The Athletic is solidly profitable
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The Athletic has posted a profit for the past three quarters, proving its parent, the New York Times, is good for its word when it comes to Wall Street projections.
Why it matters: The sports media startup was losing millions when the Times acquired it in 2022. Times executives assured investors that the site would eventually be accretive to its revenue growth rate after three years.
Reality check: If The Athletic didn't become reliably profitable within the time frame the Times projected, it would've made it harder for the Gray Lady to convince investors of its strategy for future acquisitions.
Zoom in: A big part of The Athletic's path to profitability has been integrating it further into the New York Times subscription bundle and growing its paid advertising.
- The New York Times no longer breaks out how many subscribers The Athletic has individually, but it does disclose subscriber numbers for its newsletters.
- The Pulse had 2.4 million newsletter subscribers a year ago, per Digiday, and is now up to more than 3.5 million, a spokesperson said. The Athletic — which just debuted its 10th newsletter, hockey-focused Red Light — will surpass 6 million subscribers this week, the spokesperson added.
Zoom out: The Athletic has started to explore bigger advertising partnerships. Deals with BetMGM, eBay and StubHub have helped it explore sports lifestyle topics such as betting, collectibles and ticketing, respectively.
- Those types of opportunities are expected to be a big part of The Athletic's commercial expansion, executives previously told Axios.
- The Athletic has expanded in audio. This week, it said "The Tennis Podcast" was joining The Athletic Podcast Network. And last month, it signed an ad sales deal with Swedish podcast company Acast for audio ads, podcast sponsorships, podcast video and branded content.
What to watch: While The Athletic has mostly focused on text and audio to date, the company has invested more in video. That could drive more commercial opportunities.
- At a NewFronts presentation earlier this month, The Athletic announced "No Free Lunch," a digital series hosted by former NFL player Ndamukong Suh.
- The Athletic is partnering with the NBA and WNBA to provide highlights embedded in its articles and its app. It said it will use footage in video journalism, including game breakdowns called "The Athletic Spotlight," Zach Harper's commentary "The Bounce Weekly-ish" and video essays.
- Last year, Fubo was named The Athletic's official live TV streaming partner through a multiyear agreement that includes content and product integrations and co-marketing.
