The New York Times is set to purchase The Athletic, a subscription-based sports media platform.
The deal is worth US$550mln, with The New York Times to absorb the acquired business which spans coverage of more than 200 sports organisations around the world.
Since its 2016 creation in San Fransico, The Athletic has grown to 1.2mln subscribers who pay monthly for in-depth analysis, feature articles and breaking news coverage.
The Athletics’ 400 editorial employees equate to around a fifth of the New York Times headcount and it is deemed to be a major acquisition.
Indeed, it will become one of the New York Times’ largest ever acquisitions, behind the US$1.1bn purchase of the Boston Globe in 1993, and ahead of the US$410mln deal to buy About.com in 2005.
Significantly, the deal is part of The New York Times’ wider strategic plan to increase its subscriber numbers. In the last three years, the Times doubled its paid subscription users, which now reach over 8mln across both print and digital.
“Acquiring The Athletic puts us in a position to be a global leader in sports journalism and offer English speakers around the world another reason to turn to the Times Company to meet their daily news and life needs,” said Meredith Kopit Levien, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT)
Levien added “As a stand-alone product, The Athletic will enable us to offer much more — extensive coverage for fans who seek a deep connection to and understanding of their favorite teams, leagues and players.”
The acquisition is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter.