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Sports betting companies FanDuel and DraftKings are among multiple businesses that have submitted bids to purchase The Athletic, according to The Information.
The Athletic hired investment bank LionTree in September to explore selling all or part of its business.
The subscription-based platform previously held discussions with The New York Times, but the talks fell through in June over a reported disagreement on how to compensate The Athletic’s employees for their equity in the company. It also held discussions with Axios earlier in the year.
The Athletic, which has over 1 million subscribers, is seeking a valuation of more than $750 million. The company has been unprofitable the last two years.
- It lost $41 million in 2020, following a loss of $54 million the year prior. Revenue rose to $47 million in 2020 from $26 million in 2019.
- This year, it projects $77 million in revenue with $35 million in net losses.
FanDuel parent company Flutter Entertainment recorded $902 million in revenue during the first half of the year and expects its U.S. business to turn a profit for the first time in 2023, while DraftKings’ second-quarter revenue grew 297% year-over-year to $298 million.
The Athletic includes Founders Fund, Courtside Ventures, and Powerhouse Capital as investors.
