The Athletic is Laying off 8% of its Staff in Response to Coronavirus Pandemic
By Michael Luciano
The Athletic has been a haven for fans craving in-depth content from some of the best writers in America. However, the coronavirus pandemic shutting down sports for a few months has forced the company to make some dire moves.
The subscription-based website, which vacuumed up some of the best sportswriting talent in the country, confirmed that it will lay off 46 employees, which equates to around 8% of their staff.
per person on an all hands call with Athletic employees today, execs announced that the company will layoff 46 employees, 8 percent of staff.
— Ben Strauss (@benjstrauss) June 5, 2020
One of the biggest names that has been confirmed as a part of the layoffs is Brett Dawson, who covered the Los Angeles Lakers.
This morning The Athletic announced layoffs of 46 staffers. I’m one of them. For two years, I got to be a part of the best sports writing team in America. I got to cover the Lakers. I’m deeply sorry that it’s ending, but it has been one of the great experiences of my life.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) June 5, 2020
According to a memo obtained by Axios, many still employed with the company are taking pay cuts in the 10% neighborhood. While CEO Alex Mather claims that new subscription growth is down 20-30% and that today is a "dark day" for the company, he did say that he is pleased with the amount of subscribers the company has.
NEWS: @TheAthletic lays off 8% of staff (46 people), implements staff-wide pay cut
— Sara Fischer (@sarafischer) June 5, 2020
-Most pay cuts are 10%, per memo obtained by @Axios
-CEO Alex Mather: New sub growth down 20-30%, podcast ad revenue severely impacted
-"This is a dark day for the company"https://t.co/fNaecEnfkD
The best thing fans can do to prevent the big wigs at the top of The Athletic's food chain from making more cuts is supporting them with a subscription.
Bleah - buy those subscriptions people - keep these good folks employed. Best $ I've spent for sports news and balanced perspective
— john jerke (@JJerke) June 5, 2020
These writers and journalists are some of the best in the field at what they do. Those laid off are more than talented enough to land on their feet elsewhere.