Bedrock leads $50M Series D in The Athletic

We are thrilled to share that Bedrock has led a $50M Series D in The Athletic. This represents our third investment in the company in less than 18 months.
The Athletic was founded in 2016 on the bold premise that readers would pay for high-quality sports journalism. No ads or clickbait.
The bet paid off. In just a few years, The Athletic has built a rapidly growing subscriber base of well over 600,000. This growth is the result of a virtuous cycle that exists when a subscription business is working powerfully.
Loyal subscribers give The Athletic the economic engine to hire the best sportswriters — over 500 today. Those writers in turn expand and deepen the bundle, thereby attracting more subscribers.
This cycle is powerful: unlike so many of today’s consumer businesses that are juiced up on marketing spend, the vast majority of new subscribers still come through organic channels.
Even more importantly, subscribers love the product. 90% are active on a weekly basis. Engagement drives strong retention, with over 80% renewing their subscriptions from Year 1 to Year 2. Retention gets even better over time, with early cohorts showing 95% retention from Year 2 to Year 3.
These numbers may sound a bit technical — perhaps unnecessary detail for a fundraise announcement. But they are everything. There’s a reason The Athletic shares numbers like this and almost no other subscription services do: the metrics are unparalleled. They are also the best predictor of whether a subscription service can scale to tens of millions of members.
Every consumer product wants a high lifetime value. With sports fans, the lifetime value is an entire lifetime.
When the content flywheel is turning and retention is this strong, subscription businesses tend to surprise everyone with how large they can become. Steady subscription revenue provides the economic engine to expand and deepen the bundle over time. Where the company goes looks quite different from where it starts, as it consistently expands the market.
Think about what Netflix was in 2010 and what it is today.
We believe that in a decade we’ll look back at The Athletic in a similar way. We’re excited to partner with Alex, Adam and The Athletic team as they write the story.

