” Alex Mather, a co-founder of The Athletic, said in an interview in San Francisco. “We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. We will make business extremely difficult for them.”

 

 

lol....tech bros

[WotAGuy]

 Between this and the dome threads, we need a whining emoji 😩

[dave mcbride]

30 minutes ago, buffalonian said:

The NYT has had a pretty minimalist sports section for several years now. But I don’t recall politics ever surfacing much it in sports news reporting; maybe in some sports-related editorial content but I think that is to be expected in any publication. My guess is that acquiring the Athletic is an effort by the NYT to seriously bolster its Sports content, which has been nearly non-existent for quite some time. 
 

I don’t subscribe to the Athletic.  Does it publish editorial content? Would it, for instance, publish opinionated pieces on a topic like Colin Kaepernick, or other topics where sports, politics, and culture intersect? 

As a close reader of the Times for decades, their sports section is both bad and very politically oriented (to be sure, they do have a couple of excellent writers like Tyler Kepner on baseball). For years, they led the “war on football” (they published the first concussion stories), but they seem to have given that up in the last couple of years given the sport’s continuing resounding popularity (i.e., they seem to know they lost the “war”). They also treat sports that very few in the US care about -- the premier league, the WNBA, etc. — as the equals of major US sports. They treat soccer in particular as somehow major, as if they possess the power to push Americans to embrace the world’s true global sport. It’s kind of laughable. It’s all quite political and fairly obvious too. That said, the paper’s reporting on politics, its international coverage (especially), its coverage of culture, the economy, etc. remains second to none when viewed as a totality.

Edited January 7, 2022 by dave mcbride

[Tommy Callahan]

its a damn shame.  I wont support the NYT at all. but love the athletic. 

 

 

[buffalonian]

10 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

As a close reader of the Times for decades, their sports section is both bad and very politically oriented (to be sure, they do have a couple of excellent writers like Tyler Kepner on baseball). For years, they led the “war on football” (they published the first concussion stories), but they seem to have given that up in the last couple of years given the sport’s continuing resounding popularity (i.e., they seem to know they lost the “war”). They also treat sports that very few in the US care about -- the premier league, the WNBA, etc. — as the equals of major US sports. They treat soccer in particular as somehow major, as if they possess the power to push Americans to embrace the world’s true global sport. It’s kind of laughable. It’s all quite political and fairly obvious too. That said, the paper’s reporting on politics, its international coverage (especially), its coverage of culture, the economy, etc. remains second to none when viewed as a totality.

…but have you subscribed to the NYT’s cooking section? I finally did. It’s worth it. I live in a house with a vegan, a vegetarian, and a fully devoted carnivore, among others. The NYT cooking app has helped ease my dinner time pain. 

[Royale with Cheese]

5 hours ago, BringBackFlutie said:

 

You know Applebee's already has ketchup, right?

 

They also have A-1 Sauce.

[Inigo Montoya]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

I have subscribed to the NY Times and have for 30+ years. 
 

I would never subscribe to the Athletic.

 

If this means I get free Athletic content, excellent.

 

That would definitely be a nice bonus for you.

[RoyBatty is alive]

THe New York Times effectively got rid of their stand alone sports section a few years ago, Ironic they would buy the Athletic now.  

[BillsFan4]

Well, their customer service can’t get any worse than it already is, that’s for sure.

 

Its completely non-existent now. They don’t even have a way to talk to a live person. I had a billing issue and I tried for weeks to talk to anyone at the athletic. I reached out to them in every way I could think of. There’s no phone number so I sent emails and messages on every social media platform they’re on. I also sent private Twitter messages to a # of different writers and editors, etc. I never got a response from anyone.

 

They have an email address but it’s a bot answering emails. They never actually tell you it’s a bot but I figured it out when it could not understand my issue no matter how many different ways I tried to word it. Some of the ridiculous responses from the bot trying to understand my issue would have almost been comical if the whole episode wasn’t so infuriating.

 

I cancelled my athletic subscription but maybe I’ll consider renewing if they start treating their customers better. Giving customers a way to contact an actual live person at the athletic (even just via email) would be a start.

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

20 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

THe New York Times effectively got rid of their stand alone sports section a few years ago, Ironic they would buy the Athletic now.  

 

No, the irony is that the Athletic, which said upon its start that they would continuously bleed and suck dry every newspaper's sports section of talent until they were the only ones left standing...has been taken by a newspaper.

[dave mcbride]

33 minutes ago, buffalonian said:

…but have you subscribed to the NYT’s cooking section? I finally did. It’s worth it. I live in a house with a vegan, a vegetarian, and a fully devoted carnivore, among others. The NYT cooking app has helped ease my dinner time pain. 

