The Athletic

• 1. Founding And Mission

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  Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann launched The Athletic in January 2016 as an independent subscription-based online sports magazine. They built the company as a direct alternative to struggling ad-supported models that dominated the industry at the time. Their mission was to produce smarter coverage for die-hard fans who wanted clean apps without ads. Jon Greenberg served as the founding editor alongside Sahadev Sharma from the Cubs vertical and Scott Powers covering the Blackhawks. These three journalists had previously worked at ESPN Chicago or Baseball Prospectus before joining the new venture. The site originally launched in Chicago during Y Combinator's summer 2016 batch. Mather and Hansmann believed sports fans would be willing to pay for good reporting if they removed advertising barriers.

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• 2. Market Expansion Strategy

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  The Athletic expanded to Toronto in October 2016 with James Mirtle hired as editor-in-chief for Maple Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays coverage. A third city, Cleveland, launched in March 2017 under Jason Lloyd as editor-in-chief. Detroit joined the network in June 2017 when Craig Custance arrived from ESPN. Tim Kawakami became editor-in-chief for the San Francisco-area market while Marcus Thompson served as columnist. Ken Rosenthal joined shortly after Fox Sports eliminated its entire writing staff. Seth Davis covered college basketball while Stewart Mandel led the launch of national college football section called The All-American. By September 2017, local coverage reached fifteen US and Canadian pro sports markets including Philadelphia, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Canada. Most expansion targeted underserved hockey fans across multiple regions. Memphis became the forty-seventh local market covered by The Athletic in October 2018.

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• 3. Venture Capital Funding Rounds

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  Courtside Ventures provided $2.3 million in seed funding in January 2017 as the first major investment round. Another $5.4 million came through Series A funding also led by Courtside Ventures in July 2017. Evolution Media led a $20 million third round announced in March 2018 to expand coverage to new cities. Mather reported this money would increase the number of writers from then staff of one hundred twenty. Founders Fund and Bedrock Capital co-led a Series C funding round totaling $40 million in October 2018. That capital went toward expanding teams focused on audience data editorial subscriptions podcasts and video. The company raised a total of $139.5 million over five rounds before achieving profitability. As of 2021, the site had 1.2 million subscribers and eighty million dollars in revenue while relying heavily on venture capital instead of operational income.

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• 4. Acquisition By The New York Times

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  The New York Times Company acquired The Athletic for $550 million in January 2022 after buyout talks ended in June 2021. DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment were among bidders who explored purchasing the company during late 2021 discussions. Co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann continued leading operations initially as a semi-independent entity under the new ownership. In June 2023, The Athletic underwent reorganization cutting four percent of its staff and reassigning twenty journalists. Team-specific beat reporters disappeared from the roster following that restructuring decision. The following month, The New York Times announced it would shut down its own sports department to distribute content from The Athletic via its platforms. Existing New York Times sports reporters moved to other departments within the organization. The New York Times Guild criticized the move alleging union busting by outsourcing union jobs to a non-union subsidiary. The New York Times Company reported The Athletic was profitable for the first time in its history during the third quarter of 2024.

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• 5. Investigative Journalism Legacy

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  Tim Cato published an in-depth report on workplace misconduct allegations within the Dallas Mavericks organization in 2018. High-ranking members inside the Mavericks ignored financial misconduct and tacitly approved mental abuse according to that investigation. Brody Miller detailed rampant sexual misconduct present at all levels of Louisiana State University in March 2021. Interviews with former players supported an investigation conducted by law firm Husch Blackwell regarding LSU conditions. Paul Riley faced gross sexual misconduct allegations revealed in September 2021 while coaching Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL. Sinead Farrelly and Meleana Shim were named as victims alongside one unnamed additional player. Allegations first reported to the club in 2016 contributed partially to contract renewal decisions against Riley. He immediately assumed a new coaching position within the league before being fired shortly afterward. Relevant soccer bodies including FIFA launched investigations into the matter following public exposure.

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• 6. Podcast Network Growth

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  The Athletic produces over eighty exclusive podcasts featuring daily weekly and league-specific shows covering major sports. Jeff Gluck joined the motorsports coverage team in May 2019 focusing primarily on NASCAR events. The brand signed a deal with Acast in August 2025 making them the exclusive sales partner for audio content. That same month, podcast The Sports Gossip Show joined The Athletic's network expanding its audio offerings. In August 2018, the site launched Fantasy Sports coverage continuing expansion across US markets including Washington DC Carolina Nashville Indiana Miami and New Orleans. Shams Charania added NBA reporting capabilities while Jay Glazer brought NFL coverage expertise to the platform. Sixty percent of subscribers follow sports teams in two or more cities according to internal data from September 2020. The company reached one million global subscribers that year while introducing breaking news content formats beyond traditional writing.

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