Apple News+ Subscription Now Includes 'The Athletic' Sports Coverage

Apple has announced that Apple News+ subscribers now have access to daily sports news from The Athletic, which delivers in-depth coverage of hundreds of professional and college teams across the major sports leagues globally.

apple news the athletic
Owned by The New York Times, The Athletic's coverage includes the English Premier League, NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS, PGA, National Women’s Soccer League, NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA men’s college basketball, NCAA women’s college basketball, LaLiga, UEFA Champions League, and more.

"Like so many lifelong sports fans, I am a devoted reader of The Athletic and their fantastic sports reporting and local coverage," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Services. "We're so proud to now bring sports fans The Athletic in Apple News+ — which millions of News+ subscribers are going to love."

‌Apple News‌+ subscribers in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia can follow The Athletic in the Sports section of ‌Apple News‌ to find complete coverage. In addition, the NYT's Wirecutter product reviews will be available for free to all ‌Apple News‌ users beginning early next year.

The New York Times acquired The Athletic in January 2022 for $550 million. The newspaper then shut down its sports desk in July and said it would roll in some of The Athletic's content into its core publication.

Notably, The New York Times ended its partnership with ‌Apple News‌ in June 2020, claiming that the service did not "align with its strategy of building direct relationships with paying readers."

Apple in October increased the price of an ‌Apple News‌+ subscription, from $9.99 per month to $12.99 per month. In the U.S., it was the first-ever price increase for ‌Apple News‌+ since the service launched in November 2019. In a statement shared with MacRumors, Apple said it is "focused on delivering the best experiences possible for our customers by consistently adding high-quality entertainment, content, and innovative features to our services."

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Top Rated Comments

toobravetosave Avatar
17 months ago

Unless I am missing something great with Apple News+.
U are not
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Godspeed8230 Avatar
17 months ago
Just FYI: The Athletic is also part of the full subscription package of the New York Times.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JohnAengus Avatar
17 months ago
So, this is like cable TV. I have to pay more so they can add sports content when I don't have any interest in it. You can google many of the News+ articles and read them elsewhere. I canceled with the price increase.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
17 months ago

More like streaming, which started out small with the channels you wanted, and then expanded to including "DIY 3 - Just tiny homes" and "ESPN 6 - Competitive knitting" that no one wants.
And ESPN 8, "The Ocho".
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macos9rules Avatar
17 months ago

If Apple News+ includes a subscription to NYT, I may reconsider joining Apple News+. The moment Apple started charging me 12.99, I dropped the News+ subscription. A jump from 9.99 to 12.99 is quite steep. I still have my NYT subscription.
Same! Whoever is in charge of these price changes is completely out of touch with reality.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NMBob Avatar
17 months ago
What about Obscure Sports Quarterly, so I can keep up with the international dodgeball news?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)