The Athletic continues to transform sports media
The Athletic is a subscription-based sports website covering professional and college teams in Chicago, Toronto, and more than 15 other North American cities. The site also covers national stories in football, basketball, baseball, and hockey through a mix of long-form journalism, original reporting, and podcasts. Their business model is aimed towards fans who want the extra scoop while also reaching fans who cannot receive the newspaper of their favorite teams.
The Athletic Cleveland covers the Cleveland Browns, Cavs, and Indians. They also cover the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Covering the Browns is typically Zac Jackson and Dustin Fox. Zach Meisel and TJ Zuppe provide Indians coverage throughout the whole year. Jason Lloyd covers the Cavaliers among with many other reporters. Ari Wasserman covers the Buckeyes while Tom Reed, Alison Lukan, and Aaron Portzline cover the majority of the Blue Jackets news.
The Athletic was founded by Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann. The company was built as an alternative to the struggling ad-supported models The Athletic relies on subscriptions, not advertising revenue, to support the business. The website is essentially an online newspaper that provides in-depth coverage unlike any other media outlet. The site originally launched in Chicago in January 2016. Following this, the company simultaneously received funding from many different investors. They then started sites in over fifteen cities including New York, San Francisco, and Dallas.
The Athletic provides in-depth coverage for your favorite sports franchises unlike any other. The reporters are well-known and almost always have more information, knowledge, and sources than their competition. This offers their subscribers the best coverage around. It also typically results in the sites scoring previously unknown feature stories about athletes. These often gain traction quickly and are topics that receive much attention. Due to this high-level of coverage, there is a small fee. It is $7.99 for a month-by-month subscription or readers can choose to buy an annual subscription which is $3.99 per month.
As previously mentioned, The Athletic is extremely unique in its coverage and goes more in-depth than any other media outlet. With this being said, the fee is nothing compared to the knowledge each reader will gain. One subscription offers you access to every site and assures that you will never miss the next breaking story! Some may be scared away by the small fee; however, I assure you that you will not regret this purchase. If you are skeptical, they offer a free seven day trial for any new users.
