The Athletic inks an exclusive multiyear deal with StubHub

The GIST: The Athletic now doubles as a ticket agent. Yesterday, the publication inked an exclusive, multiyear ticketing deal with StubHub that will allow American and Canadian subscribers to stay updated on their favorite teams and buy tickets to see them in action.

The details: Buttons to buy tickets through StubHub will slowly be integrated into The Athletic’s existing content hubs on both desktop and mobile, including team home pages and schedules. Subscribers to The Athletic and its parent, The New York Times (NYT), will also receive exclusive StubHub offers later this year.

Zooming out: Seamless ticketing integrations could translate to butts in seats, which provides plenty of obvious perks for StubHub. The same is true for women’s sports franchises after The Athletic pledged to increase its coverage of women’s sports through a partnership with Google.

• However, the new deal also showcases the publication’s evolution following its NYT takeover. The sports news outlet has diversified its revenue streams since being acquired in January 2022, most notably by introducing ads last September in an effort to be profitable by 2025. Money talks.