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The Athletic keeps growing .......

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Fran Curci, Feb 3, 2018.

  1. BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo

    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo Well-Known Member

    The longer this goes, the more they seem like everyone else, including the Maven bros.
     
  2. cake in the rain

    cake in the rain Active Member

    The emphasis on subscriptions is not new and has been a core part of The Athletic since Day 1. Some reporters chase clicks; Athletic reporters chase subscriptions. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

    The story quota has gone up a bit, which has caused some discontent among reporters and has resulted in some "cheaper" posts, but I don't think the majority of readers have noticed. (And some may even prefer some shorter, more digestible stories). Of course the more "home runs" you hit, the less they'll be worried about your story count or anything else.
     
    Liut likes this.
  3. Hot and Rickety

    Hot and Rickety Active Member

    Nicki Jhabvala leaving the Athletic's Broncos beat to cover the Skins for WaPo, is the word.
     
    PaperClip529 likes this.
  4. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

  5. tapintoamerica

    tapintoamerica Well-Known Member

  6. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Did not see that one coming. And she’s been getting I would presumed paid for multiple hits on the big Denver sports radio station. Has been in more than hip deep in the Broncos ownership disaster. I suspect the front office is happy she won’t be around anymore.

    Good move for her. Likely saw writing on the wall.
     
  7. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

  8. MTM

    MTM Well-Known Member

    I don't know if this says more about me or them, but I've been working from home for five months and I haven't once looked at The Athletic. I would usually read it when I went to lunch but now I have a lot more distractions.
     
  9. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    Their EPL/European soccer coverage during the recent craziness has been spectacular.
     
  10. Pilot

    Pilot Well-Known Member

    I don’t mean to be a negative Nancy, but this all has to be devastating for them, right? All their projections surely included new sign-ups from baseball fans all summer, and college football fans right now, which I assume ground basically to a halt for 3-4-5 months there. Maybe it’s coming back now but I can’t imagine it’s what they expected with their ambitious expansion over the last several years.

    I’m certainly pulling for them but am fearful.
     
  11. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    They raised a lot of venture capital at some insane valuations (broken record time: When you price fix the cost of money too keep it cheaper than it has been in thousands of years of history, it pushes investors into riskier and riskier things and distorts any risk calculations people would make in a market that allows actual price discovery). Those investors want a return on their capital, which meant that they had to grow at a dubious (unrealistic) pace. They were going to have a tough time of it without a pandemic. With the pandemic, I am sure everyone whose money is on the line is getting their head around the fact that they may have way overpaid for their stake.

    The one bogey is that the cost of money is now even cheaper thanks to the Fed doubling down, so if the bubble in risk assets blows even bigger, it may not matter that they aren't growing. There could be someone else willing to pay even more to keep funding their operations. In the case of companies with a lot worse business ideas than the Athletic, it has created a "survival of the unfittest" environment with cheap money chasing things to higher and higher valuations, including companies with no earnings, burning through cash, etc.

    I am pulling for them, too. But not to simply get funding. I want to see them establish a business that can grow using the cash it generates from operations (what a novel idea!).
     
    TigerVols and Pilot like this.
  12. BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo

    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo Well-Known Member

    Wait, I thought the podcasts flopped and that's part of the reason they swung the ax earlier this year.
     
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