The Athletic Expands Live Video Push With Nightly Streaming Show

The Athletic is expanding its push into live video with “The Athletic LIVE,” a new streaming show built around game coverage, watch-alongs and discussions. The show, which premieres Tuesday, Sept. 8, will stream for free on YouTube, The Athletic’s website and its app. It will launch with three live streams per week before expanding to five weeknight shows in late October. The New York Times-owned sports outlet is already looking beyond the new show, with plans to expand live programming around major sporting events and connect “The Athletic LIVE” with its existing shows. “You’ll see us continue to ramp up live programming across our slate,” Jesse Burton, The Athletic’s head of Global Series & Specials, told TheWrap. “The Athletic LIVE” will include second-screen coverage during games, along with discussions featuring the outlet’s journalists and other guests on nights without games. The show will also give The Athletic a place for live coverage around events like March Madness, which Burton cited as one example. The Athletic plans to connect “The Athletic LIVE” with its existing shows to create longer streams around major games. Burton said, for example, that the outlet could transition directly from Sunday Night Football coverage on “The Athletic LIVE” into “The Athletic Football Show” postgame coverage. “NFL fans can spend all of Sunday night with us in one place,” he said. The expansion comes as The Athletic looks to build both an audience and a business around its live programming. “We want to build a large and engaged audience during games and important news moments, and we want to serve that audience profitably,” Burton said. Google Gemini will serve as the presenting sponsor of “The Athletic LIVE.” Sebastian Tomich, The Athletic’s chief commercial and development officer, told TheWrap that the company sees advertising and sponsorship as a “meaningful revenue stream” for live video. The Athletic is also looking beyond traditional video ads as it develops sponsorship opportunities around live programming. “Whether it’s integrating into the set, working with our talent or partnering to create new content, there’s a lot of future opportunity,” Tomich said. YouTube, meanwhile, is part of The Athletic’s effort to reach sports fans beyond its own platforms. “YouTube is an incredible discovery engine and a great place to introduce new audiences to our journalism,” Burton said. “We hope it’ll be the start of a deeper relationship over time that transcends the platform.” The Athletic has already tested live programming with some of its existing shows. The Athletic FC hosted watch-alongs during the World Cup, while “The Athletic Football Show” will livestream recaps after every regular season NFL game. “The Athletic LIVE” will feature polls, sports trivia and live reactions to viewer comments and will be broadcast from a studio in Marina del Rey. Its initial lineup includes NFL analyst Charles McDonald, football analyst and former college quarterback Max Browne and The Athletic national NFL writer Daniel Popper. National NBA writer Zach Harper and independent sports creator Kofie Yeboah will contribute during the NBA season, while independent sports journalist Joon Lee will appear as a weekly stats contributor. The launch follows another expansion of The Athletic’s video distribution. In July, the company expanded its partnership with Fubo to bring The Athletic shows and other video programming to the streaming service.