The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic

The New York Times announced (10.7.23) its intention to close its sports section, and direct its readers to the subscription site "The Athletic", which it acquired last year. The Washington Post reminds that the Times' sports section has won Pulitzer Prizes for interpretative articles and was responsible for many exposes, such as the use of steroids by athletes and brain injuries caused to athletes.

According to the Times, it will offer other journalism jobs to the section's employees and intends to establish a new team that will focus on the economic aspect of sports. Senior editors Joe Kahn and Monica Drake added that the move will provide readers with "more extensive coverage of the sports field," but the newspaper's employees' organization called it "a clear betrayal of our comrades and the values of the Times" and announced that it would fight it by all available means.

"The Athletic" journalists are not unionized, and it seems that the Times intends to use a clause in the collective agreement that allows it to use the services of employees who are not members of the union. According to the union, the management is trying to transfer sports jobs from unionized journalists to those who are not unionized, under the guise of using a subcontractor who belongs to the Times itself.

The Times acquired "The Athletic" for $550 million, in an attempt to expand its subscriber services and the coverage areas outside its core business. The site was established in 2016, raised $140 million from venture capital funds, and enjoyed one million paying subscribers when it was purchased. According to the Times, it now has 3 million subscribers, but last year it fired 20 of its employees and lost $8 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Since the acquisition, there have been widespread estimates that "The Athletic" will become part of the Times itself, which employed 40-50 people in the sports section last year. There was a great deal of overlap in the coverage of the two media, and the management has already clarified this year that there is a need for greater integration between them.

The announcement was made at a meeting between senior newspaper officials and section employees, which two of the participants described as "tense". Some of the employees claimed, with tears in their eyes, that the process was being conducted in a humiliating manner. Later in the day, the reporters met with the editors and received new roles, including in the new field of sports business and other areas in the newspaper. The Times emphasized that no one was fired.

The CEO of "The Athletic", David Perpich, expressed satisfaction with the move and called it a "big step" for the site. According to him, the change "will expose many more readers to our stories and our brand, which will allow us to further expand the audience for the excellent work we are doing". According to him, the site will continue to operate as an independent unit and there are no plans for significant changes in its operation.

The Post notes that the closure of the Times' sports section is part of the ongoing erosion in traditional sports media. Sports media giant ESPN recently fired a number of senior commentators; Sports Illustrated has had several waves of layoffs in recent years; Vox Media closed several of its sports sites in January; the Los Angeles Times announced last week a reduction of its sports section.