Subscription-based sports web site group The Athletic is "making a big push forward," adding national college football and basketball content in the near future along with "ramping up a focus on the Bay Area," according to a source cited by Glasspiegel & Koster of THE BIG LEAD. The source said that former Fox Sports college football reporter Stewart Mandel has "already joined" the site, and also "expected to be headed that way" are former SI college hoops writer Seth Davis and former San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami. Davis was "laid off by SI in May" after joining the company in '95. Meanwhile, Kawakami on Thursday "announced he was leaving the Mercury News after 17 years." More "big national names are expected to emerge in the coming weeks," and writer Danny Leroux has "already been covering the Warriors for The Athletic." The collection of sites has "certainly expanded fast," as the company has grown from its Chicago roots to sites in Detroit, Cleveland and Toronto. All "either have assembled or are in the process of assembling formidable staffs." The Athletic, founded in '16, "costs $5.99 per month for a subscription, or $39.99 if you commit to a year." Former Globe & Mail reporter James Mirtle, who now heads up The Athletic's Toronto location, said that their site is "on track to be self-sufficient by the end of the year" (THEBIGLEAD.com, 7/13).
