Any “ The Athletic “subscribers?

[jimfear]

I subscribed on a promo deal and have been pleasantly surprised. IMHO Joe's coverage has been solid, and with Jourdan coming on board the Panthers coverage should continue to improve. I also really enjoy Sara Civian's coverage of the Hurricanes. They've also added fantasy football and MMA coverage, which aren't for everyone but are things I enjoy.

I can read David Newton for free, or navigate the Observer's "x # of free articles per month", but I think the Athletic has a better interface, and the content continues to improve. Barring unexpected changes or a price hike, I'll renew.

[RenoCarolina]

3 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

I'm interested in seeing if the Athletic can turn a profit once their VC money runs out. I hope.it does, but my gut tells me it won't. People just won't pay to read in this day and age. 

They are blowing through it fast with new additions to the writers crew.  JR (can I call her that?) was just one of many announced this week, including nationals like Sando.

I have not subscribed yet, but probably will.

 

[PanthersBigD]

I got it half priced for a year. I like the long form articles so far. Whether I keep it or not depends on how the coverage goes this season. I don't mind paying $50 per year to support a periodical, but I know that's not typical. 

[jbland]

11 hours ago, panther4life said:

Jourdan Rodrigue just announced she joined the team. Looks like it’s $48 per year to join. So much free content out there, not sure if it’s worth the money. 

Does anyone on here subscribe? Any thoughts on it?

I do. Love the articles. I jumped on last year during some special and really enjoy the platform and much prefer it to espn. 

[trueblue]

Best money I have spent in some time.. as was mentioned, the long form writing is a draw for me, these guys aren’t breaking news here ( no one does in print or web based with twitter). Several of the teams I follow have had their local paper beat people bounce to The Athletic, they all get to showcase their writing talents more in this format. They aren’t held to a specific column size to fit the paper, they can get deeper. 

If you are in if for the news, read twitter.. if you want to get deeper on a topic/player/team it’s a great site.. if you like hockey, the coverage is second to none. They keep hiring college specific writers by the day.. this is The National for 2020, I hope they find a sustainable niche. 

[4Corners]

13 hours ago, bull123 said:

I do...best sports site on the web

This opinion essentially guarantees the website is garbage. Who in the hell would pay money to get iNsIDe InFoRMaTiOnZ. 

I see dudes on the college websites like IC, TDD,  and Crack Ride paying $100 a year to find information that can easily be accessed on twitter or Reddit for free. 

But like I said, with bulls ringing endorsement - I think I will gladly pass LOL. 

[rayzor]

I love the idea of sports writing that isn't a slave to Twitter and whose only goal isn't to get poo out quicker than anyone...being able to write "Breaking:" before anyone else, but to get the real story with facts rather than the quotable blurb.

Is that what this is? Real writing? Not bird (Twitter) poo?

Might actually be worth it. I hate what Twitter has done to reporting and journalism.

[saX man]

Have the app on the pixel and it's great.   Don't pay but still get nice content. 

[KB_fan]

I subscribed a few weeks ago on a 50% off deal. Even happier about that now that Jourdan's on board. (BTW, this is a much better platform for Person. His writing is much more interesting given the greater freedom he has. Not tied to the daily grind of the injury reports, etc.)

I love good long form articles, so for me, subscribing is worth it.  Beyond the Panthers beat there are some other NFL writers like Amy Trask I'm looking forward to reading.

[zacka77ack]

I have a subscription. I just re-upped last week for like $40 for the year. It's definitely worth the handful of dollars that breaks down into each month. People need to stop focusing on how much they can get for free and use a few dollars to support something you are utilizing and get enjoyment from. The app is clean, easy to navigate and the content is superb.

[trueblade]

20 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

I'm interested in seeing if the Athletic can turn a profit once their VC money runs out. I hope.it does, but my gut tells me it won't. People just won't pay to read in this day and age. 

The site I write for (not football related) relies on Patreon to survive. All of the writers have other jobs to supplement our income.

[KB_fan]

1 hour ago, zacka77ack said:

I have a subscription. I just re-upped last week for like $40 for the year. It's definitely worth the handful of dollars that breaks down into each month. People need to stop focusing on how much they can get for free and use a few dollars to support something you are utilizing and get enjoyment from. The app is clean, easy to navigate and the content is superb.

Another thing that's cool is the comments. Thoughtful and no trolls.  

One other writer I'm enjoying reading is Ted Nguyen.  He does national NFL stories / film break down.

[rayzor]

27 minutes ago, trueblade said:

The site I write for (not football related) relies on Patreon to survive. All of the writers have other jobs to supplement our income.

I used to write for a living as well. I had to write for several different places under a few pseudonyms, but largely I was just a ghostwriter for a bunch of people and all I did was write informational articles for websites. Lots of people are donating to patreon now, though, to support content they value. Quite a few people are paying for sites, YouTube channels, and podcasts that provide material they are interested in. More people than are realized are paying to read, watch, and listen to stuff online and they do it because they 1) genuinely like long form quality (that term is relative to the consumer) content and 2) they are tired of all the ads. This last one isn't necessarily tied to patron, but a lot of people will pay for content just so they don't have to deal with annoying ads. It always comes down to just a few bucks a month and when they can pay for a years worth of content for about as much as they would blow on one night at the movies or one meal at a restaurant, it's not that big of a deal. Not everyone is doing it, but if you're good enough at tailoring to your niche, you can earn enough to make providing the content worth your time. I don't think the Athletic will have all that hard of a time keeping going if the business model they chose has low overhead beyond paying for writers, especially if the writers, like most other content creators, have multiple streams of income.

[AppHeel]

I was initially hesitant to subscribe based on some of the reasons listed (free stuff available, etc.), but I was always interested in the content that was coming out through the Athletic so I joined when they had a promotion for it at Christmas last year. Totally worth it. It's really not that much of an expense and the content is so much more compelling than a lot of the free sites like ESPN, Bleacher Report, etc are pumping out. In fact, I can't remember the last time I went to those type of sites for content. 

The Athletic allows you to customize your feed for teams of interest while also mixing in a bundle of great stories from their national writers and other local ones that may pique your interest. They've recently begun rolling out podcasts which have also been very good as well.

I like long form and the writing quality is night and day better than the free sites. It's worth the investment to me. Don't miss those free sites at all.