Exclusive: The Athletic hires Washington Post sports writers

What they're saying: "For many decades, the Washington Post was the go-to place for sports for Washingtonians," says Steven Ginsberg, who spent nearly three decades at the Post before joining The Athletic as executive editor in 2023.

• "That's not an option now, and we want to make sure that people understand that The Athletic can be one," Ginsberg tells Axios.

Driving the news: The Athletic is adding six Post journalists across beats.

• Barry Svrluga joins as a Commanders reporter. He started at the Post in 2003, covering college basketball and football, the Washington Nationals and the Washington Commanders before becoming a columnist in 2016.
• Spencer Nusbaum joins as a Nationals reporter, which he's covered since 2024. The Athletic said his job will include engaging with fans before, during and after games.
• Candace Buckner joins as a national columnist. Before launching her award-winning column in 2021, she covered the Washington Wizards and the NBA.
• Ava Wallace joins the tennis team and will contribute to women's sports coverage. She previously covered college athletics, the WNBA and the Wizards.
• Adam Kilgore joins as a senior writer for The Athletic's newly formed rapid response investigative unit. At the Post, he covered big events and contributed to award-winning enterprise stories and investigations.
• Jason Murray joins as deputy editorial director. He had been at the Post since 2020 and was named sports editor in 2023.

Between the lines: The new hires join The Athletic's existing D.C. reporters, including Nicki Jhabvala on the Commanders, Josh Robbins on the Wizards and David Aldridge across topics.

• Hiring multiple established reporters at once is a fast way to boost credibility and depth in the market.

Zoom in: The Athletic's reporting model includes engaging fans directly.

• "The kind of old model of sports journalism is not really applicable these days and what really works is to do all the reporting, do all of the things that journalists do, but then bring it directly to fans and not have as much separation between them," Ginsberg says.
• "Fans are extremely passionate about their teams, and the Nats right now are going on this extremely interesting journey," he continued. "I'm sure that a lot of fans are going to have a lot of questions about that, and Spencer will be there to answer some of them directly."

By the numbers: The Athletic has become a meaningful part of the Times' success. The overall company last reported $192.3 million in adjusted operating profit and $802.3 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025.

• When the Times acquired The Athletic in 2022, the sports media company had been losing millions. But in the second quarter of 2025, it reported $5.8 million in adjusted operating profit, double the prior quarter. The Times has since stopped reporting The Athletic's financial metrics as a separate segment.
• More than 500 journalists work at The Athletic, making it the world's largest sports newsroom. It publishes more than 100 stories a day, on average and offers more than 30 podcasts with 100 million annual downloads and 11 newsletters reaching more than 10 million people.

What to watch: Journalists at The Athletic announced their intention to unionize in January 2025 and pushed to join the Times' union.

• The Athletic publisher David Perpich told staff shortly thereafter that the company would voluntarily recognize The Athletic as a separate unit.
• The NewsGuild of New York testified before the National Labor Relations Board for The Athletic staff to be included in the Times Guild. A ruling has yet to be issued.

The big picture: As the Post retrenches, other media companies, including Axios, are exploring opportunities in Washington.

• The Baltimore Banner announced plans to expand its sports coverage to D.C. teams, just a week after the Post layoffs.