About The Athletic
The Athletic is a Media & Entertainment company based in Chicago (United States) founded in 2016, and was acquired by The New York Times Company in January 2022. It operates as a subscription-based sports media is delivered to local premium audiences. The Athletic has raised $134.42 million across 7 funding rounds from investors including The New York Times Company, TCG Ventures and Evolution Media Capital. The Athletic was last valued at $500 million in January 2020. Its website theathletic.com draws about 855 thousand monthly visits. The Athletic offers products and services including Sports News Platform, Podcasts, and Transfer News Service. Its focus areas include Internet First Media, Sports, Publishers and Multi sports. Its legal entity is THE ATHLETIC MEDIA COMPANY. Its competitors include Hupu, MinuteMedia, Bleacher Report, Better Collective and Barstool Sports and 4 more; 7 of its 9 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
The Athletic was founded in 2016 as an online sports media company based in Chicago, United States. Operations center on subscription services that provide local-focused journalism for markets including Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. Insider access and analytics are utilized to deliver content to premium fans. Backing is provided by Precursor Ventures and Y Combinator.
- Headquarters Chicago, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website category Sports
- Email••••••••
- Website theathletic.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram
- Acquired by The New York Times Company (Jan 2022)
- Legal Name The Athletic Media Company
- Total Equity Funding$134.42M (USD)
in 7 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$50M (USD), Series D
Jan 2020
- InvestorsThe New York Times Company
& 18 more
- Acquired byThe New York Times Company
(Jan 2022)
Products & Services of The Athletic
The Athletic offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Sports News Platform, Podcasts, and Transfer News Service.
Offers in-depth articles and analysis on sports events
Provides expert discussions and updates on leagues
Delivers insights into player transfers and team news
Apps and channels of The Athletic
The Athletic publishes 2 mobile apps with over 1M+ downloads.
Funding Insights of The Athletic
The Athletic has successfully raised a total of $134.42M across 7 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series D round of $50 million completed in January 2020. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $134.42M
- Total Rounds 7
- Last Round Series D — $50M
- First Round $120,000
(Aug 2016)
- Investors Count 18
All 7 funding rounds of The Athletic with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2020 | $50M | Series D | $500M | Bedrock | |
| May 2019 | $22M | Series C | – | Founders Fund | – |
| Oct 2018 | $40M | Series C | – | Founders Fund, Bedrock | |
| Mar 2018 | $20M | Series B | – | Evolution Media | |
| Jul 2017 | – | Series A | – | Amasia, BDMI | – |
| Jan 2017 | $2.3M | Seed | – | Courtside Ventures | |
| Aug 2016 | $120,000 | Seed | – | Y Combinator |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2020 | $500M | •••••••• |
Last known valuation $500M (Jan 2020). 19 investors in total: 19 institutional.
Investors in The Athletic
The Athletic has secured backing from 19 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include The New York Times Company, TCG Ventures and Evolution Media Capital.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Early-stage investments are made by Bedrock in technology sectors. | – | bedrockcap.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Media and tech sectors are invested in by Powerhouse Capital. | – | powerhouse.vc | Los Angeles, United States | |
Venture capital investments in technology and defense sectors. | – | foundersfund.com | - | |
Early-stage startups are accelerated via funding and educational programs. | – | ycombinator.com | Mountain View, United States | |
Early-stage venture capital investments are focused on US companies. | – | pluscapital.com | Venice, United States | |
Amasia is focused on venture capital investments in sustainability. | – | amasia.vc | Burlingame, United States | |
Comcast Ventures is focused on investing in technology startups. | – | comcastventures.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Seed and early-stage tech investments are managed by Courtside Ventures. | – | courtsidevc.com | New York, United States | |
Tech focused VC firm investing in early-stage startups in the US | – | advancitcapital.com | New York, United States | |
US digital media ventures are funded by Luminari Capital. | – | luminaricapital.com | Palo Alto, United States |
Investor details for The Athletic
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of The Athletic
438 people are tracked at The Athletic (209 in leadership, 11 in board & advisors, 218 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Stephen Mariani | Director, Strategy | Leadership |
Blake Wilson | Digital Director, Magazine | Leadership |
Jeremy Allen | Art Director, Styles | Leadership |
Luke Harrison | Director Of Growth Marketing | Leadership |
Chase Turner | Director, Creative Strategy | Leadership |
William P. Davis | Director Of Election Data Analytics | Leadership |
Gina Woyicki | Director, Human Resources Business Partner - Global Advertising & Wirecutter | Leadership |
Alice Olszewski | Executive Director, Standalone Product Group, Data & Insights At The New York Times | Leadership |
Valerio Poce | Executive Director, Ad Product Marketing | Leadership |
Jessica Worthington | Managing Director, Brand Marketing & Media Strategy | Leadership |
Anonymous | Brazil Bureau Chief | Leadership |
Beth A. Brooke | Director | Leadership |
Alexandra Hardiman | Chief Product Officer | Leadership |
Raquel Norman Hamias | Director Of User Insights, NYT Cooking | Leadership |
David Gurian-Peck | Vice President, Subscriber Monetization And Chief Of Staff To The Chief Financial Officer | Leadership |
Greg Goodman | Director, Data And Insights, Marketing | Leadership |
Dana Green | VP & Assistant General Counsel | Leadership |
Nathan Reese | Director, Creative, T Brand Studio | New York Times Advertising | Leadership |
Nelly Gocheva | Global Editorial Director, T Brand Studio International | Leadership |
Motoko Rich | Rome Bureau Chief | Leadership |
418 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for The Athletic
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of The Athletic
5 dated milestones of The Athletic across 6 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded The Athletic is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $120K.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series D, of $50.0M.
