The Athletic, the sports news outlet owned by The New York Times, closed about 4 percent of its newsroom on Monday.
The Athletic’s publisher David Perpich and its executive editor, Steven Ginsberg, announced a “significant restructuring” of the newsroom in a note to staff. He said the publication has gone from having one beat reporter per sports team to comprehensive coverage “telling the most compelling stories for fans of the teams in a given league, drawing on both local and national reporting expertise.”
He told that under the restructuring, about 20 people will be retrenched, while more than 20 journalists will be given new responsibilities.
Mr. Perpich and Mr. Ginsberg wrote, “Even with the changes announced today, the size of our newsroom will increase this year compared to last, as well as our overall investment in our editorial group in the years to come. Will grow.” “At the end of this process, we will have over 100 beat reporters in teams.”
The Times bought The Athletic in January 2022 for $550 million. The Athletic, which had more than 1 million customers at the time, was projected to have an operating loss in 2021 of approximately $55 million.
The Athletic continues to make losses even after the Times Company bought it, although revenue has increased. The Times reported that from the time of the acquisition to the end of 2022, the sports site had lost approximately $36 million. The Athletic operated separately from The Times’ newsroom and sports section.
