NEW YORK: The New York Times Co has agreed to buy The Athletic, subscription-based sports site, for $550 million in cash.
Founded in 2016, The Athletic had 1.2 million subscribers as of December, and covers more than 200 clubs and teams in the U.S. and around the world.
“Acquiring The Athletic puts us in a position to be a global leader in sports journalism,” said New York Times Chief Executive Officer Meredith Kopit Levien.
The Athletic had operating losses of about $55 million on about $65 million in revenue in 2021, Levien said on an analyst call on Thursday.
She said there is a small overlap between the New York Times and The Athletic’s subscriber base and the company will help develop advertisement revenue at The Athletic.
It plans to sell The Athletic subscriptions as a standalone product at first, and gradually include in a broader bundle.
“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,” Levien added.
The deal is expected to add to the newspaper’s revenue growth and be dilutive to its operating profit for about three years.
The Athletic will operate as a separate unit of the company, and its founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann will stay on after the acquisition.
Allen & Company advised the New York Times on the deal, while The Athletic was advised by LionTree Advisors.