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

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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.

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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."
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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."

Article Link: Apple News+ Subscription Now Includes 'The Athletic' Sports Coverage
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/12/19/apple-news-subscribers-the-athletic/
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It's got my attention. But I would probably just subscribe for The Athletic content. In which case, it would just be cheaper to subscribe to The Athletic directly. Unless I am missing something great with Apple News+.
 
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I'd subscribe to the American Apple News+ in a heartbeat, but I guess it's a rights issue that it's not an option internationally.

I'd also subscribe to Apple Fitness+ if it was available here but somehow Apple doesn't deem us peasants here in the Netherlands not worthy.
 
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JohnAengus said:
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.
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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.
 
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Wonder if this means that NYT might also come to News+ some day. I’m sure Apple really wants them there and would probably cut them a pretty good deal.
 
That's good news for me. I enjoy content with The Athletic when I was a subscriber. Probably not worth it to subscribe to Apple News+ just for it as mentioned by other users that they run promotions. I already have a Apple News+ subscription with Apple One. Articles from The Athletic shows up when I search under following tab of the Apple News+ app. I also saw that Wirecutter will also be available in Apple News+ in early 2024 as well.
 
Sure, I just downgraded from Premier to Family (so lost News+ and Fitness+) yesterday. I guess I still have a few days to check it out before it kicks down.
 
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.
 
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JohnAengus said:
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.
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Exactly this. I mostly enjoy the News app itself as a basic news content “aggregator” but I’m never really compelled to subscribe to see a specific article. It is information I can get elsewhere if I’m that interested. I think the News app could be even better if Apple had the mindest of simply providing useful apps instead of treating it as a News+ sales vehicle. For example, on my iPad News app the space in the left hand “topics” list is at a premium yet I don‘t have the option to remove elements like “News+”, “Sports”, or “Special Coverage”, which I have no use for.
 
msackey said:
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.
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You can chat with them, ask to cancel, and they will drop the price. My wife has been doing it for years and stays on a $4/month plan.
 
msackey said:
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.
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Same. Not paying $13 for Apple News.

The format of many magazines is awful. Basically just PDF’s of the printed magazine. Impossible to read on a small device. Maybe read 6 issues in the 2 years I had News+.

Subscriptions are going to be down by 30% so the net payout to publishers isn’t going to go up a bit.
 
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Sorinut said:
You can chat with them, ask to cancel, and they will drop the price. My wife has been doing it for years and stays on a $4/month plan.
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Are you referring to Apple News+ or NYT? I assume you mean NYT? I'm ok with their subscription rate right now, though it's not as low as $4/month. We have the all-digital subscription service that includes the games and it's about $10/month.
 
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msackey said:
Are you referring to Apple News+ or NYT? I assume you mean NYT? I'm ok with their subscription rate right now, though it's not as low as $4/month. We have the all-digital subscription service that includes the games and it's about $10/month.
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NYT.
 
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