Their cooking section is incredible. The best around, and it ain't close.

[bigK14094]

13 hours ago, AmishRifle said:

Here’s a copy of the email I received as a subscriber:

 

Today marks an incredible milestone for The Athletic. We are thrilled to announce that we have entered into an agreement to be acquired by The New York Times Company, a transaction that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. 

 

The New York Times Company has set the standard for excellence in journalism, and as we look towards the future, their support will enable us to continue producing the best sports coverage on earth for an even wider audience.

 

Nothing about your The Athletic subscription is changing at this time. We will continue to invest in our world-class newsroom and the local and national coverage you can’t get anywhere else.

We cannot mark this important moment without offering our profound gratitude to you, our subscribers. When we founded the company in 2016, we hoped to become the sports page for every city worldwide. Your readership and unwavering support have allowed us to hire the best people in the business who in turn create the best sports content in the world.

 

Here’s to the future of The Athletic with The New York Times Company behind us. Thank you for believing in the power of great sports journalism and for supporting us as we embark on this new chapter. Onward!

 

Adam & Alex

Co-Founders of The Athletic 

Actually, it was an article in the daily e-mail I get.

37 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

THe New York Times effectively got rid of their stand alone sports section a few years ago, Ironic they would buy the Athletic now.  

They were weak in the extreme in the Sports area, and this is also an attempt to bootstrap that deficient journalistic coverage.  (All the News that is fit to print)

[Nester]

Well I am out.

shame, the athletic is really nice 

 

NY times is pure evil, I won’t support them in anyway.

[RyanC883]

15 hours ago, Doc said:

It was nice knowing you The Athletic…

 

watch it turn into ESPN or SI.  I want sports, not some random journalists take on how sports "intersect" with this or that.  

[WhoTom]

14 hours ago, Bruce Smith said:

I cancelled today. 

 

"Cancel culture" strikes again.

 

 

[RyanC883]

11 hours ago, Mango said:

 

I was thinking about this the other day, data is to the economy what older generations mortgage debt is. With the younger generation having higher expenses and less income than generations past, there is less private debt to buy and sell. Companies are buying and selling my information rather than my loan. 

 

that's an interesting take.  Heck, companies want to buy and sell both now.  

 

Also, this opens up an avenue for an alternative to the Athletic to arrive.  A true, independent sports outlet.  Would be interesting to see the Athletic have its staff stolen by some new venture.  

[Mango]

2 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

 

that's an interesting take.  Heck, companies want to buy and sell both now.  

 

Also, this opens up an avenue for an alternative to the Athletic to arrive.  A true, independent sports outlet.  Would be interesting to see the Athletic have its staff stolen by some new venture.  

 

I knew a guy years ago that was developing a stock trading game/app that didn't deal in real money. A fantasy trading app if you will. Half of the country does not participate in the stock market, and way less than that participate actively. He wanted to collect peoples data and track their spending habits. It didn't pan out, but to the point it was never about the app, it was about getting ahold of peoples data and natural investing habits. 

[WhoTom]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

My argument is it has always been thus. Politics and sport have been intertwined since the beginning of time. Mussolini's World Cup. Hitler's Olympics. Sport is politics and politics is sport.

 

Good points. To add to those examples, baseball had a separate league for Blacks until "woke politics" allowed Jackie Robinson into MLB to break the racial barrier. NFL players of different races weren't allowed to share a hotel room for road games until the "woke" Brian Piccolo and Gayle Sayres did it anyways. As Hank Aaron was approaching Babe Ruth's HR record, he needed a police escort whenever he left his house.

 

Like any form of entertainment, sports have been used to get a message across, whether it's political, social, or otherwise. In that respect, it's no different than film, literature, and visual art.

 

 

[notwoz]

16 hours ago, BruceVilanch said:

Customer data is the biggest commodity right now.

That's right. We're not customers, we (our data) are the product.

[aristocrat]

This thread is going well

[The Frankish Reich]

16 hours ago, RunTheBall said:

I subscribe to the Athletic, the NYT and the WSJ.

Same here.

 

2 hours ago, Nester said:

Well I am out.

shame, the athletic is really nice 

 

NY times is pure evil, I won’t support them in anyway.

Too late. You are already supporting them as they have all your Athletic customer data.

(Go back and read that 11 page terms of service document)

[Freddie's Dead]

The NYT Editorial Board will screw up The Athletic, just like they screwed up their newspaper years ago.

[K-9]

I gotta wonder if some of the responses in this thread would be different if News Corp was buying The Athletic instead.