Bezos selling WPost to buy Commanders?

[Readallover]

The mind boggles...Alden or New Gannett as new owners of the Washington Post? https://nypost.com/2023/01/23/jeff-bezos-will-sell-washington-post-to-buy-commanders-investors/

 

[Azrael]

I have many doubts about this story.

First, it's in the NY Post.

Second, Bezos is worth something north of $120 billion. He doesn't need to sell anything* to buy a football team.


*He bought the WaPo for $250 million. Sofa cushion money.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I wouldn't be completely surprised to find out that Bezos is looking to rid himself of the newspaper AND buy the football team. ... with the two having nothing to do with each other.

 

[justgladtobehere]

I wouldn't be completely surprised to find out that Bezos is looking to rid himself of the newspaper AND buy the football team. ... with the two having nothing to do with each other.

That is where the article seems to end it. It never connects the dots and focuses more on Bezos' reasons for buying, his lack of interest in newspapers, and the poor fit between him and the Post.
The only reason offered as to why selling the Post would help in a purchase of the Commanders is it might appease Snyder, which makes no sense. The damage to Snyder is done and if he isn't the owner, who owns the Post doesn't matter to Snyder.

 

[wicked]

Which has me wondering... who buys the Post?

About a thousand other people would buy the football team at whatever the price ends up being. The demand for the Post, not so much.

 

[DanOregon]

Pipe dream, but I'd love to see the Post be a non-profit, something like the Packers.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Pipe dream, but I'd love to see the Post be a non-profit, something like the Packers.

So Aaron Rodgers would be the health care editor?

 

[DanOregon]

I see him more as the advice columnist - "Ask Aaron."

 

[SoloFlyer]

Pipe dream, but I'd love to see the Post be a non-profit, something like the Packers.

I think this is the only viable route for most news organizations, but there isn't enough data or information yet on just how viable it truly is. I'm really curious if anyone knows how The Salt Lake Tribune is performing as a non-profit and how things look as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Chicago Sun-Times going non-profit.

 

[wicked]

There always have been papers run as non-profits. New London, Conn., is the one that immediately comes to mind. Not metros, but decent sized (and usually top-notch quality) mid-sized joints.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Which has me wondering... who buys the Post?

About a thousand other people would buy the football team at whatever the price ends up being. The demand for the Post, not so much.

The New York Times.

According to this chart (the only thing I could quickly Google) the Times has 8.4 million digital subscribers (that would include customers who buy just buy the cooking section, etc..) The link shows the Post has three million subscribers.

Digital news subscriptions worldwide 2022 | Statista

I find it hard to believe the Post has that many subscribers. But whatever the number is the Times would pick up a lot of additional subscribers and page views to sell advertisers. The Times could also consolidate operations and reduce redundant staff. I think the Post is worth at least the 650 million dollars the Times paid for the Athletic.

 

[Mr. X]

I thought I once read on this board something along the lines of "Being a non-profit is not a business plan but a tax status."

Is that true?

 

[wicked]

As a journalist, I’d hate to see the Times buy the Post.

And I have no problem seeing how they have 3m subscribers. Their domestic and international coverage is terrific, and I’d take it over the Times (not factoring in Athletic content) on sports every day.

 

[SixToe]

The NYT buying the Post sounds logical in some ways, illogical in others. Can't imagine Bezos needing to sell the Post to buy anything.

I have digital subs to both. I enjoy a lot of thngs in both, and don't care for some. The Post's food section is not as good. NYT's travel is good at times and at others I think they're too highbrow. Politics and opinion ebb and flow. Some is good, some is bull****, some makes me scratch my head wondering how the hell anyone let it get published. But that's what newspapers always have had - good, bad, questionable and so on.

 

[Readallover]

Rupert about to make his move? https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/24/rupert-murdoch-calls-off-proposed-fox-news-corp-merger.html

 

[wicked]

Rupert might kick it if he found out The Washington Post was for sale. That erection would last for four weeks, not four hours.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The NYT buying the Post sounds logical in some ways, illogical in others. Can't imagine Bezos needing to sell the Post to buy anything.

I have digital subs to both. I enjoy a lot of thngs in both, and don't care for some. The Post's food section is not as good. NYT's travel is good at times and at others I think they're too highbrow. Politics and opinion ebb and flow. Some is good, some is bull****, some makes me scratch my head wondering how the hell anyone let it get published. But that's what newspapers always have had - good, bad, questionable and so on.

IMO, the Times has more resources, and businesswise is much better run (buying Wordle latest example). Of course its arts and business coverage is better, because NYC is an arts and business center and DC is not. Post has better sports, better metro, and of course better political coverage, because that's the industry in their one industry town. IMO the writing in the Post is consistently superior because they don't try to hammer everyone into the paper's dominant style, although I admit the Times' deadpan style can be deadly effective at times. Food coverage is a big Times advantage, both in reading terms and really big in monetary terms. My daughter lives in France and subscribes to the Times just for that.
It would be a terrible loss if either paper slipped from their current level of performance.

 

[LanceyHoward]

As a journalist, I’d hate to see the Times buy the Post.

And I have no problem seeing how they have 3m subscribers. Their domestic and international coverage is terrific, and I’d take it over the Times (not factoring in Athletic content) on sports every day.

I subscribe to both. I think the Times is a better paper but the Post is excellent also. I believe having three national papers (including the Wall Street Journal here) is better than two, I also think the Post only gets sold to anyone is if Bezos tires of it. Given the wealth of Bezos the Post is more a hobby than an investment.

But in a race between financial and journalism interests the former is the very heavy favorite (apologies to whoever I stole that line from.

And upon further reflection, if the Post went up for sale and Pupert is still alive and and somewhat sentient, News Corp would offer a higher price than the NYT. Murdoch is both richer and more ego driven than the owners of the NYT and would offer a higher price.

 

[wicked]

NYT is still public, right?

 

[LanceyHoward]

NYT is still public, right?

Yes, but still controlled by the Sulzberger family through a class of stock they have that gives them super voting rights.