Go beyond the box score with quality, in-depth local and national sports coverage from an all-star team of writers. The Athletic is a subscription-based media publisher of smarter sports coverage for die-hard fans. With coverage in most major professio...
The Athletic HQ (theathletic.com) has 262 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 1.2 out of 5.
Also known as
theathletic.com
Website
theathletic.com
Category
Media & Information
Location
San Francisco, California
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
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Most recent review: April 2026.
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Here I am again, a year later. For those reading, heed the warnings on this site! 3rd year running, 3rd year billed. This, despite numerous attempts each year to cancel my account / unsubscribe (without replies in each instance - over 20 messages sent). I go through my bank each time to recoup my funds; you will likely have to do the same if trying to disengage.
IG
Isaac G.
Just terrible
Just terrible. No priori warning that I was due to be billed, and when I wrote to them explaining my circumstances had changed and I could no longer afford the service, I got bot replies that did not provide any sort of answer, before I received a very rude response from Hailey. Especially in the cost of living crisis I find this morally deplorable. Would avoid at all costs and it’s created significant issues for me at a time when I am financially unable to be spending £60 on a sports subscription.
SI
Simon
Hiked subscription massively without…
Hiked subscription massively without permission, essentially stealing. No customer service and auto canned response emails. Avoid!
CR
Chris R.
I have attempted to get a refund…
I have attempted to get a refund following a change in my circumstances and they have refused, I had no warning that my renewal was due so warning to cancel ahead of time.
VN
Victor N.
Good support.
Overall it’s okay, I like the concept of the service. The articles are usually too long and a bit boring though. Also no F1 coverage here.
Support manager helped me to get a refund since I had forgotten about the app a long time ago - this is a good practice.
BE
Benjamin
Avoid The Athletic .......
Terrible. Site wont log you in and their app is a joke.
Site is crawling with neobig posters who try to banhammer anyone who calls them out.
Writers are terrible and push politics over reporting.
After being pummelled by some of the trolls they allow to roam free on their boards, I cancelled my sub. Well low and behold they started communicating with me begging me to come back. Absolutely not......
NYT bought them so that should tell you everything.
Clowns attract clowns, and this is a 3 ring circus.
AN
Andrew
Please don’t give The Athletic your money.
Please, please, please pay attention to these reviews before parting with your cash. There’s a reason that all of the online reviews of this organisation are terrible, several reasons actually.
The main one is that customer support is non existent. If you have an issue, tough. This includes if you can’t use the app and have paid your money, tough. They’re keeping it and there’s nothing you can do about it.
They also arbitrarily stop people from commenting on posts if another subscriber ‘flags’ a comment. You will find whole comments sections filled with the most vile, despicable, racism you could imagine, and The Athletic leaves all of these in place. If you’re summarily gagged by them, as stated above, there’s no way of talking to anyone, so you’re stuck with it. They simply do not care once they have your money.
The app itself is almost unusable. For an organisation that has over one million subscribers, that is absolutely shameful. The app crashes constantly, is hard to navigate, looks cheap and the podcasts don’t work 90% of the time.
If you follow a big team, the coverage of your club is alright. But anyone else, forget about it.
Just avoid this awful outfit. Look at the reviews here and elsewhere. Despite their undoubted attempts to doctor them, they’re still appalling which should tell you all you need to know. Save your money and just Google things…
GR
Gary R.
Don’t go near this subscription service…
Don’t go near this subscription service . It’s a scam . You cannot close you account and they keep repeatedly charging you ..AVOID AVOID AVOID .