New York Times Shuttering Sports Desk (Moving Coverage to The Athletic)

[Sargassoc]

As a NY Times subscriber, I saw on Monday that they're off-boarding their sports coverage to the Athletic (which they apparently purchased last year). Even though much of the Athletic is behind a paywall, I have liked their coverage of teams I follow. I went to find out how much it would cost to subscribe and discovered that-- as a NY Times subscriber-- I am automatically subscribed to I.

Don't know if this applies to any of you, but I'm glad I checked. (Otherwise, first year coverage was $1.99 per month for the first year, then $7.99 a month thereafter, with reduced prices for students )

 

[rbny1]

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm a long-time NY Times subscriber and welcome the change. The Times' sports coverage has gone steadily downhill for years and has become truly lousy. The Athletic's coverage is great. I already take advantage of free access to the Athletic through my Times subscription so the shift to the Athletic is very easy for me to deal with.

 

[CL82]

I will say that New York Times coverage towards the UConn women's basketball team has always been pretty favorable, at least in my recollection.

 

[Bone Dog]

I was under the impression this purchase was largely a bookkeeping move and that the Times was involved with the Athletic from the beginning. I could be wrong.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I wasn't aware NYT still had a sports department. NYT has been reducing coverage in a lot of areas for years. They were completely surprised by the victory of Alexandria Ocazio-Cortez to Congress, and didn't even bother to look into George Santos's claims about his background until after his second run for congress, and that only after he'd won.

So seems to me that NYT has had little to no interest in sports writing for many, many years. No loss.

 

[Golden Husky]

I sat next to Red Smith in the Belmont Park press box. I hope I don't get trampled when he turns over in his grave.