- Milestone Reaches Minicorn status.
- Exit Acquired by The New York Times Company.
Competitors of The Athletic
The Athletic has 9 listed competitors in our database, 7 of them funded. They include Hupu, MinuteMedia, Bleacher Report, Better Collective and Barstool Sports, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hupu.com | 2004 | Shanghai, China | $338.72M | – | Sports commentary and news are provided through Hupu's platform. | |
| minutemedia.com | 2011 | New York, United States | $250.8M | 38 | Provider of digital content and advertising solutions for publishers and advertisers | |
| bleacherreport.com | 2005 | San Francisco, United States | $42.36M | – | Crowdsourced sports scores, news, and content are provided to users. | |
| bettercollective.com | 2004 | Copenhagen, Denmark | $80.59M | 1,001 | Provider of a betting platform for multiple sports | |
| barstoolsports.com | 2003 | New York, United States | $186.25M | 321 | Sports and men's lifestyle online magazine | |
| overtime.tv | 2016 | New York, United States | $218.69M | 402 | Sports content is produced and shared across multiple digital platforms. | |
| espn.com | 1978 | Burbank, United States | – | – | Sports media services are provided by ESPN Network worldwide. | |
| yesnetwork.com | 2002 | New York, United States | – | 231 | Sport news network | |
| sbnation.com | 2005 | – | $44.5M | 1,884 | Online network of fan-centric sports communities is operated. |
Detailed competitors of The Athletic
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of The Athletic
The website of The Athletic (theathletic.com) receives about 854.9K visits a month and ranks #132,283 among all websites worldwide, #4,307 in Sports.
- Monthly visits854.9K
▲ 42.8% vs previous month
- Unique visitors155.2K
per month
- Global rank#132,283
among all websites
- Category rank#4,307
Sports · Sports
- Bounce rate66%
- Pages per visit1.3
- Average visit45 sec
- DevicesDesktop 5% · Mobile 95%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with The Athletic. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| espn.com | 100% | 507M | #78 | View details | |
backsportspage.com | backsportspage.com | 81% | – | #2,635,908 | – |
| icons.com | 74% | 175.6K | #206,826 | View details |
Top companies in Sports Technology Platforms
10 companies that operate in the same segment as The Athletic (Sports Technology Platforms), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operator of a platform providing skill-based games and interactive entertainment | 2018 | Delhi, Delhi, India | USD 92 M | USD 83.05 M | 1 | |
Subscription-based platform for streaming soccer content is offered. | 2015 | New York, New York, United States | USD 154.63 M | USD 1.62 B | 590 | |
Developer of a fantasy platform for multiple sports | 2009 | New York, New York, United States | USD 416.2 M | – | 4,115 | |
Subscription-based social networking platform for runners and cyclists | 2009 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 180 M | – | 999 | |
Online fantasy sports platforms are provided for multiple sports. | 2012 | Boston, Massachusetts, United States | USD 718.6 M | USD 6.05 B | 5,802 | |
Operator of a multifaceted platform for sports content and experiences | 2008 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 942.17 M | USD 509.95 K | 1,310 | |
Skill-based online games are provided through a technology-driven platform. | 2006 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 98.07 M | USD 264.51 M | 777 | |
Real money skill-based gaming is facilitated through an online platform. | 2018 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 401.22 M | USD 100.11 M | 435 | |
Cloud-based software is provided for managing outdoor events and activities. | 1999 | Dallas, Texas, United States | USD 313.84 M | – | 2,458 | |
News media platform for soccer | 2008 | Berlin, Berlin, Germany | USD 320.1 M | USD 30.07 M | 298 |
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Related news about The Athletic
Complete news archive for The Athletic
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Frequently Asked Questions about The Athletic
The Athletic was founded in 2016.
The Athletic is headquartered in Chicago, United States. It is registered at Chicago, Illinois, United States.
The Athletic is a funded company, having raised a total of $134.42M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $120K, raised on Aug 2016.
The Athletic was founded in 2016 as an online sports media company based in Chicago, United States. Operations center on subscription services that provide local-focused journalism for markets including Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. Insider access and analytics are utilized to deliver content to premium fans. Backing is provided by Precursor Ventures and Y Combinator.
The Athletic's top competitors include Hupu, Bleacher Report and Barstool Sports.
The Athletic offers Sports News Platform, Podcasts, and Transfer News Service.
The Athletic has 19 investors. Key investors include The New York Times Company, TCG Ventures, Evolution Media Capital, Bedrock Investments, and Evolution Media.
The valuation of The Athletic is $500M as of Jan 2020.
The Athletic operates through The Athletic Media Company.
Yes. The Athletic was acquired by The New York Times Company in January 2022.
Yes. The Athletic publishes The Athletic: Sports News and 1 more app, with over 1 million downloads.
The website of The Athletic receives about 855 thousand visits a month and ranks #132,283 among all websites worldwide.