New York Times disbands sports section, counts on coverage from The Athletic

The New York Times is disbanding its sports division and relying on reporting from The Athletic, a website it bought last year for $550 million.

According to The New York Times, the decision affects more than 35 people in the sports department. Journalists on the sports desk are moving to other positions within the newsroom and no layoffs are planned.

“While we know this decision will be disappointing to some, we believe it is the right one for readers and will allow us to maximize the respective strengths of The Times and The Athletic editors,” New York Times Co. chairman AG Sulzberger and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien writes this in a letter to the staff on Monday.

They say sports coverage will be expanded during the service.

“Under our plan, the digital home page, newsletters, social feeds, sports landing page, and print section will draw on even more of the approximately 150 stories The Athletic produces each day about leagues, teams, and players in the United States and around the world,” they wrote.

Sportswriters for The New York Times have won several Pulitzer Prizes over the years, including Arthur Daley in the 1956 “Sports of the Times” column; Walter Wellesley (Red) Smith in 1976 for commentary and Dave Anderson in 1981 for commentary.

The New York Times Co. announced early last year that it was buying The Athletic as part of a strategy to expand its paying subscriber audience at a time when the newspaper advertising market continues to fade.

Unlike many local news outlets, the Times gained millions of subscribers during Donald Trump’s presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic. But it has been actively diversifying its coverage to include lifestyle advice, games and recipes, to counter a pullback in 2020’s politically driven news traffic growth.

In May, the Times agreed a new contract with its editorial union after more than two years of negotiations, including a 24-hour strike. The deal included salary increases, an agreement on hybrid work and other benefits.