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- Oct 3, 2013
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The Athletic Facing Cash Flow Issues
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This is discouraging news
They have had cutbacks in most markets but I found the monthly price reasonable for content. Local reporters are still not traveling to road games with any media outlet as all the leagues are Zoom based interactions with players.
They have had cutbacks in most markets but I found the monthly price reasonable for content. Local reporters are still not traveling to road games with any media outlet as all the leagues are Zoom based interactions with players.
It was difficult seeing how they were to survive. While I will grant they had better quality content, the quality has to be many levels better than what one can get anywhere in order to justify the subscription price. If they can, great. BUt there is certainly a deck stacked against them.
Did they not do a capital raise lately?
Did they not do a capital raise lately?
They were having issues a few years ago, too I recall. They seemingly got through that, but obviously the current climate makes it a whole other challenge.
East Coast Icestyle
Registered User
Subscription content turns me off in most cases now. It works with music, video, gaming, but for written publication it's just meh. They don't offer enough in the titles and the small free sections to grab me and I suspect many, many others and that will be the downfall. Mergers or partnerships are probably what will get them through if they do.
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Don't be a scan tool
- Oct 3, 2013
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People renew their subscription when they 1) either like what they are receiving, or 2) are too lazy to unsubscribe, or 3) don't pay attention to their renewal date. If they take the time to cancel, that's a strong sign that there's a mismatch between what's being delivered and what's being expected.
Their business model does not have enough revenue through subscriptions to cover their costs, and their current VCs are not willing to keep funding them. Hence the search for new sugar daddies or a merger.
Their business model does not have enough revenue through subscriptions to cover their costs, and their current VCs are not willing to keep funding them. Hence the search for new sugar daddies or a merger.
- Jan 24, 2007
- 7,302
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This sucks, subscription based news coverage is just so much better than ad based and the Athletic as a product makes a ton of sense. It's clear they burned a ton of money to have sports coverage over the entire US, i guess they didn't hit their sub targets. Hope they work through it without sacrificing a ton of quality.
I didn’t renew my subscription which expired a few weeks back. I just wasn’t in the mood anymore to read a 1000 word column on analytics in the playoffs.
LadyStanley
Registered User
Sharks non-Athletic SJHN reporter traveled to Arizona preseason, and to LV during the season. (Also have AHL-centric reporter on Cuda)
I'd miss LeBrun and a few other national folks, but not the local SJ guy.
Bear of Bad News
Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
- Sep 27, 2005
- 13,518
- 27,012
That business model where if you subscribe, you're forced to read each article in its entirety, doesn't sound feasible long term.
LeHab
Registered User
- Aug 31, 2005
- 15,957
- 6,259
They need to scale pretty fast paid subscription base in hopes of offseting supporting/HQ costs via economies of scale. Hence I guess many free trials and low sub costs for newcomers. Retention was reported at one point to be around +90% which is great.
If they can't grow fast enough, going Merger&Acquisition way could make sense to expand further + consolidate supporting functions and reduce costs.
Wonder if they are considering diversifying revenue streams. Product reviews? Are there ways to enhance readers engagement? I see betting recommendations so they must have deals with betting sites already.
Edmonton East
BUT the ADvaNCEd STatS...
- Nov 25, 2007
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Update: WSJ News Exclusive | Sports-Media Outlet the Athletic Shifts Its Search for Merger Partner
Merger/acquisition with Axios fell through. Now angling for pairing with NYT (New York Times).
NYT would be a good partner considering how slanted, politicized, and click baity The Athletic has become over the past 2 years. Might as well go full bore. And this is coming from someone who once had a subscription and encouraged others to sign up as well.
I don't care if you are left or right. But I am 100% done with biased reporting that intentionally misleads readers, misconstrues comments providing no context, and refuses to show even a glimpse of the other side of an argument. I am also tired of the increased usage of "anonymous" sources on click baity stories with ZERO corroboration. Most concerning, I know for a fact one of their popular female writers has fabricated stories before (aggressive hit pieces based on her imagination to get clicks).
Merger/acquisition with Axios fell through. Now angling for pairing with NYT (New York Times).
NYT would be a good partner considering how slanted, politicized, and click baity The Athletic has become over the past 2 years. Might as well go full bore. And this is coming from someone who once had a subscription and encouraged others to sign up as well.
I don't care if you are left or right. But I am 100% done with biased reporting that intentionally misleads readers, misconstrues comments providing no context, and refuses to show even a glimpse of the other side of an argument. I am also tired of the increased usage of "anonymous" sources on click baity stories with ZERO corroboration. Most concerning, I know for a fact one of their popular female writers has fabricated stories before (aggressive hit pieces based on her imagination to get clicks).
Agreed. The political nonsense is too much. I have personally unfollowed good writers on Twitter because they won’t stop tweeting about politics or Fox News. Another thing, the beat writer for the Red Wings might as well be writing for Detroitredwings.com. He sounds like a nice guy but I’m looking for unbiased reporting, not homer opinions. I guess these guys will be going back to newspapers next?
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,591
- 6,505
The left wing political nonsense drove me to quit subscribing after paying for two 1 year subscriptions.
I did re up a few days ago-but for $1 per month for 6 months. It's certainly not a rate which will allow them to sustain operations.
It's an overall worthwhile product sans the righteous moralizing.
I did re up a few days ago-but for $1 per month for 6 months. It's certainly not a rate which will allow them to sustain operations.
It's an overall worthwhile product sans the righteous moralizing.
AdmiralsFan24
Registered User
The app has turned to garbage. The Front Page is a cluttered mess that you have to scroll through to find the story that you want. I'm constantly getting the same alerts throughout the day. Like I'll get someone went on the injured list and I'll look at it and read it or just say ok and then delete it and then a few hours later I'll get the same alert and sometimes I'll get the alert again. At one point I had like 80 messages from the app and most of them were multiple alerts that were the same.
They sucked me back in with the discounted rate and there are a couple writers I like but they only put out a few articles a month and that's not really worth keeping it to me, even at a discounted rate.
They sucked me back in with the discounted rate and there are a couple writers I like but they only put out a few articles a month and that's not really worth keeping it to me, even at a discounted rate.
