'New York Times' Sports Staffers Want Answers, Believe 'The Athletic' Poised To Render Them Obsolete
The New York Times acquired The Athletic in 2022. Thus far, that hasn't worked out for the Times. The sports-centric website has only lost money since the acquisition. It recently laid off over 20 staffers and reassigned several more.
The layoffs are one thing -- and generally a reality in this industry -- but it's perhaps the second piece causing strife among New York Times writers. Reassigned those staffers to where?
That's just one of the questions writers recently posed to management. The Washington Post acquired a letter sent from New York Times sports section staffers to leaders at their company.
“For 18 months, The New York Times has left its sports staff twisting in the wind,” the letter read. “We have watched the company buy a competitor with hundreds of sportswriters and weigh decisions about the future of sports coverage at the Times without, in many instances, so much as a courtesy call, let alone any solicitation of our expertise.
“The company’s efforts appear to be coming to a head, with the Times pursuing a full-scale technological migration of The Athletic to The Times’s platforms and the threat that the company will effectively shut down our section.”
'New York Times' sports staffers wrote a letter to management demanding answers about their futures amid 'The Athletic' takeover rumors. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
In a statement, according to the Post, a New York Times spokesperson said: “We’ve had conversations since we bought The Athletic about what it means for the future of our sports coverage. We’ve rolled out some changes, such as including Athletic stories on the nytimes.com home screen.
"As with any coverage area, we have been closely evaluating how to deliver the best possible sports journalism for our growing audience. We’ll update when we have more to share,” the statement concludes.
New York Times sports department vs. The Athletic
As OutKick wrote just last month, The Athletic has lost over $27 million since its acquisition last year. But The New York Times seems committed to trying to make the website profitable.
However, it does seem pointless to sink money and resources into two separate sports reporting entities. Thus, New York Times sports department staffers are rightfully worried.
Realistically, though, neither The Athletic nor the Times produces can't-miss sports content. And both approach sports from a left-leaning political perspective.
There are enough of those in the marketplace as it is.