Sources: The Athletic Avoiding New Hires As It Searches For Business Partner

Sports subscription website The Athletic is holding off on hiring new writers as it discusses the possibility of a merger with potential business partners, sources told OutKick.

Earlier this week, multiple high-profile investors told OutKick they fear for the future of the website if a partner is not found.

The Athletic has recently held talks with news website Axios about a potential merger, per reports. Sources reached by OutKick confirmed those talks, but refused to provide further details. Nor would they indicate if the talks are still on.

With or without a business partner, a "shakeup" is "soon" on the way, one investor told OutKick, citing The Athletic's lagging renewal rates and a subscription base that's not strong enough to cover its current salaries and travel expenses.

“The majority of their cash flow is the result of investors, and at some point, you need to answer to them,” a person familiar with The Athletic's financials told OutKick last month.

Co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann launched The Athletic in 2016 as an ad-free website that generates its entire revenue from subscriptions. It offers both local and national sports coverage and currently consists of more than 300 employees.

In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, Mather boldly predicted that The Athletic would pillage top talent from already fledgling daily sports sections -- comments that drew the ire of many in the newspaper industry.

“We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing,” Mather said. “We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. We will make business extremely difficult for them."