The Athletic layoffs

I mean, who saw the NBA was canceling games and decided to deep six their Athletic subscription right away? I assume many people are locked into annual deals.

I’m sure it played hell with the predicted rate of new subs, though. Guess that’s the obvious problem.

 

I actually renewed during the crisis.

 

Comes back to the reality its survival was always based on optimism and best-case scenarios. As long as there was an economy and people had disposable income and there were sports to read about, people would subscribe. There was no Plan B for what would happen if the economy cratered. Recognizing nothing goes up in a straight line forever, and American prosperity was on borrowed time with a drugged-up sociopath in the White House, there shouldn't have been expansion into audio and video and they should have moved more conservatively with actual editorial hires. Que sera sera, the tech bros will skate to another gig while sportswriting takes another irrecoverable blow.

 

I wish the best to all affected.

This is a minefield and you just have to keep walking, producing good work and hoping for a good set of outcomes.

 

I don't have an Athletic sub, so - Do they have display advertising, or is it just subscription fees? At least when it comes to the podcasts I listen to, I've definitely noticed that they seem to be running lower-tier ads during the pandemic. Traffic has to be down right now as well, so that plus less advertisers could be a decent hit to their revenue stream.

I'd also add - Close to a decade ago, I jumped from a newspaper to a Patch.com site. I only lasted at Patch for about 18 months, but between the salary and the bonuses, I still pulled in around 3x what I would have at the newspaper I was at, if I stayed there. It wouldn't surprise me if something similar is at play with The Athletic. And, given the state of newspapers even before the pandemic, I don't think there is any guarantee that any of them would have kept their positions. It isn't like any of them were giving up guaranteed, lifetime newspaper jobs to sign-up with a start-up.

 

Does this mean I'll get 8% off of my $59.99 a year?

I enjoy the site but I do wade through a bunch of articles that I don't care about -- the 25 greatest moments of Ole Miss football, the five best Arizona pro sports uniforms.

 

Your ability to detect a liberal/progressive slant in a publication is astounding. Could you provide an example of liberal/progressive group think affecting the transaction wires?

 

Vox slashing people today too.

 

I bet the Athletic gets some big donations soon. That's not a bad model. Look for millionaires to donate.

 

These tech bros are a little more on the ball than the AOL idiot who tried running Patch, but as you noted, it's the same basic equation for the writers--especially the early hires, who got long-term contracts (I believe three years was the standard) at more than they were making at papers. I know a couple people from union shops who jumped there. So make six figures for three years, bank as much as you can and be ready for today.

 

Donations, huh?

 

Heard so many good things about Huguenin I wish I knew him. George Richards and Andre Fernandez are friends and have been for half my life. Great people, great writers. If I was starting a team, I'd definitely have those two on the roster.