The New York Times Company agreed to purchase The Athletic for $550 million, according to The Information.
The deal comes after months of speculation, and it was at one point that The Athletic CEO Alex Mather approached the website about a merger. The New York Times is on track to surpass its goal of 10 million subscribers by the year 2025.
The Athletic had 1.2 million subscribers as of November, who pay about $72 per year. The Athletic spent almost 100 million dollars in the last two years, but it only brought in $73 in the same time period, and it isn't yet profitable.
The NYT could have been bought by The Athletic for 46 million years.
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Winging It In Motown was published on January 6, 2022.
The New York Times acquisition of The Athletic is in line with recent trends in media. The acquisition of Complex and HuffPost was recently done by BuzzFeed. After it acquired HuffPost, for example, it laid off 47 of 190 employees and closed the entire Canada arm, media workers are skeptical. The New York Times and The Athletic laid off employees at the beginning of the Pandemic.
The media industry was always at risk of sudden layoffs and paycuts, and more workers are seeking out union agreements to protect them. Deadspin's entire staff quit the site due to frustration with management and started Defector, a worker-owned media company. In its first year, Defector earned $3.2 million in revenue and $3 million in operating expenses.
The New York Times bought a product reviews site for $30 million, less than it paid for The Athletic. After two years of slow-paced union contract negotiations, Wirecutter staff went on strike for five days, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, after management failed to reach an agreement with them before Thanksgiving. The New York Times was accused of unfair labor practices by the Wirecutter Union. The NewsGuild of New York reached a deal with the New York Times on December 14th to ensure increased pay and improved working conditions. The New York Times is under scrutiny for its anti-union behavior.
After the news broke, the Wirecutter Union asked The Athletic to meet their friend.
There is no word on how staff at The Athletic will be affected by the acquisition.
