Menu
Media

The Athletic Believes Its Long-View Plan Will Succeed In Cleveland, Elsewhere

News outlet The Athletic co-Founder & CEO Alex Mather believes "focusing on quality stories and eliminating the annoyances (popup ads, autoplay videos) can be a successful formula" for the startup, according to Kevin Kleps of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS. The Athletic's Cleveland operation, which debuted March 1, had "four full-timers on opening day." Mather expects the total to reach "double digits in the near future." The company even "started without a Browns writer." The Athletic's lead NBA writer and recruiting leader Jason Lloyd said it was "not ideal, but we'd rather go slow and get this right than just have a Browns writer at the launch." It is all part of a "long view that everyone involved said is part of the plan -- even in an industry that can be as unforgiving as it is challenging." The Athletic "introduced its Chicago site" in January '16. That same year they debuted their Toronto site, which was funded by a $2.3M financing round. The "largest investment," $500,000, was made by venture capital fund Courtside Ventures, which is led by Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert. Courtside Ventures Partner Deepen Parikh said that the firm "isn't involved in the day-to-day operations of The Athletic." Instead, the firm is "assisting with the startup's strategic plans." Mather said that the Toronto operation has "grown 'unbelievably fast' ... and is on track to be profitable" by Q2 of '17. He also "expects Chicago to be in the black before the end of the year." Meanwhile, Mather said that Cleveland's operation will "probably need 'closer to 15,000' subscriptions to be profitable." Kleps noted The Athletic "thinks it can differentiate itself in a crowded market because of the strength of its mobile site and its app" (CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS, 3/6 issue).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2017/03/08/Media/The-Athletic.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2017/03/08/Media/The-Athletic.aspx

CLOSE