NYT reaches 9M subscribers following purchase of The Athletic

The New York Times said on Wednesday it has reached 9 million paid subscribers, thanks largely to its recent acquisition of sports media company The Athletic, a deal which was finalized earlier this year.

The boost puts the Times closer to its goal of attaining 15 million subscribers by 2027, but The Athletic is losing money and cutting into the company’s profits, the Times said in a press release.

“We’re off to a strong start on the next phase of our strategy, which is to become the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world,” said Meredith Kopit Levien, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company.

“We believe we have a tremendous opportunity to win a larger share of a still-growing market.”

The newspaper reported on Wednesday that The Athletic has lost $6.8 million over February and March, after being purchased by the Times for $550 million in cash in a deal that closed in February.

The Times earlier this year named a new executive editor and purchased popular online word game Wordle, which Kopit Levien said “brought an unprecedented tens of millions of new users to The Times, many of whom stayed to play other games which drove our best quarter ever for net subscriber additions to Games and we’re off to a great start on our work with The Athletic.”