The New York Times Co. inked a deal with Apple to add The Athletic‘s full sports coverage to the Apple News+ subscription bundle. In addition, the Times’ Wirecutter product reviews will be available for free to all Apple News users beginning early next year.
However, articles from the New York Times Co.’s namesake newspaper remain unavailable in the tech giant’s popular Apple News app. The NYT Co. ended its partnership to provide articles from the Times to Apple News in 2020, saying at the time that the Apple News model did not fit with the company’s need for “a direct path” from digital platforms for sending “readers back into our environments, where we control the presentation of our report, the relationships with our readers and the nature of our business rules.”
The New York Times Co. acquired The Athletic in January 2022 for $550 million. This July, the newspaper shut down its sports desk and said it would bring a bigger selection of The Athletic’s stories to the core publication.
Full access to The Athletic’s stories is available only to subscribers. Currently, the site offers new subscribers 12 months for $1/month, with the rate going up to $7.99/month thereafter. Meanwhile, the New York Times’ All Access plan (which includes The Athletic) is $25/month after an introductory $4/month deal for the first six months.
The Athletic has more than 450 full-time writers, editors and producers. The outlet covers hundreds of professional and college teams across sports leagues globally. That includes the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, English Premier League, PGA, National Women’s Soccer League, NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA men’s college basketball, NCAA women’s college basketball, LaLiga and UEFA Champions League.
In the U.S., a subscription to Apple News+ costs $12.99 per month and includes access to hundreds of top newspapers and magazines, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, Vogue, The New Yorker and People. (Disclosure: PvNew is among the publications available in Apple News+.) The service also provides a catalog of narrated audio articles from Apple News+ publishers and daily crosswords created in partnership with The Puzzle Society.
“Like so many lifelong sports fans, I am a devoted reader of The Athletic and their fantastic sports reporting and local coverage,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of services, said in a statement. “We’re so proud to now bring sports fans The Athletic in Apple News+ — which millions of News+ subscribers are going to love.” David Perpich, publisher of The Athletic, added, “We’re thrilled to work with Apple News to introduce even more readers to the best-in-class journalism that only The Athletic can produce.”
In the sports tab in Apple News, users can follow their favorite teams and leagues, receive stories from several hundred publishers; watch game highlights; and access scores, schedules and standings for top pro and college leagues. Apple News, curated by a team of full-time editors, is available in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia.
