‘The Athletic’ is building its readership through an evangelical following

In the media industry, competition today is fiercer than ever. As news organizations struggle to find ways to create revenue from online readership, the key is gaining a loyal following. How can my newspaper/website cultivate a following that I can engage with and profit off of? In simpler terms, How do I get more fans?

This is difficult because many news organizations are typically at least 100 years old and are operating on long-held policies and standards, which can sometimes limit their flexibility in the online branding transition. However, one national online sports media startup is not tethered to history by inflexible guidelines, allowing them to create somewhat of a cult following over their first eight months.

The Athletic, a national sports website which has taken off recently, has gained a following that appears to be unique from many other national news sources. They are subscription-based, as only those who pay $48 per year (or $4 per month) can read their work. But the work is sold as in-depth and meaningful, taking the time to do rich and fulfilling reporting as opposed to writing about LaVar Ball every day.

They frame their product as one that is superior than the rest and they are consistent in their message: quality over quantity, just at a small cost. And clearly, at least so far, their marketing message is working. They are constantly expanding, going from sites in a few cities to now covering nearly every city and professional sports team (in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS), as well as covering college football and basketball. They are hiring writers seemingly every week and are consistently being written about as a bright spot, an entity that is growing in an industry that seems to be shrinking.

Yes, The Athletic follows through with their message. I subscribe because their content is truly remarkable, they now boast some of America’s best sportswriters, and I love how there are no ads on their page (which is also a part of their brand). But why has The Athletic been able to not only pull people in, but also create a sort of “brand evangelism,” as Keith Quesenberry terms it in chapter 12 of his book, Social Media Strategy, amongst its followers?

How has America’s newest national sports magnate created a cult-like following? The answer lies in its branding.

While The Athletic promotes the advantages I discussed above (paying for quality, no ads, great writers, etc.), they are also consistently making their subscribers feel good about their decision to pay. On their Facebook page, they are regularly posting sponsored content about other news organizations writing about them and their success.

Their writers are encouraged to thank their readers on social media, and they will often interact with them both on networks (as discussed with C. Trent Rosecrans in my last post) and in the comment section of their stories as well. Writers at The Athletic are encouraged to make their readers not only feel welcome, but also appreciated. They make you feel like you are a part of something special and that you are in on the best product out there.

This is also reiterated in the brand’s tone and word choice with social media posts, as they will often refer back to the advantages of subscribing when referencing reporting that a writer has done.

All of this positive noise has created an extremely evangelical following behind the website. While The Athletic takes criticism sometimes for allegedly sucking talent from local newspapers, their followers are quick to fight back for them. The brand’s subscribers are its biggest advocates (myself included), as they have transformed their brand into a ‘team.’

Although this following may reject a small minority of potential subscribers, I believe that the atmosphere has actually helped the network gain more and more readers. The ‘team’ is building itself internally, through pointed branding and an evangelical following. As the following goes, the network goes. And right now, it’s doing pretty damn well.