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- The Athletic burnt through a ginormous amount of money over the last two years.
- The sports subscription website thinks that it will eventually see a profit by 2023.
- Be sure to check out more sports stories at BroBible here.
The Athletic has lost some serious money over the last two years.
We’re not just talking about a couple of million, no, according to a report from Front Office Sports, the sports subscription website lost over $90 million in 2019 and 2020.The company reportedly lost $41 million in 2020 after already absorbing a $54 million hit the year before.
Yes, you have to spend money to make money, especially in the media world, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize losing close to $100 million in two years isn’t good business.
It’s Not All *That* Bad For The Athletic
The arrows are, however, starting to point in the right direction to some degree for the San Francisco-based company. As losses decreased between 2019 and 2020, revenue picked up to $47 million in 2020 after bringing in just $26 million in 2019.
The Athletic is also projecting revenue to increase over 54% next year and another 31% increase in 2023, which is when it thinks it will see a profit of $15 million.
This isn’t to say that The Athletic isn’t keeping its ears (very) open for potential buyers.
The company has hired LionTree, an investment banking firm, to find a buyer at a valuation of more than $750 million. The Athletic already held talks with both the New York Times and Axios about a potential deal. Finding a buyer for a company with astronomical losses could be a tall order, howerver.
There is no denying that The Athletic has been able to bring in serious talent and personalities under its umbrella and produce top-notch content. Having said that, it’s clear that even with well-known, experienced reporters, breaking into the subscription-based business isn’t an easy feat.
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