New York Times sports staff sends letter demanding answers on future with The Athletic, per report

The New York Times sports department sent a letter to its leadership Sunday, demanding answers about the section's future over concerns it will get shut down as the newspaper continues to merge The Athletic into its sports coverage, according to a report from The Washington Post.

The letter, obtained by The Washington Post, was sent to executive editor Joseph Kahn and chairman of The New York Times Company, A.G. Sulzberger.

"For 18 months, The New York Times has left its sports staff twisting in the wind," the letter stated, according to the report. "We have watched the company buy a competitor with hundreds of sportswriters and weigh decisions about the future of sports coverage at The Times without, in many instances, so much as a courtesy call, let alone any solicitation of our expertise.

"The company’s efforts appear to be coming to a head, with The Times pursuing a full-scale technological migration of The Athletic to The Times’s platforms and the threat that the company will effectively shut down our section."

The Athletic-New York Times deal

The report comes more than a year after The New York Times Company acquired The Athletic, a subscription-based sports journalism site, for $550 million.

When the deal was made, Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO of The New York Times Company, said in a statement that The Athletic would exist as a "stand-alone product" that would offer extensive sports coverage.

"With one of the largest dedicated teams of reporters covering sports globally and a commitment to everyday reporting, The Athletic is a great complement to The Times," the statement read.

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Concerns for future of The New York Times sports, staffers

Despite the belief The Athletic would operate separately from The New York Times, there has been overlap in coverage between the two entities, as The Washington Post reported Kahn told sports staff at The New York Times there needed to be more integration.

As a result, anonymous current and former sports staffers told the outlet the integration could result in jobs lost, forcing people to move to The Athletic or other sections. The letter reportedly mentioned a new employee contract where leadership promised no layoffs for the Times.

Another concern reported was the end of the Times' sports section, noting it has provided sports coverage for the newspaper since the first Olympics in Athens in 1896.

The Washington Post reported the Times had around 40 to 50 staffers in its sports section last year, but some people have left and positions haven't been replaced.

“We’ve had conversations since we bought The Athletic about what it means for the future of our sports coverage. We’ve rolled out some changes, such as including Athletic stories on the nytimes.com home screen," a spokesperson for The New York Times told USA TODAY Sports. "As with any coverage area, we have been closely evaluating how to deliver the best possible sports journalism for our growing audience. We’ll update when we have more to share.”

The Athletic recently announced layoffs and reorganization to nearly 4% of its newsroom, with almost 20 journalists laid off and another 20 reassigned to different roles.

In a staff memo, publisher David Perpich and executive editor Steven Ginsberg wrote The Athletic was focusing on broader coverage rather than one beat reporter covering each team.

Contrbuting: Lorenzo Reyes, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York Times sports staff wants answers on future with The Athletic