Report reports New York Times buys The Athletic for $550 million

The New York Times NYT - Get New York Times Company Class A Report has agreed to purchase sports news site The Athletic for $550 million.

The news came from The Information, which cited a source with knowledge of the situation.

According to Axios, the purchase price is an increase from The Athletic's valuation of $500 million in its latest funding round in January.

The Athletic, which began in 2016, has said it doesn't anticipate turning a profit until 2023. The Times may want to raise its subscription price. On an annual basis, the Athletic offers subscriptions for $7.99 a month or $2.99 a month.

The company has had mergers with The Times and Axios in the past. The Athletic raised $140 million in five funding rounds.

It has brought in some well-known writers, such as the baseball correspondent Ken Rosenthal and basketball commentator Shams Charania.

According to Axios, the publication will remain the responsibility of the Athletic co-founders Adam Hansmann and Alex Mather.

Mather, famously told the New York Times in 2017 that, "We will wait every local paper out and let them continue to bleed until we are the last ones standing." We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. Sports Illustrated s The Spun offered a sampling of Twitter reaction to the reported acquisition.