Monday marked the publication of the final edition of The New York Times sports section, commencing a move that will shift all local sports coverage to The Athletic. After news of the company’s decision was announced in July, members of The New York Times Guild filed a grievance against the move. The organization vowed to fight the decision with “every tool” at its disposal for a variety of reasons, one of which pertains to employees at The Athletic not being unionized.
On Monday at the company’s New York City office, sports staffers and guild members participated in a demonstration to express their displeasure towards the decision. While near the main atrium, they recited the names of nearly 150 sports employees, past and present, that have proved integral to the outlet’s coverage. Those involved referred to it as a “vigil,” honoring the vertical while displaying their indignation regarding the directive passed down from company chairman A.G. Sulzberger.
The New York Times Company purchased The Athletic in early 2022 as part of an all-cash transaction of $550 million. The two publications have been separated up until this point, but are now going to work together because of the changes in distribution methods and consumption. Adjusted operating losses at the sports journalism subsidiary decreased to $7.8 million last quarter amid burgeoning advertising revenue that more than doubled to $5.6 million.
Protests persisted outside of the company headquarters and featured a brass band to amplify their sound, conveying the magnitude of the decision that some feel serves as a microcosmic warning to the rest of the sports journalism industry. The Athletic laid off 4% of its newsroom earlier this year, but the entity has hired various former sportswriters for The New York Times, including Matt Futterman, Oskar Garcia and Tyler Kepner. Garcia will work as a liaison between the outlet and its parent company, officially starting his role during a time of turbulent transition both internally and within the industry at large.
“The people who run The Times let our department twist in the wind, either purposely obscuring their plans for the future of sports coverage at [the] Times or spending $550 million on another sports publication without an editorial plan,” sports investigative reporter Jenny Vrentas voiced to those at the rally. “The way they’ve chosen to handle this has been unfair to workers at both The Times and The Athletic.”
Although The New York Times has bid farewell to its individual sports section, the company still plans to cover sports – and more adequately and broadly than ever before. The company will implement insightful enterprise reporting within The Athletic, focusing on quality journalism more so than a certain quantity of stories. Moreover, the company will launch a podcast tailored to sports business in the future, featuring reporters Ken Belson, Kevin Draper and the aforementioned Vrentas.
