The Athletic keeps growing .......

Can you cite an example of an American newspaper that has stayed in its lane and prospered the last 10 years?

I think the reason that the Athletic has to invest in a web production is that they have to get users to the site. I subscribe to the site, like the site and do not visit that often. One reason is that if I need to know a score I know ESPN will have it at least as fast. The ESPN game story will generally not be as good but I will get some form of instant gratification. Far more people will subscribe if the Athletic is the first app they look at for scores.

 

Nah --- crossthread --- BetChicago will make all other sites irrelevant.

 

How many people are going to newspaper websites for pro or even college scores? I'd say none. If I want a quick score update during the game or to check the stats after, I go to ESPN. I doubt any other site adding this would make me change that, The Athletic or otherwise. And I'm guessing that's the case for a lot of people.

Would it be nice if The Athletic provided it? Of course. But again, I don't think that's the goal the site is aiming for, especially if putting money into that causes another area to suffer. They aren't looking to please the "instant gratification" seekers, as Lancey put it.

 

The Athletic or any other site is going to have a tough time beating the convience of "OK, Google. What's the score of the Celtics game?"

 

But can OK Google write long form?

 

Exactly.

 

Well, and that's the rub here. From the feedback I'm reading here, it sounds like we all kind of want that one-stop shop: Instant in-progress scores, quick at-the-gun gamer, AND those lean-back longform reads. For me, The Athletic, in its current incarnation, isn't that one-stop shop. It's kind of my replacement for Sports Illustrated, but updated daily and configurable to choose which particular teams I want to read longer, more in-depth stories about. Having freed myself of that expectation, I either use the ESPN app (ugh), the league apps (better, although the NFL app sucks) and Twitter for my up-to-the-minute digital updates.

 

The Score app beats them all for instant info.

 

I'm not sure why people might need a one-stop shop: To me, ESPN is unbeatable for scores and boxes. But, for example, its coverage of some of my favorite NFL teams is thin. So for that I go to the local newspapers or SI.com or, now, maybe the Athletic. It's not that hard....

 

I agree it's not that hard, but will people actually do it? The first two outlets, local newspapers and SI, are going down the toilet. I do not think the entrepreneurs at the Athletic should use those media outlets as a model.

 

It absolutely fascinates me how many young people (18-24) get their scores and updates from Bleacher Report's mobile app instead of ESPN's mobile app